Good News! Series

Good News

By Greg Johnson

http://www.LovingGodFellowship.org

You will be hard pressed today to pick up a newspaper, turn on a newscast or surf the news feeds on the Internet and find any good news. The world is in turmoil. Local news is not any better. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, he immediately begins to talk about good news and specifically the good news of God that he refers to as “the gospel of God.”

Check out these powerful words. (Romans 1:1-7 NIV) "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-- {2} the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures {3} regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, {4} and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. {5} Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. {6} And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. {7} To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

When I read and meditated on this passage this week, four words continually jumped out at me – “the gospel of God.” “Gospel” means “good news”. In the letter to Romans, Paul is writing about the good news of God. When the problems of this world get you down, meditate on the good news of God. When life’s problems get you down, meditate on the good news of God.

THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD WAS PROMISED BY GOD IN SCRIPTURE.

When Paul says (Romans 1:2 NIV) "the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures" he is referring to the Old Testament as the New Testament was currently being written with two thirds of it being written by Paul under the Holy Spirit’s unction. Throughout the whole Old Testament, we are given the promise of the good news of God. Everything in the Old Testament points to the good news of God.

Many people today have devalued the Old Testament since we are now living under the new covenant. Beloved, never devalue the Old Testament. Read it. Study it. Understand it. It will strengthen your faith as you understand that God did not randomly react to our sinful condition. No, God did not randomly react; instead He graciously had a plan of redemption in place. The Old Testament points to and reveals God’s good news of redemption through Jesus Christ.

THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD IS ALL ABOUT JESUS.

It’s all about Jesus. Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus. The sacrifices, the feasts, the tabernacle, the furniture in the tabernacle, the placement of the furniture in the tabernacle; everything points to Jesus. Studying the types of Christ in the Old Testament is fascinating and faith building as the student sees God’s wonderful plan of redemption foretold in such detail.

Paul says (Romans 1:2-4 NIV) "the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures {3} regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, {4} and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."

This speaks of the humanity and the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was both man and God; a concept that is hard for our feeble minds to understand, but a truth that we as believers receive by faith. It took a man to stand in the gap for our sins, but the man had to be sinless. God came into our world through Jesus Christ to be a sin sacrifice; a sinless offering for our sins. He was a descendant of David and was birthed through a virgin. He was crucified as an innocent man. He was resurrected as the Son of God and being re-glorified, He was placed back at the right hand of the Father.

Beloved, the good news of God is that He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son to take care of your sin problem. God wants to spend eternity with you, but sin separated you from God. At the cross, Jesus took your punishment for sin, which is death, so that you can have eternal life. You are God’s inheritance and He longs to spend eternity with you. Isn’t that good news? That’s the good news of God!

THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE.