Mark 16:15-18 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. [16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. [17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; [18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Jesus said, Go ye. The first half of the gospel is Go. The second half is Tell. That's what preach means. It means to tell or proclaim.
Romans 10:13-14 says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Then it asks a very important question... How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
You don't have to have a pulpit to be a preacher, all you have to have is a mouth, and a good set of lungs.
This commission was given by Jesus and it has never been withdrawn. Every single believer, disciple, and follower of Christ is to proclaim this good news, that's what gospel means—good news.
Let me ask you a question, how many have found yourself disgusted and exasperated by all the chaos, confusion, and insanity, in the world? It seems like every day, the bar is being raised on how crazy we can be and still breathe.
And how many have said, if not out loud, at least to yourselves... it sure would be nice to hear some good news for a change?
How many like to hear good news? Like when you have a car repair and you expected it to be like 5 or 6 thousand dollars, and the mechanic comes in and he says... Hey, I've got some good news... it wasn't what we thought it was, it's only going to cost you $500 dollars, instead of 5,000.
Or when you get a letter saying your social security check is going up by a hundred dollars.
Or like when the doctor comes in after an operation, and says... I've got good news, we got it all, there's no cancer in your body.
Or when your tax preparer says, sir, I've got good news, you don't have to pay in any taxes this year, and in fact you're getting some money back from the state.
I have to tell you. I like good news. In fact, I love good news.
Well I said all of that to say this... that's what I want to do today. I want to give you some good news. You won't hear this good news on cnn, or msnbc, or even fox news.
You have to tune in to a different network to get the good news I'm talking about. You have to tune in to Spirit and Life channel, broadcasting live from the kingdom of heaven network.
The good news I'm talking about is the gospel. That's what gospel means..." good news!
Jesus said that our responsibility as his followers is to preach the gospel to every creature. He said specifically, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
2 Corinthians 5:20 says, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
It doesn't matter if you're a pastor, teacher, apostle, evangelist, or just a child of God who has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we are to be newscasters spreading the gospel— the good news every where we go.
Remember the song we sing every Christmas... Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.
That means proclaim the gospel— the good news everywhere you go. What is that gospel or that good news? It is that Jesus Christ is born.
Why is it good news that Jesus Christ was born? Because he was not just another baby born into the world... He is the son of God, who was born of a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, and died on the cross to take our sins away.
John 3:16-17 says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Why is it good news that Jesus came, and died on the cross, and what does that have to do with me? The answer is, it is good news for you and me because we were all sinners.
Romans 3:23 says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Then
Romans 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is the gospel, the good news... That even though Adam the first son, disobeyed God and partook of the forbidden fruit, and through his sin, he plunged the whole human race into sin, and separation from God. God in his mercy sent the second Adam, whose name is Jesus, and where the first Adam disobeyed God and sinned, Jesus the second Adam on the other hand, perfectly and completely obeyed God in everything, even his death on the cross.
The first Adam, made us all sinners through his sin of disobedience.
But Jesus the second Adam, on the other hand never committed sin. He obeyed God completely. So through his perfect obedience, we who were sinners because of the first Adam's sin, can now be brought back into fellowship with God through Jesus Christ the second Adam.
That's the gospel. That's the good news. Jesus the perfect son of God who never commited sin, died on the cross in our place for our sins, to take our sins away.
He actually became the substitute who suffered the penalty for our sins, so that we could be forgiven of our sins, and brought back into fellowship with God.
If you ever wondered how much Jesus loves you, all you have to do is look at Calvary and the cross where Jesus died, and the pain that he suffered, and understand... that it was for you personally.
Jesus didn't die on the cross for any sin, or transgression, or wrong doing of his own. He was crucified for us, in our place.
2 Corinthians 5:21says, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
That's the gospel, that's good news. Jesus endured and suffered the wrath of God for our sin, to deliver us from our sins, so he could have fellowship and a relationship with us.
