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Simply put, gospel means good news.
Chances are you know about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. You many not believe it, but you have heard about it.
Maybe the good news isn’t so much that Jesus died- but more that He lived. Maybe the point isn’t so much “what” happened, as “why” it happened.
Maybe we are missing the mark by ignoring why that subtle difference matters.
I don’t think the most important take away of the good news is that we get to escape hell.
The good news is good news because it’s meant to bring God’s kingdom (Heaven) to earth.
In the words of Jesus “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
The good news isn’t that those who follow Jesus get to miraculously escape the evils of the world we live in, but that those who follow Jesus are constantly working to show love where evil presides the most.
The good news is meant to invoke so much love for our fellow human beings that it doesn’t make sense to those who don’t understand what it means to truly love.
For example, it’s easy for (most) us to love our family more than we love ourselves- easy to the point of almost being natural.
An instinct.
An impulse.
I wouldn’t think twice about going without a meal to make sure my own kids have enough to eat. My husband wouldn’t think twice about giving me his jacket if I’m cold, even if he is cold too.
It’s not easy to apply those same principals to people we don’t know- people who we aren’t personally invested in or acquainted with. People we have been taught to be wary or judgmental of.
It’s not easy to willingly vote for higher taxes so the poor in our community can have equal access to health care.
It’s not easy to set aside our prejudice and fear so those seeking asylum have the same opportunity to live in peace that we do.
It’s not easy to demand equal rights for all when the path to get there threatens our own privilege.
It’s not easy to hear and listen to the cry for bodily autonomy when we associate that with a threat to our own comfort and quality of life.
But that’s what it means to share the good news. That’s what it means to love others the way we love ourselves. That’s what it means to love the way Jesus loved.
Just as we traditionally think of fathers protecting and mothers nurturing- God protects and nurtures us.
Both men and women were created in God’s own image- and that fact transcends political preference and personal bias. That fact reaches to all nations, every tribe, every tongue, every culture.
Each and every single human being on this earth is the image of God, and as such we are all God’s children.
If we are to believe that God is our parent, then we have to believe that God is their parent too. There is no discriminating factor with God.
It’s important to note that God’s kingdom isn’t limited by geography, or language, or culture- anything that defines or limits earthly kingdoms.
“Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)
If we truly believe that God is loving and just and merciful and kind- we have to believe that doesn’t only apply to us in our North American bubble- It applies to the Middle East. It applies to Russia. It applies to Syria. It applies to those we are at war with. It applies to those we have peace treaties with. It applies to those we have harmed. It applies to those who have harmed us.
God is Love.
Where love is, God is.
“Anyone who does not love, does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
The greatest command is to love God, and to love your neighbor is of equal value:
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22: 37-40)
You can’t love an invisible God if you can’t love visible people.
“If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen. ” (1 John 4:20)
In order to truly love- we have to first understand what it means to love, and to love well.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-10)
If God is love, then:
God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no account of wrongs. God takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God never fails.
I don’t think it’s an accident that the first fruit of the Spirit listed is love.
“For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” Galatians 5:22-23
There is no law against love.
And maybe that is what the good news is all about to begin with.
Maybe that was what Jesus was trying to teach us through his ministry on earth.
Maybe that is what we are responsible for spreading to the whole earth.
If your religion teaches you not to love another person- than your religion is in vain, and it is not of God.
Don’t lose sight of the why.
The Ashley Smith Blog 