Evangelion - Truth Factor webzine

Evangelion

by Keith W. Shackleford

The word “gospel” is found about 100 times in the King James Version. How many of us really know what it is or means? According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary (Revised) “gospel” comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “God’s spell” or God’s word. The Greek word it translates is also a familiar one: evangelion (meaning good message or good news), from which we also derive our word “evangelize” denoting the activity of one who proclaims this good news.

How many of us feel like the song which says, “I sure could use a little good news today.” What is the good news that we need? When John and Jesus began to preach they preached “the gospel of the kingdom,” (Mark 1:14; Matthew 4:23). Paul uses three terms to describe his work in Acts 20:24-27 (“gospel of the grace of God,” “preaching the kingdom,” and “the counsel of God”). This gospel came down from heaven (Luke 20:1-8; 2 Peter 2:16-21). That simply means no man thought it up, but it came from the very mind of God (c.f. Acts 8:25 where it is called preaching the word of the Lord). Therefore, whatever this gospel was, people were urged to believe it (Mark 1:15). By believing the gospel, they would be believing God.

The gospel has to do with Christ and His work among men for salvation. Study carefully Romans 1:1-7 and see that the gospel had been promised by the prophets of old and it had to do with the Son of God taking on human flesh, dying, and being raised from the dead. The resurrection was God’s mighty statement that Jesus is the Son of God. The gospel is “the faith” given for all peoples to obey, and those that do are “the called of Jesus Christ… beloved of God, called to be saints.” -- More next time.