That's good news— But wait there's more...
After Jesus died on the cross, he went down into hell, and there he defeated the devil. And then he rose from the dead. "So Jesus went to hell, so we could go to heaven."
But there's even more good news. When Jesus defeated the devil in hell, he took the keys of death and hell away from him. Then he rose from the dead and came to live in us, by his Holy Spirit.
And now by his Spirit in us, he gives us power over the devil. Power to live a holy life. power to put the devil under our feet.
Wait, we're not done yet, there's more good news. When Jesus went to that whipping post he took 39 stripes on his back. Those stripes weren't just because the soldiers were mean and wanted to make Jesus suffer.
It was the fulfillment of prophecy... those stripes were for the healing of our bodies.
Isaiah 53:4-5 says, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
This is one of the great benefits of our salvation... healing for our bodies.
Psalm 103:1-5 says... Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. [2] Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: [3] Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; [4] Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; [5] Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Oh I'm not done yet. We've got some more good news. Here it is... John 16:33 Jesus said, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Here Jesus tells us that no matter how crazy, turbulent and chaotic the world may become, you can have peace in the midst of the storm. And right behind peace comes joy.
John 10:10 Jesus said, the thief cometh not but for to steal to kill and destroy, but I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
Here's the good news, the gospel... though you and I could never be good enough to deserve heaven. And as a matter of fact we actually deserved hell... Jesus is good enough because he never comitted sin. He was and is perfectly righteous before God, and he imparts his righteousness to us. So now when God looks at us, he sees us in his son, and he see's us in his righteousness.
That's the gospel, that's the good news... Jesus took our sins upon himself, so he could put his righteousness upon us.
Friend, Isaiah the prophet said, we all like sheep have gone astray, and turned everyone to his own way. But listen to this... God hath laid on him, the iniquity of us all.
Beloved, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Jesus is calling to us today: Come unto me all ye who labor and are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
You say, Pastor is that all the good news you have for me today? Oh no. This same Jesus who is the son of God, who died on the cross for our sins, first spent 33 years on this earth living in a body of flesh, blood and bones. Why? So he could be a true and faithful high priest to represent us before God.
He the Son of God became the son of man, so he could faithfully and truthfully represent man to God.
He became like us, to make us like him. He walked and talked with us, he ate with us. He worked and got tired with us. He felt, love, acceptance, and hate, criticism, and anger, and ultimately the pain of being crucified. Why? So when we pray to him, he knows exactly how we feel.
And now he is our great intercessor who is seated at the fathers right hand continously interceeding to God the father on our behalf.
If someone says to you, it seems like all the news you hear today is bad, tell them you know a place where they can get some good news, straight from heaven. Tell them how to tune in to Spirit and Life channel, on the Kingdom of heaven network.
So here's good news for you today... It doesn't matter what the devil or his human partners do, or how dark and evil it gets in this world, ultimately the devil loses, because Jesus already defeated him over 2,000 years ago.
So the devil may be going about as a roaring lion, but the true lion of the tribe of Judah has already pulled his teeth. The devil is defeated, he is under our feet, Jesus stripped him of his authority and power when he came out of the grave.
Now Jesus lives in us, and he has given us power and authority in his name, to put the devil under our feet.
Tell your neighbor, that sounds like good news to me.
Friends, I don't think we can ever really comprehend the magnitude of this gospel message. We hear about Jesus dying on the cross, and shedding his blood to take away our sin. But we don't fully appreciate that for over 1,700 years there was no sacrifice that could take away sin. Millions of animals were slain and blood was shed, but it could never take away sin. It simply rolled it ahead to the next year.
But one day John spoke the words the entire human race was waiting to hear. He said "Behold The Lamb Of God, that taketh away the sin of the world". Jn 1:29
Friends, I have to tell you... that sounds like good news to me.
It doesn't matter who you are or what you have done, the blood of Jesus can save you, take away your sins, and make you a new creature.
That sounds like good news to me.
