THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL -- Without the Christian jargon

THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL  -- Without the Christian jargon

 Gospel is a word often used by Christians when they speak. It is a word that has two meanings and these two meanings are closely related.

The meaning of the word “gospel”:

•                      The word “Gospel” is an old English word which means good news. It is related to another old currently used old English word: gossip. But “gossip” means rumors and bad news about other people, the word gospel is used of news that is true and so wonderful it sounds unbelievable but which is nevertheless very, very true.

This leads to the second meaning: something which tells the wonderful unbelievable truth about Jesus Christ.

•                      The second meaning of the word gospel refers to four books in the Bible which tells about the life of Jesus Christ. There are four gospels

•                      The gospel according to Matthew

•                      The gospel according to Mark

•                      The gospel according to Luke

•                      The gospel according to John

                These gospel writers are called “evangelists” which is a Greek word which means “Messengers who tell the good news.” Three of the four writers (Matthew, Mark, and John) were friends, followers (sometimes called an “apostle”) and eyewitnesses of Jesus when he lived on earth. The fourth (Luke) was a friend who met them later. He was also a researcher and a doctor and he wrote another book in the Bible called “The Acts of the Apostles” which tells about how Jesus’ followers taught the gospel and what they did as they preached the good news.

All the gospels were written to tell about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ lived more than 2000 years ago in Israel. At that time the country was called Palestine and the Romans had invaded the country. The gospels show Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, and telling people about God’s love. But for Christians, Jesus is more than a mere historical figure. Christians believe Jesus is:

•                      The Pure and Ultimate sacrifice for a person’s sins

•                      The Love of God made visible

•                      The One and only mediator between God and humans, someone who is equal to both God and humans and so he can speak to both.

•                      The uncreated Son of God who co-created the world with God the Father

•                      The Prophet who spoke the ultimate truth and mysteries about God, God’s love, Faith, Evil and the Devil, Truth, Life, Death, Spiritual Laws, and the spiritual world. 

•                      The True Example of what a real human being should be.

•                      The Living Word of God in human flesh.

•                      The Way to God and to heaven

•                      The revealer of certain mysteries such as how the world really works.

What is the good news of Jesus Christ?

Christians believe that humans don't understand how the real world operates. Christians believe there is a spiritual realm with spiritual laws and operations that affect this earthly world we live on and because the world is confused about these spiritual laws and about God (who created these laws) people wrong God, wrong other people, and wrong themselves.

 The good news of Jesus Christ is based on the following beliefs:

•                      God loved humanity and saw that humanity had forgotten how loved they were.

•                      God wanted humans to know him yet he knew they could not understand his goodness or his essence because the way humans thought was different from the way God thought because God is spirit

•                      God saw that no matter how hard people tried, they could never be as good as God wished them to be. Nor did they wish to be.

•                      God’s holiness required justice and required that all sins – bad things we do, think, or say such as murder, lying, pride, or sexual immorality—be punished. But God’s mercy wanted to provide a way to help people come to Him.

•                      God understood that people couldn’t be good without His help, yet people did not understand that they needed to understand what goodness, justice, and love were.

•                      God sent Jesus Christ, who is the representation of everything God is, to be born on earth as a Savior, Teacher, and Sacrifice on earth

•                      God put the punishment for all the sins humans would ever commit onto Jesus.

•                      Jesus perfectly did everything God sent Him to do.

•                      Jesus lived a perfect life, and died for all the sins that sinners had ever and would ever commit in order to pay for their sins 

•                      Jesus gave his life to free humans from death, hell, and the power of sin.

•                      Jesus sends God’s Holy Spirit to live within those who believe what the gospel writers say about Jesus.

•                      That anyone who puts his or her trust in Jesus  and asks Jesus to died for his sin have power over sin and sickness and conquers the world through their faith in all that Jesus did.

God wanted those people on earth to understand what the truth about goodness, spiritual reality, and God's love really is.

What the gospel is not

The gospel is not

•                      A system of laws -- although those who believe in the gospel should be good.

•                      The gospel is not aesthetics – although those who believe in Jesus often worship God in many kinds of beautiful settings and church services

•                      The gospel is not political correctness – although those who believe in Jesus are commanded to be kind and good to all people

•                      The gospel is not etiquette – although good behavior is always a good thing.

How do you become friends with God and stop being separated from Him and His way of thinking?

