A Christian Guidebook: What Is the Gospel? (1)

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” Luke 2.10

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3.16

Good News!
Anyone who has become a Christian will tell you that the Gospel is Good News. The word “gospel” means “good news” or “good tidings.” When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, when the God/Man came among us to restore human wholeness and defeat the devil, Good News of great joy was unleashed in the world.

But not like a savage beast, to tear, injure, harm, and deprive, as many people seem to think. More like a wiggly puppy, full of love, looking for a lap to plop on, a face to lick, and squeals of joy to evoke.

For the Gospel of Jesus Christ is Good News of joy! Joy that drives away every fear. Joy that no change of circumstances can diminish. Joy that far surpasses every form of mere happiness. Joy that fills one with an indestructible sense of wellbeing, delight, pleasure, and hope. The joy we as human beings were made to know, happiness full up, overflowing, and without end.

For C. S. Lewis, this joy was the driving force of his life. He explained joy as “an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction” (Surprised by Joy). He insisted that anyone who ever experienced joy would want to know it again and again. Yet, Lewis continued, “Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.” Because joy comes not from within, but from without.

For the joy of the Gospel is to be found in Jesus. He is our joy. He is Lord and King of all creation and Savior of those who know, love, and serve Him. He is joy, as every Christian knows, and as every Christian is eager to tell the world.

But of what does this joy consist? Why does Jesus fulfill our great need for joy?

So loved
First, because Jesus is the proof that the eternal God and Creator of all things loves us with an everlasting love. Joy is knowing—being assured and experiencing—that you are loved by God.

Not because we deserve it, for we know we do not. But because He is love and He loved us even before the world was created. God’s love surrounds and sustains us in the present, and it will endure for us to all eternity. God demonstrated His love for us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5.8). He loved us in the slime of our sin, the grime of our grossness, and the muck of our moral corruption. He sent Jesus, the God/Man, to accomplish our salvation through His life, death, resurrection, and reign. He loved us as His own children and sent the Spirit of Jesus to dwell in us. He loves us by being with us always, even to the end of the age and beyond. He will never fail us nor forsake us, so great and constant and joy-filled is His love for us.

The Gospel is the Good News that we are loved unfailingly, and Jesus is the proof of that love.

The gift of life
The Gospel also fills us with the joy of full, abundant, and eternal life in Jesus. Not just living forever. That would be boring. But life eternal, to know God and Jesus Christ with unimpeded intimacy and unparalleled pleasure (Jn. 17.3; Ps. 16.11). Joy is knowing and experiencing eternal life with God.

Many people today have the idea, because they are breathing, eating, working, and all the rest that goes with physical animation, that they are alive. They already have life. But unless they know Jesus and have received the joyous gift of full and abundant life which only He can give, they are merely going through the motions of life. For they have no lasting joy, no firm hope, no power to transform their self-centered ways, no sense of participation in His Body, and no ability to discern and delight in the beauty, goodness, and truth of the God of life. One must be truly alive for such privileges and joys, and only in Jesus Christ can such life be known.

The life of joy comes as a gift, bought and paid for by Jesus and bestowed by His Father and ours. No strings attached. That gift empowers one to become a Christian and to embark on the most meaningful and joyful adventure of life anyone can know.

Even in the hard times
None of this is to say that the Gospel does come to us with some trials. There will be setbacks, disappointments, failures, perhaps even harassment or persecution. There will be times of sorrow and difficulty.

All this will come because the Gospel comes to us in time and as sinners. Because of lingering sin, both in us and in the world, we cannot know the uninterrupted joy that we will know when we see Jesus face to face and are like Him (1 Jn. 3.1-3). But we can know constant joy, like a constant Companion, an unfailing Friend, the Strength we need in times of weakness, and the Satisfaction we can know amid dissatisfaction.

Joy unfailing. Joy illimitable. Joy to the world. The joy that is Jesus: The Gospel of Jesus Christ is Good News of Joy!

Search the Scriptures
1. Meditate on John 10.10 and 14.6. What kind of “life” did Jesus give us in the Gospel? How do you experience this life?

2. Jesus said that eternal life was to know God and Jesus Christ (Jn. 17.3). How did Jesus use the word “know” here? How does one come to “know” God and Jesus like this? When does this eternal life begin?

3. According to John 15.9-11, how can our joy in this life “be full”?

Next steps—Conversation: When do you experience the joy of the Gospel? Share your answer with a Christian friend.

T. M. Moore

If this study has been helpful or encouraging to you, please take a moment to give thanks to God for His grace and truth.

Additional Resources
A Christian is one who has responded to the Gospel. But what is the Gospel? To brush-up on your understanding of the Gospel and improve your witness, order a copy of our book, The Gospel of the Kingdom, by clicking here. Order two copies and invite a friend to read it with you.

Support for ReVision comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.

And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or you may send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.