(1 Of 4) The Gospel Is Good News Series

Not on Fox.

Not on the peacock channel.

Not on C-SPAN or ESPN.

Not a stock market report.

Not a weather forecast.

Not stale news.

Not fake news.

Not bad news.

Good news.

The gospel is not a broadcast that fades after the commercial break. It’s not spin for ratings or another voice in the noise. It’s the announcement of a historical event — the central act of God in history.

It is His Story.

Not her story.

Not my story.

Not your story.

And it’s not a compilation of fictional characters or cave-dwelling reflections. The gospel is not stitched together from legends. It is news — historical news — the record of real places, real people, real events that turned the world upside down.

Luke opens his Gospel by saying, “I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:3–4). That is not how myths begin. That is how history is recorded.

History stands marked in time by the life and death of Christ. Every calendar, every century, every generation is split by His story — before Christ and after Christ. No other figure, no other act, has carved itself so deeply into the record of time. For believers, Calvary is not just a date on the timeline. It is the axis of the universe — where justice and mercy met, and love had the final word.

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Why This Series

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at six foundations that Adventists have long called “pillars.” But let me be clear: these are not walls to keep people out. They are windows to help us see Jesus more clearly.

The Sabbath. The Second Coming. The Sanctuary and Judgment. The Three Angels’ Messages. The State of the Dead.

Each of these stands in Scripture. Each has its place in Adventist preaching. But unless they are grounded in the gospel, they collapse under their own weight.

That’s why we begin here. Everything that will be preached in the following weeks is grounded in this first message.

The good news of Jesus is the fuel for all six foundations.

Without the gospel, the Sabbath is just a day off. Without the cross, the judgment is only terror. Without Christ’s love, the Second Coming is nothing to long for. Without His victory, the resurrection is just wishful thinking.

So we start where we must: the gospel first.

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Past, Future, Present

The good news isn’t just an idea for today — it’s a story that spans past, future, and present.

Faith is anchored in the past: God’s mighty acts in history — creation, the Exodus, the cross, the resurrection.

Hope is fastened to the future: God’s promises of the Second Coming, the resurrection, the new earth.

Love is lived in the present: the abiding reality of Christ’s Spirit in us, right now.

Faith remembers.

Hope anticipates.

Love abides.

Jesus Himself put it this way: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

The Way — the path God has already opened.

The Truth — the promise God has spoken about what is to come.

The Life — God’s love pulsing in us today.

And Paul ties it together in 1 Corinthians 13: “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Why? Because in the end, it is not about my shaky love for God but God’s unstoppable love for me. That’s good news.

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The Danger of Losing Sight

Lose your connection to the past, and you cut yourself off from the acts of God in history. Your faith drifts. You forget the cross, the empty tomb, the exodus, the miracles, the mighty works that anchor trust.

Lose sight of the future, and you shrink to the small world of today’s troubles. Without the Second Coming, without resurrection hope, life collapses into survival and distraction.

Lose the present experience of God’s love, and you may know the facts of the past and the promises of the future, but your heart is empty. You walk like a branch cut off from the vine.

You lose your connection to your past and lose sight of the future goal, leaving you aimless in your quest for purpose and fulfillment.

That is why this first message matters. The gospel holds past, future, and present together in Christ.

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The Built-In Cry for Justice

But let’s get personal. Every one of us comes wired with a sense of justice. You don’t have to teach children to complain when they feel cheated. Hand out cookies unevenly, and the protest rises within seconds.

Author Gary Haugen once described it this way: “If I wanted to teach math to a classroom of six-year-olds, I would begin each day by distributing a delicious snack — unevenly. Then I would simply wait. Within minutes the kids who got less would produce a perfect mathematical proof of the injustice, and the ones who got more would vigorously rebut it.”