If you want to be reconciled to God and feel that something is separating you from him, say this prayer:

God, some people are so sure that you exist. Some people are so sure that you love them. They say that if we ask you for anything and mention Jesus to you, you will answer our prayer. Please God please let me know you in the way your son Jesus Christ does. Please let me understand everything about the Bible and about you and about Jesus. Please help me see that you have destroyed even the most powerful sin and that if you live in me that I will be able to conquer sin and all that sin does to my body, mind, and soul. Please let me understand your love, your care, and your power. Help me to trust in you and for the sake of Jesus and all Jesus did for humans, please forgive me of all my sins, free my soul and spirit from the damage sin has caused in my life and make me your true and obedient child. Amen. It's done.

THE END

The poor have the gospel preached to them

Now there is a verse we Christians stumble over.

Some will say that through hearing the gospel the poor understand how much God loves them.

Others will say that the poor hear the gospel and understand how really blessed they are in remaining poor.

Others will say it means the poor are to become rich.

Others will say the poor will learn how to have a better life.

Honestly, it sounds mercenary as heck for me to say this...but it comes from the depth of my heart: POVERTY IS A BITCH. It can lead to ill health, broken marriages, sick children, bad diseases of poverty, lack of medical attention which makes simple illnesses become worse, self-loathing, inferiority among one's neighbors, hopelessness and despair, starvation, the crumbling away of one's house, homelessness, friendlessness.

So I'm going to say that I think God may bless the poor and he may love the poor but he doesn't want the poor to remain poor. He doesn't want us so rich that we get destroyed by our wealth, of course. And he doesn't want us to be so rich we forget what it is like to lack...but I truly believe the gospel was preached to the poor so that they could have abundant life on earth as well as in heaven. They will be done on earth as it is in heaven. There! I've said it. -C

Gospel Basics

Gospel is a word often used by Christians when they speak. It is a word that has two meanings and these two meanings are closely related.

The meaning of the word gospel :

• The word “Gospel” is an old English word which means good news. It is related to another old currently used old English word: gossip. But “gossip” means rumors and bad news about other people, the word gospel is used of news that is true and so wonderful it sounds unbelievable but which is nevertheless very, very true. This leads to the second meaning: something which tells the wonderful unbelievable truth about Jesus Christ.
• The second meaning of the word gospel refers to four books in the Bible which tells about the life of Jesus Christ. There are four gospels
• The gospel according to Matthew
• The gospel according to Mark
• The gospel according to Luke
• The gospel according to John
These gospel writers are called “evangelists” which is a Greek word which means “Messengers who tell the good news.” Three of the four writers (Matthew, Mark, and John) were friends, followers (sometimes called an “apostle”) and eyewitnesses of Jesus when he lived on earth. The fourth (Luke) was a friend who met them later. He was also a researcher and a doctor and he wrote another book in the Bible called “The Acts of the Apostles” which tells about how Jesus’ followers taught the gospel and what they did as they preached the good news.

All the gospels were written to tell about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ lived more than 2000 years ago in Israel. At that time the country was called Palestine and the Romans had invaded the country. The gospels show Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, and telling people about God’s love. But for Christians, Jesus is more than a mere historical figure. Christians believe Jesus is:
• The Pure and Ultimate sacrifice for a person’s sins
• The Love of God made visible
• The One and only mediator between God and humans, someone who is equal to both God and humans and so he can speak to both.
• The uncreated Son of God who co-created the world with God the Father
• The Prophet who spoke the ultimate truth and mysteries about God, God’s love, Faith, Evil and the Devil, Truth, Life, Death, Spiritual Laws, and the spiritual world.
• The True Example of what a real human being should be.
• The Living Word of God in human flesh.
• The Way to God and to heaven
• The revealer of certain mysteries such as how the world really works.

What is the good news of Jesus Christ?
The good news of Jesus Christ is based on the following beliefs:
• God loved humanity and saw that humanity had forgotten how loved they were.
• God wanted humans to know him yet he knew they could not understand his goodness or his essence because the way humans thought was different from the way God thought because God is good and God is spirit
• God saw that no matter how hard people tried, they could never be as good as God wished them to be. Nor did they wish to be.
• God’s holiness required justice and required that all sins – bad things we do, think, or say such as murder, lying, pride, or sexual immorality—be punished. But God’s mercy wanted to provide a way to help people come to Him.
• God understood that people couldn’t be good without His help, yet people did not understand that they needed to understand what goodness, justice, and love were.
• God sent Jesus Christ, who is the representation of everything God is, to be born on earth as a Savior, Teacher, and Sacrifice on earth
• God put the punishment for all the sins humans would ever commit onto Jesus.
• Jesus perfectly did everything God sent Him to do.
• Jesus lived a perfect life, and died for all the sins that sinners had ever and would ever commit in order to pay for their sins
• Jesus gave his life to free humans from death, hell, and the power of sin.
• Jesus sends God’s Holy Spirit to live within those who believe what the gospel writers say about Jesus.
• That anyone who puts his or her trust in Jesus and asks Jesus to died for his sin have power over sin and sickness and conquers the world through their faith in all that Jesus did.

