What is The Gospel?
What is the gospel and why do I need it?
PART 2.
The gospel commenced with a unique and very special event; the birth of a child, a boy, who was given the name of Jesus. At his birth, there was an announcement made by angelic beings to shepherds managing their flocks at night in the open fields near to the small but historic town of Bethlehem.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11
Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14
The angels spoke of peace, good will and joy to all people because a Saviour had been born into the world. A Saviour is someone who is able to save us from something that would otherwise ruin us. The One who the angels called “Christ the Lord” is the one we also know as Jesus Christ the Lord.
Jesus was born into an ordinary but very poor family. No midwives were present at his birth and his first cot was a cattle trough out in the open field. An early attempt was made to kill him as a young child by the then king, Herod. He was brought up like any other Jewish boy at the time and later became a carpenter by trade. At the age of about 30 however, he left his home in the village of Nazareth to teach and preach the things concerning the kingdom of God and the way of salvation. These were matters that the people of his day understood and had an expectation about because much had been written about them by the prophets of the Old Testament scriptures.
During his teaching and preaching, Jesus came into contact with many people who were in desperate need of help; some had crippling diseases, were disabled or deformed or had been left maimed and disfigured (there were also those who were cruelly possessed by evil spirits). In each case, (even the most severe and extreme) He healed them completely and permanently, bringing great joy and happiness to their blighted lives. His works and miracles clearly showed that He possessed real power and authority. In what could be regarded as a great understatement about his work, one later wrote about it and simply said that; “He went about doing good” Acts 10:38.
After about three and a half years however the Jewish authorities united in their hatred and opposition to Him and His teaching and conspired to put Him to death. After hatching a plot to arrest Him, there followed a hasty trial by night and false accusations were made in order to get the death sentence passed. The presiding judge found him guilty on the charge of blasphemy, because of his claim to be the Christ, the Son of God. The sentence was carried out by competent but cruel Roman soldiers who didn’t care that a righteous and innocent man was being condemned to die. The method they used was death by crucifixion, a very simple but effective punishment. Jesus was led to the gallows without a struggle or word of complaint and His death was certified some hours later by his executioners after plunging a spear up through his side and deep into his chest cavity. His death would have profound consequences for the nation and ultimately for every individual on earth.
His lifeless body was then removed by two men of high standing who recognised that he was the Christ and that what had been written in mockery above his cross, “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews” was in fact true. His body was carefully placed in a new tomb which belonged to of one the men. A large heavy stone was used to shut the entrance of the tomb and an official seal of some sort was made at the entrance to make sure that no one could tamper with the body of Jesus within. Most unusual of all, the Roman soldiers were ordered to guard the dead person who was inside. On the third day, some of the women who had accompanied him during those three and a half years came to visit his grave and found that the stone had been removed and the entrance of the tomb was wide open. The body of Jesus was not inside and the only things that remained were the linen clothes that Jesus had been hurriedly buried in. A short time later on the same day, Jesus appeared to his followers and showed that he was alive and with the words “handle me and see” he offered himself as living proof to any who doubted his bodily resurrection. He remained on earth for a further forty days and during this time made several appearances to his disciples and spoke with them. After forty days Jesus led his disciples out to a village called Bethany from where they saw him ascending back to heaven by being taken up from them in a cloud. Two angelic beings were present there at the end of his earthly life also and assured the disciples of Jesus that “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” Acts 1:11