Did you know that Angels showed up, privately to several ordinary people and then publicly to a whole group of agricultural workers, to announce something so huge and so amazing that it takes 27 different messages to explain it? It’s true. Now, a lot has happened in the 2,000 years since Angels were heard on high, sweetly singing over the plains and proclaiming:
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14)
And its also true that a lot of harsh realities of the world have happened since then which can make us feel dulled, numb or bored with this incredible message; Perhaps even angry with the message. But have we really heard it?
Some say it’s a useless message. Some question what the message really meant. And yet others find this message a reason to argue with each other every year. Still others claim that any significance to this message is long past. We here at Mission1711 are convinced that it’s still relevant today, with very good reason.
Because it’s not just a one time message. It’s a once for all times message!
What is this peace and goodwill toward men?? What does it mean? Well, Jesus of Nazareth began his ministry reading from the Prophet Isaiah saying “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel…” (Luke 4:16-19)
The New Testament portion of the Bible uses this word “gospel” 95 times! Yet, it’s hard to see that message was even in the Old Testament of the Bible, until Jesus came. Do we even know what it really means? Roughly translated, the word means good news, or glad tidings or a really great report of something excellent happening.
We at Mission1711 call it the Great News, because it is the only truly good news in all of history. And it’s too great for us to ignore. Despite the fact that most of the people of Jesus’ times did ignore or rejected this message, as much as most people do today, the message came to a people who were supposed to be waiting to hear it. They had been told to prepare, to be ready to hear something really good, and new, when their Messiah came.
Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God had told them:
“Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19)
Now, when God personally speaks and says “Behold!” we want to pay attention. This is God’s way of saying “HEY! Heads up! Don’t MISS THIS.” God is telling us that something important, that we need to know, is coming. And in our case in modern times, it already came.
God also asks rhetorically “…now (that) it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” In other words, God knew in advance that there are going to be people who will miss it. He knows there are many who walk by and don’t turn in to check out this awesome thing He’s doing.
But what is this thing? What is this good report that Angels showed up, privately and publicly, to announce? Well the larger section of that prophecy says:
Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19)
So, right up front, God is saying that it’s okay (actually important) to let go of the expectations and requirements of the former covenant. He’s saying I am. Doing. Something. New. And then he goes on to explain that he’s making a way in the wilderness, with rivers in the desert.
This “Way” is the same “way” spoken of by Messiah (Jesus Christ of Nazareth) when he said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6)
The way that Jesus is speaking of there is a means of passage from the wilderness that mankind was originally cast into, when God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden; When man rebelled against God and chose to try to replace the Creator God with ourselves as god. We have been lost in that wilderness ever since.
Now, Jesus gives us rivers of water in the desert, as he said to the Samaritan woman, in John chapter 4. Rivers of living water that spring up from deep within us, from within the desert of our lost and parch souls.
Jesus isn’t just a teacher, or a method of finding God. He isn’t just a man. Jesus is The Way, the journey itself; Jesus is the road out of the wilderness – the road back to Eden. Jesus is the rivers in the desert. Because the great news is that God himself came down and lived among us, humbling himself as a servant.
There is so much embedded in this one fact; but the core of it is that He came to set us free. He came to restore us. Not by laws and rituals, but by relationship, by the power of His life-giving spirit. He himself has come. He didn’t merely send prophets or priests. He became human to make us children of God. And this is the great news, that news that is so good, so great that that it has to be explained 95 times in the New Testament. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The one who came, by the will of the Father, to set people free.
But how, and what does that all mean? When John the Baptist came ahead of Jesus to prepare things for him, John said “behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World.” From Moses until Jesus, sin could only be covered each year by the sacrifice of a perfect lamb. This pointed forward to the coming sacrifice of the one true perfect sacrifice: the Second Adam, who did not sin. In a manner similar to the law of Double Jeopardy, by dying under the judicial penalty for sinners on a Roman cross, when He had never sinned, he earned a total satisfaction of Judgment for us, which He gives freely to those who will receive it by trusting Him. The Father has already said He is satisfied with that judgment on our behalf. So, we need only to receive it.
In doing that, we step into the new day: the day of God’s kindness and favor. We receive Him by faith, but God accepts that as completed judgment on our behalf. This is why God said through Isaiah (40:1) “Comfort, comfort my people!” This is not merely a temporal or transitory comfort of merely winning a battle or having some earthly success. This the is the comfort of God coming to walk among us, in our flesh. This is the comfort that came when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us to dwell in us forever. This is the comfort that came when the one who died for us, also rose again to prove that He has mastery over death itself.
This is why the New Testament says there is now a New Creation. Yes, there is a new creation of the natural world coming in the future, but there is a very present reality of a new creation that is made within us. As God has said:
“Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
Its not merely that He did a new thing, or will do a new thing. This is a new thing that God is still doing. This is a thing he will keep doing, until Jesus returns to take us home to His Father’s house.
The only question is: do you perceive it? If not, we encourage you today to call out to Jesus. Call out to the Risen Savior, who died as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and ask him to take away your sin. That means you have to acknowledge that you have sin he needs to take away. Jesus said that if you ask God to give you this Great News, that He will not reject you for it. You just have to humble yourself enough to recognize that you need Him, acknowledge that Jesus alone is the solution and ask him for this New Life that He desires to give you. A whole new world will open to you. A passage in the wilderness; rivers in the desert of your existence. A new and living relationship with the creator himself will be possible. A healing of all the broken and sick wrongs that have been done to you, and that you have done.