What the gospel is not
The gospel is not
• A system of laws -- although those who believe in the gospel should be good.
• The gospel is not aesthetics – although those who believe in Jesus often worship God in many kinds of beautiful settings and church services
• The gospel is not political correctness – although those who believe in Jesus are commanded to be kind and good to all people
• The gospel is not etiquette – although good behavior is always a good thing.

WHAT THE GOSPEL IS
1 – Jesus gave those who would believe in Him God’s life, the power to use God’s words, and God’s authority over sin, sickness, death. Those who believe in Jesus are no longer regular human beings; they are a kind of new creation – perfectly human…and yet like God …just as Jesus was so are His people in the world.

2 – The words of the Bible are living and active. They have power and God’s life within them.

3 – Christianity is a religion which states that one cannot reach God by one’s own righteousness, wisdom, mystical experience etc. In short, one cannot reach God at all because human righteousness leads to boasting and self-righteousness (if goodness is achieved). Or it leads to self-delusion and boasting, judgemental behavior towards others. God sees human righteousness as pitiful and like a person dressed in filthy rags. Christianity is about accepting the love of God as one’s father and living a life of daily trust in the saving work of Jesus. Christians believe that Jesus was a substitute death for us and his triumph over death, sin and self resurrection saves us if we believe and trust in His work. In Christianity, there is a “great exchange” where God’s goodness is imparted to those who believe in Christ. The work of a Christian, therefore, is not primarily to be good enough to get into heaven. Because no one can be good enough to do that. But the Christian’s work is to believe, to live a life of daily trusting and relying on God’s love, care, and power working in us who believe.

4 – God showed the world that Jesus was the bringer of Truth and the Savior of all men by raising Jesus from the dead. God could have raised any other prophet from the dead. But He did not, because the only Truth God wanted to set His seal on – to endorse as we would say—is the Truth, Way, and Life ad Jesus taught it.

5 – Jesus is the only prophet of any religion who is still alive. God gave Him the power to conquer death because Jesus is God. Jesus is all the words God ever spoke made into human flesh. Jesus knew God before the beginning of human existence. Jesus always was and is not merely a good man, but God Himself.

How do you become friends with God?
If you want to be reconciled to God and feel that something is separating you from him, say this prayer:
God, some people are so sure that you exist. Some people are so sure that you love them. They say that if we ask you for anything and mention Jesus to you, you will answer our prayer. Please God please let me know you in the way your son Jesus Christ does. Please let me understand everything about the Bible and about you and about Jesus. Please help me see that you have destroyed even the most powerful sin and that if you live in me that I will be able to conquer sin and all that sin does to my body, mind, and soul. Please let me understand your love, your care, and your power. Help me to trust in you and for the sake of Jesus and all Jesus did for humans, please forgive me of all my sins, free my soul and spirit from the damage sin has caused in my life and make me your true and obedient child. Amen. It's done.

Loving St Luke

Nah, not talking about my hubby Luke...although he is a bit of a saint and although I DO love the beloved. Am talking about Luke, the physician who wrote the gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.

Luke is a supreme fighter for the oppressed and the poor. Of course he's the one who puts in Mary's Magnificat -- the song about how the rich are gonna suffer and be rejected. It connects to the song Hannah sang in the book of Samuel.

But also, check out his version of the Sermon on the Mount and compare it with Matthew's version. The way Luke writes it...it's all about poverty and wealth. Matthew starts with "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Luke says, "Blessed are the poor." Period. Love it! Compare how he tells about the healing of the woman with the issue of blood to Matthew's version. Heck, Luke does all this research about Jesus and he has a choice of telling about the three wise men coming to Jesus and bringing gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense. But does Luke even care about that? Nah!!! He totally ignores that part of the story and tells us instead about the birth in the manger. No wonder the Liberation Theologists love this guy!

THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL

I'm always amazed at how we Christians tend to use jargon when we try to preach the gospel....even when we are trying our best not to. Did I just hear a person witnessing to some stranger say, "Jesus came to save you from your sin and to bring us his glorious gospel that you may enter into His body?" Oh, where does one start with a declaration such as this?

Well, for the innocent non-believer out there, here are the basics of the gospel...in as non-jargonal terms as I can make it. I'm sure some jargon might have slipped in. But at least I'm trying to get down to the nitty-gritty of my faith. I tried this with Wind Follower too. Just to get down the basic folkloric aspect of Christianity. So here goes:

Gospel is a word often used by Christians when they speak. It is a word that has two meanings and these two meanings are closely related.

