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How can the Christian gospel have any relevance in today’s world? It’s ancient and seemingly cryptic and speaks of a higher power we can’t physically see. Modern medicine, light bulbs, air planes, sedans, and cell phones foster such a widespread level of human flourishing—it could make one wonder if we even need a gospel of good news.
Then life happens. And we learn that, yes, perhaps there’s “more” to life than what our eyes see. At least we hope so.
We learn that “more” through the spiritual lens of the biblical gospel. That message eternally abides and universally transforms because it extends from a divine source.
The second statement of the gospel worth knowing comes from the strangest book of the Bible.
The Roman government grew tired of John gathering passersby to listen to him proclaim the message of Jesus Christ. So Rome exiled this agitator to an island called Patmos in the Aegean Sea. This likely occurred while Domitian reigned as emperor in the AD 90s.—sixty years after Jesus resurrected.
Domitian didn’t favor Christians. While on this island, John received a vision from Jesus and penned the last book of the biblical canon: Revelation. The book unveils a new layer about the person of Jesus Christ and his plan for our world.
In Revelation, the noun gospel appears only once. We can learn a good deal from John’s use of it. He wrote,
“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Revelation 14:6–7 ESV)
The Gospel Conveys an Eternal Message
Did you notice the adjective John used to describe the gospel? Angels carried a message that is eternal. The gospel doesn’t expire or spoil. A new model will never replace the old message. The gospel conveys the core communication which the divine wants you and me to know. The gospel comes from God and has God as its source. Therefore, it’s eternal.
The gospel holds as much significance to people today as it did to its hearers five hundred years ago and fifteen hundred years ago. People come from God. The Bible does not represent an aloof deity unconcerned about autonomous humanity. God’s involved and will never be uninvolved in our world. He has his fingers in every detail. He wants us to know who he is.
He’s communicated an eternal gospel to some that they may take it to all.
The Gospel Directs People to God
The fundamental direction to which the gospel calls our attention is God himself. The gospel directs people to the true God. It points to him. God will not allow deception to characterize his person. He has communicated all he wants us to know through the gospel.
Most of the time, from nature, and some of the time, from ignorance, we imagine a different God from the one we come to know through the gospel. I’m convinced that Jesus seems too good to be true, for many. For others, I’m persuaded they shun him without actually understanding him.
We read the content of the eternal gospel in the verse following: fear God and give him glory. In other words, God wants us to act and think like he exists. No marriage lasts, or can be deemed a relationship, if one member refuses to acknowledge the other. God wants a relationship. A relationship requires relating from both parties.
Our race has stepped away from God, but God steps toward us in the message of the gospel. God became flesh in Jesus that humans may approach God. The gospel restores the relationship. God has opened the line of communication through the gospel.
The Gospel Calls for a Universal Response
The messengers of God proclaim that eternal gospel to all inhabits of the world. God’s timeless message contains a universal scope. God does not care about language, nationality, or location. God wants all to know him.
Now, God delivers the message through people. As we read in this verse, God will wrap up our current stage of history by blasting the message forth through angles unhindered by gravity or terrain or weather.
That God wants all to hear reveals the value he has placed upon each individual. Every person, with a distinct face and voice and hair and finger prints, God deems worthy of eternal love. He doesn’t view people as cogs in the machine nor count some expendable for the greater good nor compare with arbitrary credentials nor play favorites within a divine political regime.
Every single individual, God knows, God sees, God loves, God values, God wants to come to know him. People hold prejudices. People play favorites. People judge arbitrarily. People love conditionally. People discriminate. God doesn’t.
Jesus has shown this to be true through his gospel.
Bibliography
- The Lexham Hebrew Bible, 2012
- The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2016
- Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 2003
- The Lexham Theological Wordbook, 2014
- The Lexham Bible Dictionary, 2016
- Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger, Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th Edition, 2012
- William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 2000
- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary, 1999
- Alan F. Johnson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition), 2006