God is the Gospel

“Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news, lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘BEHOLD YOUR GOD!’”

J.I. Packer in his book “Knowing God” says,

“The gospel tells us that our Creator has become our Redeemer. It announces that the Son of God has become man and had died on the cross to save us from eternal judgment. The basic description of the saving death of Christ in the Bible is as a propitiation, that is, as that which quenched God’s wrath against us by obliterating our sins from his sight. God’s wrath is his righteousness reacting against unrighteousness; it shows itself in retributive justice. But Jesus Christ has shielded us from the nightmare prospect of retributive justice by becoming our representative substitute, in obedience to his Father’s will, and receiving the wages of our sin in our place. Justice has been done, for the sins of all that will ever be pardoned were judged and punished in the person of God the Son, and it is on the basis that pardon is now offered to us offenders. Redeeming love and retributive justice join hands, so to speak, at Calvary, for there God showed himself to be ‘just’ and the justifier of him that has faith in Jesus.”

Man’s greatest need is redemption. The greatest need for the students at your table, for you, for your family, for your co-workers, for your enemies is the “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor. 4:4)”

So what is the good news (and by news I do mean a message of joy and victory that is carried by a messenger for the purpose of proclaiming it.)? Let me say first what the good news is NOT. The good news is NOT that there is no pain, or death, or sin, or hell. These are still present with us. The good news is “that the King himself has come and these enemies have been defeated, and if we trust in what he has done and what he promises, we will escape the death sentence and see the glory of our Liberator and live with him forever” (John Piper).

This leads us finally to the purpose of this good news. Why did Jesus come? Why is this news good? John Piper again helps us understand the aim of the gospel:

“What makes all the events of Good Friday and Easter and all the promises they secure good news is that they lead us to God. –Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. 1 Peter 3:18—And when we get there, it is God himself who will satisfy our souls forever. Everything else in the gospel is meant to display God’s glory and remove every obstacle in him (such as wrath) and in us (such as our rebellion) so that we can enjoy him forever. God is the gospel. That is, he is what makes the good news good. Nothing less can make the gospel good news. God is the final and highest gift that makes the good news good. Until people use the gospel to get to God, they use it wrongly.”

The Good news of Jesus Christ is not about God seeing us as supremely valuable, but about God seeing himself as supremely valuable and loving us enough to make a way for us in Jesus Christ for the purpose of us enjoying his greatness forever. The good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is that those who put their faith in Christ gain God. He is what makes the gospel good.

“Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news, lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘BEHOLD YOUR GOD!’”