This is the message of Jesus. This is the Great News. Come along with us on the Jesus Adventure, as we discover all that God has prepared for us who follow Jesus and learn to know Him.
[wps_listen_btn]
The Great News – A review of the Christian Gospel
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14)
And its also true that a lot of harsh realities of the world have happened since then which can make us feel dulled, numb or bored with this incredible message; Perhaps even angry with the message. But have we really heard it?
Some say it’s a useless message. Some question what the message really meant. And yet others find this message a reason to argue with each other every year. Still others claim that any significance to this message is long past. We here at Mission1711 are convinced that it’s still relevant today, with very good reason.
Because it’s not just a one time message. It’s a once for all times message!
What is this peace and goodwill toward men?? What does it mean? Well, Jesus of Nazareth began his ministry reading from the Prophet Isaiah saying “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel…” (Luke 4:16-19)
We at Mission1711 call it the Great News, because it is the only truly good news in all of history. And it’s too great for us to ignore. Despite the fact that most of the people of Jesus’ times did ignore or rejected this message, as much as most people do today, the message came to a people who were supposed to be waiting to hear it. They had been told to prepare, to be ready to hear something really good, and new, when their Messiah came.
Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God had told them:
“Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19)
Now, when God personally speaks and says “Behold!” we want to pay attention. This is God’s way of saying “HEY! Heads up! Don’t MISS THIS.” God is telling us that something important, that we need to know, is coming. And in our case in modern times, it already came.
God also asks rhetorically “…now (that) it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” In other words, God knew in advance that there are going to be people who will miss it. He knows there are many who walk by and don’t turn in to check out this awesome thing He’s doing.
But what is this thing? What is this good report that Angels showed up, privately and publicly, to announce? Well the larger section of that prophecy says:
Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19)
This “Way” is the same “way” spoken of by Messiah (Jesus Christ of Nazareth) when he said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6)
The way that Jesus is speaking of there is a means of passage from the wilderness that mankind was originally cast into, when God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden; When man rebelled against God and chose to try to replace the Creator God with ourselves as god. We have been lost in that wilderness ever since.
Now, Jesus gives us rivers of water in the desert, as he said to the Samaritan woman, in John chapter 4. Rivers of living water that spring up from deep within us, from within the desert of our lost and parch souls.
Jesus isn’t just a teacher, or a method of finding God. He isn’t just a man. Jesus is The Way, the journey itself; Jesus is the road out of the wilderness – the road back to Eden. Jesus is the rivers in the desert. Because the great news is that God himself came down and lived among us, humbling himself as a servant.
There is so much embedded in this one fact; but the core of it is that He came to set us free. He came to restore us. Not by laws and rituals, but by relationship, by the power of His life-giving spirit. He himself has come. He didn’t merely send prophets or priests. He became human to make us children of God. And this is the great news, that news that is so good, so great that that it has to be explained 95 times in the New Testament. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The one who came, by the will of the Father, to set people free.
But how, and what does that all mean? When John the Baptist came ahead of Jesus to prepare things for him, John said “behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World.” From Moses until Jesus, sin could only be covered each year by the sacrifice of a perfect lamb. This pointed forward to the coming sacrifice of the one true perfect sacrifice: the Second Adam, who did not sin. In a manner similar to the law of Double Jeopardy, by dying under the judicial penalty for sinners on a Roman cross, when He had never sinned, he earned a total satisfaction of Judgment for us, which He gives freely to those who will receive it by trusting Him. The Father has already said He is satisfied with that judgment on our behalf. So, we need only to receive it.
In doing that, we step into the new day: the day of God’s kindness and favor. We receive Him by faith, but God accepts that as completed judgment on our behalf. This is why God said through Isaiah (40:1) “Comfort, comfort my people!” This is not merely a temporal or transitory comfort of merely winning a battle or having some earthly success. This the is the comfort of God coming to walk among us, in our flesh. This is the comfort that came when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us to dwell in us forever. This is the comfort that came when the one who died for us, also rose again to prove that He has mastery over death itself.
This is why the New Testament says there is now a New Creation. Yes, there is a new creation of the natural world coming in the future, but there is a very present reality of a new creation that is made within us. As God has said:
“Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
Its not merely that He did a new thing, or will do a new thing. This is a new thing that God is still doing. This is a thing he will keep doing, until Jesus returns to take us home to His Father’s house.
The only question is: do you perceive it? If not, we encourage you today to call out to Jesus. Call out to the Risen Savior, who died as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and ask him to take away your sin. That means you have to acknowledge that you have sin he needs to take away. Jesus said that if you ask God to give you this Great News, that He will not reject you for it. You just have to humble yourself enough to recognize that you need Him, acknowledge that Jesus alone is the solution and ask him for this New Life that He desires to give you. A whole new world will open to you. A passage in the wilderness; rivers in the desert of your existence. A new and living relationship with the creator himself will be possible. A healing of all the broken and sick wrongs that have been done to you, and that you have done.
This is the message of Jesus. This is the Great News. Come along with us on the Jesus Adventure, as we discover all that God has prepared for us who follow Jesus and learn to know Him.
[wps_listen_btn]
Published in Commentary, Great News and The Jesus Adventure