“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” – Matthew 4:23-25
“And this gospel must be preached in all the world ….” Matthew 24:14
The word for gospel in Greek is: “Euangelion.” This word is most often translated as gospel in the New Testament, but it more accurately refers to a message of ‘good news,’ which is the literal definintion of the word. “Euangelion” is a combination of two Greek words: Eû (“good”) and Angelion (“message”). In Old English, it was translated as “good news” or “good spell.” The update Anglo-Saxon term, “god-spell,” which also means “good story”, is another root of the word. So the word gospel means telling the good story of all that Jesus has done.
When Jesus and the apostles spoke the word “Euangelion,” they were drawing from their contemporary culture. “Euangelion” was not a religious terminology. Interestingly, the word held a political connotation, and was often associated with kings, rulers, and the establishment of their rulership and kingdoms. As believers in Christ, we’re called to preach the “Euangelion” (Gospel, good news), which is the spiritual announcement of the Kingdom of God, and all that Christ purchased for us by His death, resurrection, and through His rulership as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
News isn’t news unless it is “new.”
Consider this: The word “news” specifically refers to information about new or unknown events to the hearer. This focus on “newness” is actually what sets news apart from other types of information. The ministry of world missions realizes that we are carriers of the “newness” of the message of the gospel of Christ. This good news must reach those who have never heard and those who don’t clearly understand the message of Christ. As you read this, the reality is – there are countless millions who have never heard, and we as the church are entrusted to go and share the clear and simple message of the gospel of Christ, that men and women might receive Jesus, and His great gift of salvation, and eternal life with God.
The passion of Christ is herein … (God) “Who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Tim. 2:4
- “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Cor. 15:3,4)
- God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s trespasses against them (2 Cor. 5:19)
- God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21)
- Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David: this is my Gospel (2 Tim. 2:8)