The meaning of the word gospel :

• The word “Gospel” is an old English word which means good news. It is related to another old currently used old English word: gossip. But “gossip” means rumors and bad news about other people, the word gospel is used of news that is true and so wonderful it sounds unbelievable but which is nevertheless very, very true. This leads to the second meaning: something which tells the wonderful unbelievable truth about Jesus Christ.
• The second meaning of the word gospel refers to four books in the Bible which tells about the life of Jesus Christ. There are four gospels
• The gospel according to Matthew
• The gospel according to Mark
• The gospel according to Luke
• The gospel according to John
These gospel writers are called “evangelists” which is a Greek word which means “Messengers who tell the good news.” Three of the four writers (Matthew, Mark, and John) were friends, followers (sometimes called an “apostle”) and eyewitnesses of Jesus when he lived on earth. The fourth (Luke) was a friend who met them later. He was also a researcher and a doctor and he wrote another book in the Bible called “The Acts of the Apostles” which tells about how Jesus’ followers taught the gospel and what they did as they preached the good news.

All the gospels were written to tell about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ lived more than 2000 years ago in Israel. At that time the country was called Palestine and the Romans had invaded the country. The gospels show Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, and telling people about God’s love. But for Christians, Jesus is more than a mere historical figure. Christians believe Jesus is:
• The Pure and Ultimate sacrifice for a person’s sins
• The Love of God made visible
• The One and only mediator between God and humans, someone who is equal to both God and humans and so he can speak to both.
• The uncreated Son of God who co-created the world with God the Father
• The Prophet who spoke the ultimate truth and mysteries about God, God’s love, Faith, Evil and the Devil, Truth, Life, Death, Spiritual Laws, and the spiritual world.
• The True Example of what a real human being should be.
• The Living Word of God in human flesh.
• The Way to God and to heaven
• The revealer of certain mysteries such as how the world really works.

What is the good news of Jesus Christ?

The good news of Jesus Christ is based on the following beliefs:

• God loved humanity and saw that humanity had forgotten how loved they were.
• God wanted humans to know him yet he knew they could not understand his goodness or his essence because the way humans thought was different from the way God thought because God is good and God is spirit
r•
how hard people tried, they could never be as good as God wished them to be. Nor did they wish to be.
• God’s holiness required justice and required that all sins – bad things we do, think, or say such as murder, lying, pride, or sexual immorality—be punished. But God’s mercy wanted to provide a way to help people come to Him.
t•
people couldn’t be good without His help, yet people did not understand that they needed to understand what goodness, justice, and love were.
• God sent Jesus Christ, who is the representation of everything God is, to be born on earth as a Savior, Teacher, and Sacrifice on earth
• God put the punishment for all the sins humans would ever commit onto Jesus.
• Jesus perfectly did everything God sent Him to do.
• Jesus lived a perfect life, and died for all the sins that sinners had ever and would ever commit in order to pay for their sins
• Jesus gave his life to free humans from death, hell, and the power of sin.
• Jesus sends God’s Holy Spirit to live within those who believe what the gospel writers say about Jesus.
• T
hat anyone who puts his or her trust in Jesus and asks Jesus to died for his sin have power over sin and sickness and conquers the world through their faith in all that Jesus did.

What the gospel is not


The gospel is not
• A system of laws -- although those who believe in the gospel should be good.
• The gospel is not aesthetics – although those who believe in Jesus often worship God in many kinds of beautiful settings and church services
• The gospel is not political correctness – although those who believe in Jesus are commanded to be kind and good to all people
• The gospel is not etiquette – although good behavior is always a good thing.

How do you become friends with God?
If you want to be reconciled to God and feel that something is separating you from him, say this prayer:
God, some people are so sure that you exist. Some people are so sure that you love them. They say that if we ask you for anything and mention Jesus to you, you will answer our prayer. Please God please let me know you in the way your son Jesus Christ does. Please let me understand everything about the Bible and about you and about Jesus. Please help me see that you have destroyed even the most powerful sin and that if you live in me that I will be able to conquer sin and all that sin does to my body, mind, and soul. Please let me understand your love, your care, and your power. Help me to trust in you and for the sake of Jesus and all Jesus did for humans, please forgive me of all my sins, free my soul and spirit from the damage sin has caused in my life and make me your true and obedient child. Amen. It's done.


Carole McDonnell’s fiction, devotionals, poetry and essays have appeared in many publishing venues, in print and online. She lives with her husband, their two sons in upstate New York