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.
The good news of God calls all people, regardless of race, to obedience that comes by faith. Paul says (Romans 1:5-7 NIV) "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."
Sad to say today, people discriminate. You find discrimination all around you. It’s in the work place. It’s in school. It’s even in churches and denominations. A big issue right now in America is immigration. You may have very strong feelings on immigration. Let me share a perspective with you that you may not have thought about. America was founded as a Christian nation or a “good news of God” nation. God has made it possible for people of all races to come to America to have opportunity to hear about God’s good news and to see it lived out by example. They think they are coming for a better life. God is bringing them and placing them next to you in the work place, in the school house, in the market place and in your neighborhood so that you can share the good news of God with them through your words and through your deeds. May we never close down a door of opportunity that God has given us. May we constantly be reminded by the Holy Spirit that there will be those from all nations around the throne of God for all eternity. It’s a dream that Martin Luther King had that has become a reality to him around God’s throne. Let’s pray and live “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
I have a dream for Loving God Fellowship. In that dream, I see people from all nations sitting together and worshipping God together in cities across America and around the world. Not a racially segmented fellowship of people that love God and others, but a united fellowship of people that love God and people regardless of race.
THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD SETS PEOPLE APART FROM THE WORLD FOR HIS USE.
Paul knew that he was set apart by God. (Romans 1:1 NIV) "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God--" Paul’s conversion experience is vividly portrayed in Acts 9.
Beloved, please know that you have been set apart for the good news of God. You are no longer your own. As a servant or slave you were bought by God. The purchase price was more precious than money. The purchase price was the blood of Jesus Christ the son of God. Now you are no longer your own doing your own thing in a world that grows increasing out of step with the good news of God. No, you are called and set apart by God to live and to share the good news. It’s such an exciting life to live when we realize that our life here on this earth is not our own. We are living for Jesus and He is living in us. We are in this world, but we are not a part of this world. We have been separated and set apart from this world for the good news of God! Praise the Lord for His good news! Praise the Lord for buying you back from sin! Praise the Lord for His goodness, His mercy and His grace!
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