A Christian Guidebook: What Is the Gospel? (2)

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Luke 2.25

Long expected
A favorite Charles Wesley hymn has the following stanza:

Come, Thou long expected Jesus,
born to set Thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth Thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Wesley understood that the Gospel is about joy, the joy that every human heart ultimately longs to know. The hopes and deepest desires of every person in every nation culminate in Jesus, for He alone can set us free from our fears and sins and bring our souls true and eternal rest.

Before Jesus was born, He was expected. Devout men and women, who read and understood the Scriptures of the Old Testament, had set their desires on One Who, in His coming, would bring strength and consolation to the world.

Simeon was one such person. Luke describes him as “just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel”, for that promised One Who, Simeon knew, would bring salvation, the revelation of God’s will, and the glory of the Lord to His people (Lk. 2.29-32).

There must have been many others who were expecting the salvation and Kingdom and glory of God to appear, for Anna, the prophetess, upon seeing Jesus in the temple, “gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Lk. 2.36-38).

So there were many at the time of Jesus’ birth who believed that Good News was coming—Good News of joy and forgiveness and hope and salvation for the nations. The sudden appearance of Jesus kindled the hopes of these people who dared to hope that He might be the One “to redeem Israel” (Lk. 24.21).

Jesus was long expected because the Word of God was widely and truly known.

What did they know?
It will not be possible in a short space to provide a catalog of everything the Old Testament teaches about the coming Consolation of Israel and Savior of the world. Those in Jesus’ day who read and re-read and studied and meditated on Scripture must have cherished dozens of passages with which they no doubt encouraged one another never to give up hope. Let’s briefly consider just a few of these:

Genesis 3.15: God would send a descendant of Eve to destroy the devil and restore humankind.
Genesis 49.8-11: A King would descend from Judah like a lion to rule all God’s people and all nations.
Deuteronomy 18.15-19: A Prophet like Moses was coming with words every person must heed.
Psalm 2: God would set His own Son on the throne in Zion, and He would rule all the nations.
Psalm 110: God’s Son and David’s Lord would ascend to a heavenly throne and rule all His enemies.
Isaiah 9.6, 7: An eternal King is coming to bring a Kingdom of peace without end.
Haggai 2.6-9: The One Who will dwell among God’s people—the Desire of all Nations—is coming soon.
Zechariah 2.10-13: God is sending a King to His people Who will rule all nations.
Zechariah 6.12, 13: That coming King will build the true temple of the Lord and rule as a priest for peace.
Zechariah 9.9, 10: The King would come humbly but would rule all the world.

The problem, as you can imagine, is not in finding passages in the Old Testament that might create expectation of great joy among those who “looked for the Consolation of Israel” in Jesus’ day. Indeed, Jesus said that all Scripture is about Him (Jn. 5.39). All the Old Testament points forward—by teaching and type—to the coming of Jesus, the God/Man, and His work of making all the nations disciples.

Those who were expecting consolation and redemption, waiting devoutly for the coming of the Lord, had plenty to sustain their hopes.

More is foretold
Before Jesus was born, He was expected. Before He will complete His promised rule, He is expected again. And the joy Christians know now will not begin to compare with the joy of the Good News they will know then.

Devout disciples of Jesus still look forward to His coming among us, this time to fulfill everything the prophets and apostles have written about Him. The Gospel is Good News foretold because we know that every word written about Jesus will be accomplished; no promise will fail; nothing can prevent the perfect and complete fulfillment of Jesus’ Kingdom agenda. The joy that has been foretold will be the joy that is forever.

And the anticipation of this, to be realized when Jesus comes again, fills the Christian’s soul with joy. Israel’s Strength and Consolation, the Hope of all the earth, the dear Desire of every nation, the Joy of every longing heart is coming again! Maranatha!

And this is really Good News!

Search the Scriptures
1. Where do you turn in Scripture to encourage yourself with the promise of Jesus’ coming again?

2. According to Acts 1.1-8, what should we be concerned about until Jesus returns?

3. In Matthew 16.18, Jesus declared His agenda for the time in which we live. What is it? How does Ephesians 4.11-16 lead us to pursue this agenda?

Next steps—Preparation: How do you see Jesus, exalted in glory, at this time? Try to flesh out your vision of Jesus as He is at this time. Why does this matter (Col. 3.1-3)?

Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

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.

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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.