Recently I started reading David Seccombe’s book, ‘The Gospel of the Kingdom’, and I was interested to learn how the word ‘Gospel’ has a meaning beyond that of ‘good news’ that it is well known to have within Christian circles.
The first occurrence in the Bible of the word ‘gospel’ is found in 1 Samuel 4:17 where it appears in the context of long-distance communication on one of Israel’s darkest days. A messenger arrived in the town of Shiloh where Eli was waiting anxiously for news of the battle that had been taking place between Israel and the Philistines.
Eli asked the messenger how the battle had fared and we read that the one who brought the report, literally ‘the gospeller’, answered by relaying the catastrophically bad news of Israel’s defeat, the death of Eli’s two sons, and the capture of the ark of God.
‘Gospel’ then, as originally used, wasn’t a word associated solely with good news.
On other occasions however, it was – as was the case when David received news of how his army, led by Joab, had fared against that of his rebellious son Absalom. Joab had won a great victory and a messenger was subsequently despatched to take the news to David. And when David sees him approaching, he says in 2 Samuel 18:25 that if he runs alone, ‘there is news in his mouth’, literally he carries ‘gospel’.
And there are other, non-biblical uses of the word too. I could tell you how the word is used in the story of Pheidippides who ran from Marathon to Athens to convey the good news of the Greek army’s victory over the Persians, or how the great Roman general. Pompey, received the good news, to him at least, of the death of King Mithradates from the despatch riders that the historian Plutach calls ‘gospels’.
But irrespective of whether the news is good or bad, on every occasion the word is used for the conveying of momentous announcements related to victory in battle and the rise and fall of kingdoms.
Which I hope you will see the relevance of. Because the Christian gospel is indeed good news, relating to the regime change that has been brought about through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and his subsequent resurrection. Because it is through this most momentous historical event that the ruler of the kingdom of this world, the devil, has been overthrown and been replaced by King Jesus – the ruler of the now present kingdom of God.
All of which is particularly significant today since it is Ascension Day – the day when Christians traditionally remember how, forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended, not just to heaven, but to a throne.
A throne on which he still sits.
Which is indeed very good news since, no matter our current circumstances, we can be sure that the one who rules over us now, is the one who will do so, not only for all eternity [Isaiah 9:7] but also with both ‘understanding and knowledge’. [Proverbs 28:2]. Those of us who are his subjects can, therefore, gladly submit to his authority, confident that his rule is one that is characterised by both justice and perfect righteousness.
All of which helps us understand what it is to be a Christian. Because such are those who are no longer under the rule of the old regime, the one that ultimately leads only to death. Instead we are citizens of the kingdom of God, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and thus can look confidently forward to eternal life.
It is a radically different way of life, as Jesus himself makes plain when in Luke 9:23-27 he says,
‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses of forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God’”
These are challenging words.
As disciples of Jesus we are called not to follow our hearts in the way that the world so often encourages us to do, hearts that are, remember, unreliable guides given how they are deceitful above all things and desperately sick. [Jeremiah 17:9]
Rather we are to follow a person, one who, as God’s chosen King, has every right to demand our allegiance.
And, like Jesus, our lives are to be cross driven. Like him, we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross too. Having become beneficiaries of the regime change that Jesus brought about, it makes no sense for us to continue living for ourselves, because that futile way of life, characterised as it is by sin and death, is the life that we have been saved from. To go on living for ourselves would therefore, be both a denial of what was achieved for us on the cross and a denial of our new identity in Christ.
To be a follower of Jesus is then an all or nothing affair. Rather than something we can commit to only as much as we feel inclined to at any given time, we are, says Jesus, to deny ourself daily by putting our own selfish desires to death each and every day of our lives.
That then, is what it means to follow Jesus.
And we should recognise too how our response to the gospel is a matter of life and death. For, as Jesus himself says, if we continue as we once did, supposedly saving our lives by pleasing ourselves as citizens of the kingdom of darkness, then we will only ultimately lose them. But if we submit to Christ’s lordship, losing our lives for his sake, we will actually be saving them.
So then, to be a disciple of Jesus is to be one who is learning to live, not for oneself, but for God – in the light of the reality that we are, as a result of Christ’s saving work in our behalf, citizens now of heaven. And we need to remember that even if we were to live ‘successfully’ in the kingdom of darkness, we would still ultimately lose everything. ‘For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?’
But notice something else from Jesus’ words – his call to live a life devoted to him, though a challenging one, is not one that we should resist. Because to lose our life for his sake will ultimately be worth it as it will mean that, as well as our lives being eternally preserved, we will go on to enjoy everlasting life with God, ‘in whose presence there is fullness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore’. [Psalm 16:11]
That’s what it means to have our lives saved – something that surely we all want. If it is, however, we are called first to lose our lives, to recognise that our allegiance is rightfully to Jesus and thus live to please him and not ourselves.
On Ascension Day therefore, let’s not be ashamed of the one who sits on the throne. Let’s not be ashamed of the one who rescued us and has guaranteed our future. And let’s not be ashamed of the gospel that is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. [Romans 1:16].
Related posts related to the Christian Calendar:
To read ‘AN ADVENT CALENDAR COMPLETE’ – which includes 24 reflections on the Christmas Story, click here
To read ‘A CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN – 2024 – COMPLETE’ – which includes 24 reflections on why Jesus came to Earth on that first Christmas Day’, click here.
To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted – sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here
To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here
To read, ‘Good Friday – 2021’, click here
To read ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Rejoicing, though temporarily sorrowful, on Easter Day’, click here.
To read ‘Easter Sunday – 2021’, click here
To read ‘The Resurrection – is it just rhubarb?’, click here
To read ‘Ascension Day – 2024’, click here
To read ‘Speaking in Tongues’, click here.
Some musings 
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