The Gospel is Good News

“In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.  But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:8-11)

“‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:23)

I’ve always loved the Christmas season – the lights and decorations, the cooler weather, the extended times with family and friends (not to mention the time off of school or work).  And it’s been curious to see how my focus has shifted from year to year during this season.

Like many children growing up, Christmas meant presents, sweets and traditions.  We always made a point of spending some time focusing on Jesus’ birth and the joy that brings to the world.  In fact, we even baked a birthday cake for Jesus a couple of years!  

As I grew into adulthood and really began claiming my faith as my own, I found that a different word or emphasis would emerge each year around the holidays, offering a new perspective or depth of insight that I hadn’t previously experienced.  Glory, Joy, Savior, Light, Redemption and Peace are a few examples.

This year I’ve been spending a lot of time researching, studying and contemplating the Gospel, and so it’s only natural that this year’s word happens to be Immanuel – “God is with us.”  Is there a more fitting or accurate description of the Gospel?  

Years ago, I had heard the inspired observation that the Good News (Gospel) really is good news, and that one of the ways you can tell if your perspective is flawed is if your view of the Gospel sounds like bad news.  

What a strange thought.  But then I started reflecting on many of the distorted messages I’ve heard people proclaim through the years, and by golly, many of them really do sound like horrible news.  Bloody images of slaughter and unforgiveness and vengeful wrath – all to “save” us from an arbitrary penalty for our imperfect actions when we were doomed to failure from the start.  And even worse than that, only a small select group of lucky people were able to hear the “right” message about how to transfer their sentence to another – to an innocent – before their doomsday arrived.  And somehow all of this was supposed to inspire love and faith and trust in God, and somehow this was supposed to be “good news.”

But I don’t blame anyone for harboring this perspective.  It has been spread far and wide for the past couple of centuries, and we often don’t pause to reflect and examine what we’ve been handed down until we’ve been given a reason to do so.

In this “upside-down” world of man’s machinations, we see many constant threads in each man-made religion.  God or the gods are high and lofty and separated from humanity – they prefer to keep their distance.  Also, God or the gods seem to always be hungry for blood, violence and sacrifice.  God or the gods are heavily disinterested in the concerns and values of people, although they may occasionally choose to intervene if it suits their preference.  And of course God or the gods are greatly disappointed in the hedonism of humanity, so it’s back to the blood and gore sacrifices to stave off their punishing wrath.

This is precisely what we would expect from a fabricated religion of man forming God or the gods in his own image.

But what about reality?

What about the “right side up” kingdom of God?

A part of what makes the real Gospel so profoundly beautiful is how utterly contrary it is to the fabricated imitations.

While there is much that could be, and should be said regarding sin, salvation and righteousness (and perhaps we’ll address these in future posts), the Gospel is not about sin, salvation or even power, but rather communion – fellowship with God.  Immanuel, God is with us, and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit God is in us.  The Good News is that God desires, seeks and pursues relationship with us.  He doesn’t hold us at a distance, but rather invites us close.  He unites rather than divides.

This doesn’t make sense to us, because it’s not how we’ve been trained to think.  And yet this is the prevailing sentiment throughout the Scriptures.  Amusing as it is to see, much of the Scriptures are a series of God’s revelations and man’s resistance to these revelations in favor of man-made religion.  

This Christmas, I pray that you would experience the good news of great joy that is found in communion with Immanuel.  May He stretch you and grow you beyond what you could ask or imagine, and bring you to horizons more beautiful and wondrous than you’ve ever experienced.

Merry Christmas!