The Gospel. Part 1: The Problem

INTRODUCTION

Today we’re starting a series of four talks titled ‘the gospel.’ The word ‘gospel’ means ‘Good News.’ We like good news! People complain about the press and say that the press really prefers bad news to good news. But I think most of us like good news.

• Your friends have a baby. Good news!

• Your team’s star player is fit to play after an injury. Good news!

• You get a job offer. Good news!

• You get the results of a scan. There’s nothing to worry about. Good news!

Let’s imagine some bigger things…

• Britain and the EU work out a trade deal. Very good news!

• A vaccine against Covid-19 is approved. Very, very good news!

But there’s one piece of good news that is even better than all of these. It is that there is a solution to death itself. That is amazingly good – if it is true! But it seems unbelievable, and most people don’t believe it.

However, it is what Jesus claimed. Jesus said it over and over again. One place Jesus says this absolutely clearly is in John 6. I’m reading from verse 47 to 54:

'"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes HAS ETERNAL LIFE. [That’s clear.] I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, SO THAT ONE MAY EAT OF IT AND NOT DIE. [That’s clear too.] I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, HE WILL LIVE FOR EVER. [Also clear!] And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood HAS ETERNAL LIFE, AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP ON THE LAST DAY."' [This is clear too!]

Jesus is speaking very clearly, isn’t he? We may not believe what he says, but it’s clear what he’s saying. When politicians tell you something you often end up not being at all clear what they’ve told you. But Jesus is absolutely clear. He is saying that it’s possible to live forever!

If anyone else were to say this we would probably not give it a second’s thought. It can’t possibly be true. But if Jesus says it? Jesus seems like a reliable sort of guy… Let’s suppose this extraordinary claim IS true. In that case, where would we put it on the scale of ‘good news’? Surely it would be at the top! You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But the Good News that Jesus brings doesn’t stop there! When Jesus started to preach, he said this:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”

That is Luke 4:18-19.

In the first passage we looked at, Jesus said that it’s possible to live forever! That applies to THE FUTURE. In this passage, Jesus is promising blessings which apply to THIS LIFE. The gospel isn’t just Good News for the life to come; it’s also Good News for the here and now! It means that as Christians, we don’t just have GOOD news, we have the BEST possible news!

In my next four talks I’m going to try to explain this Good News. In this talk I’m going to talk about the problem. Next week, we’ll look at the solution. After that we’ll look at what it will mean if we accept Christ’s offer and what it will mean if we reject it.

THE PROBLEM

Why do I need to talk about ‘the problem’? A problem doesn’t sound like Good News! The reason I need to talk about ‘the problem’ is that we need to understand that there is a problem – a big problem – in order to see that the solution is really Good News.

Let me take Covid-19 as an example. The first case of Covid-19 was reported to the World Health Organization in December last year. But Covid-19 didn't suddenly appear out of nowhere. It most probably came into the human population from bats. Somehow a person came into contact with an infected bat, or perhaps with bat waste, and the virus was able to move from the bat to the person.