The word Gospel means “good news”—the good news that God, in His immense love, has bridged the separation between humanity and Himself. This separation is what the Bible calls “sin”. If you’re not sure what sin is, turn on your news. Take a look in the mirror. Reflect. Every sense of falling short is a reminder that we were made for something more. Every lost moment, every distance of memory, every pang of loneliness a nudge toward a love we were created to know. Every ache for meaning an echo of something lost; every battle with despair, depression, death, a reminder that human beings were not made to say goodbye but to live and have life to the full.
What makes the Gospel distinctively “good” news is that in Jesus, not only does God meet us in our humanity by living the life we should have lived, but He goes so far to meet us at the dead-end of our sin by taking our place on a cross of crucifixion and dying the death we all deserved. But the cross is neither the beginning nor the end of the story. On the third day, Jesus rose to life overcoming death, so that all who believe in Him for the forgiveness of sins might live with the hope that their life might be like His—not free of pain, but a cross followed by an empty tomb of life eternal.
You will not hear this news anywhere else, apart from the Christian Story. Our world is a swirl of stories, but every other message or creed can basically be summed as “do, do, do”. The Gospel of Jesus is different—it says “done”—it is finished. In a word, “grace”: God’s work, not our work, and that’s why it works. That’s why it’s good news, news extended to you which awaits a response. Not to prove yourself but to discover yourself. Not to climb higher but to find rest. Accept Jesus, know your Maker, and step into the life you were created for from the very beginning. What’s stopping you?
