THE GOSPEL WHICH WE ARE TO BELIEVE.
Mark 1:1; Mark 1:14-15.
There are various levels in which the kingdom of God has been appearing. The forerunner, John the Baptist, cried, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh’ (cf. Matthew 3:2). Similarly, Jesus began His own ministry with the announcement, “the time is fulfilled, the reign of God has drawn nigh; repent, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). The kingdom of God is ‘near’ because the King is here!
1. “Gospel” (Mark 1:1; Mark 1:14-15) is ‘good news.’ Like the ‘good tidings of great joy’ which the angel shared with the shepherds (Luke 2:10), announcing the One whom the wise men sought, who would be ‘born King’ (Matthew 2:2). ‘The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14). That was “the beginning of the gospel” (Mark 1:1), "the good news of the kingdom of God" which Jesus preached, which we are to "believe" (Mark 1:14-15).
2. The ministry of Jesus is also part of the good news which we are to believe. Jesus summed it up in speaking to the disciples of John the Baptist: ‘the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached' (Luke 7:22).
3. Yet the crucifixion of Jesus (Mark 8:31) is also part of the gospel which we are to believe. We should not lose sight of the fact that Jesus was a child born with the express purpose that He should die. Yet not on Herod’s terms (Matthew 2:13), but on His own terms (John 10:17-18), at exactly the right time (Galatians 4:4-5). The crucifixion of Jesus is good news in that He ‘laid down His life for us’ (1 John 3:16), ‘that we might become the righteousness of God in Him’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
4. ‘The horrors of death could not hold Him’ (Acts 2:24). ‘On the third day He rose again’ (1 Corinthians 15:4). This too is part of the gospel which we are to believe. He rose that we might live in Him (John 11:25-26). His resurrection is proof that we have been justified, that we have been accepted as righteous in Him (Romans 4:25). ‘We are raised together, and made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ (Ephesians 2:6).
5. Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I go to prepare a place for you… that where I am, there you may be also’ (John 14:3). So another essential part of the gospel which we are to believe is the ascension of Jesus.
‘While He blessed them, He was parted from them, and was carried up into heaven’ (Luke 24:51). ‘A cloud took Him out of their sight’ (Acts 1:9).
‘One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him’ (Daniel 7:13). ‘He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God’ (Mark 16:19). There He is seated, His work of salvation on our behalf completed, ever interceding on our behalf (Romans 8:34) - and from thence shall He return.
6. Another important part of the gospel which we are to believe is the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This happened beyond the timeline of the four Gospels, but was spoken of by Jesus both before and after His death, and fulfilled in the book of Acts.
In fact, Jesus taught that it was expedient for Him to go away, or the Holy Spirit would not come (John 16:7). Before His ascension, He told His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem and wait for the ‘baptism with the Holy Ghost’ promised by the Father (Acts 1:4-5). ‘Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses’ (Acts 1:8).
‘And when the day of Pentecost was fully come’ (Acts 2:1). Pentecost was already a festival in the Jewish calendar, but now it was invested with new meaning. Hitherto, the gospel had been ‘all that Jesus began both to do and to teach’ (Acts 1:1). Hereafter, the so-called ‘Acts of the Apostles’ are more accurately the ‘Acts of the Holy Spirit.’
7. Lastly, we come to the return of Jesus as part of the gospel, the good news which we are to believe (Mark 13:26). At least, it is ‘good news’ for those who are awaiting His coming (2 Timothy 4:8; Hebrews 9:28)! Jesus Himself spoke of His return in John 14:3, and in many other parts of the Gospels (e.g. Matthew 24:30; Mark 8:38; Mark 14:62).
The four Gospels, coupled with the book of Acts, give us the historical basis of the gospel. The rest of the New Testament works out the theological and practical implications of the gospel. ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,’ declared the Apostle Paul, ‘for it is of power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes’ (Romans 1:16).
Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, the reign of God has drawn nigh; repent, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
