The Good News/ Gospel

The Gospel starts with God's creation, katie. As Creator, He is therefore pre-eminent. The second part is that we are created in His image, as spiritual beings. The third part is that before He even told Adam and Eve the consequences of what they had done, He had promised a Savior when He spoke to the 'snake' -- Satan. This is the beginning of the Gospel.

The Promise of salvation is a recurring theme throughout the Old Testament as God reveals more and more of His character through history and the folk who follow Him.

The incarnation is the fulfillment of that Promise. We know Him as Jesus Christ, God incarnate, our Creator-Redeemer. The Gospel is there in the entire Bible, start to finish. Job knew it when he declared "I know that my Redeemer lives!" Abraham knew it when God told him to tell the story in the stars. David knew it as he recounts in Psalm 2 and many others. Isaiah knew it when God used him to proclaim that He, God, was Israel's creator AND redeemer.

Revelation 13:8 tells us Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The Gospel is stated explicitely by Paul, especially in Romans, fulfilled by Christ Himself as recounted in the Four Gospels from His birth through His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension (Acts), but is basically found throughout the Bible.

 

The Gospel message is simple, 1Cor. 15 1-4 "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"
Its the way we present it that can be make it effective or not.

The first time I witnessed to someone after being saved was when I was challanged by another high school freshman who say "I'm an athiest and have never had anyone tell convince me otherwise". I spent a very productive hour telling him the gospel, from creation, the fall, Christ's death and resurrection and our response to God's message. I didn't ask for a response and still wish I did. But at the time I was saved it was a personal thing I did when I was alone. Salvation was such a personal thing I didn't realize that it could be done with another person.
A friend is was missionary in Togo, West Africa, where there is little to no biblical education. He found that to most effectively present the gospelhe had to teach the people about the Bible, from creation, Adam, Noah, Abraham...etc. sort of like a sunday school class. After six months to a year of presentations, he would present the gospel. It was not uncommon for much of the tribe to accept God's salvation.

 

In a nutshell, the Gospel is:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

 

Agree fully with Dr. Bob on this one.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Christ death,burial and resurrection and what that means to a sinner. As Dr.Bob said,the good news. But,I do agree with the fact that OT prophesied about the coming of a saviour.

 

I would explain to them that God created man perfect, with the intent to fellowship with man. Man violated God's command and was plunged into sin and lost all hope of fellowship with God.

God had two choices: He could destroy mankind or He could redeem mankind. Jesus Christ's death on the cross is our atonement for our sin. The NT word "atonement" means "to exchange" or "to restore to the original." The OT word "atonement" meant "to cover."

No longer are our sins "covered;" they have been paid for by Jesus Christ when he "exchanged" His life for our life and made it possible for us to be "restored to the original."

That is the "Good News."