Is the Gospel “good news”?

     As I made my way through John Piper’s God is the Gospel, there are a number of things that the Holy Spirit convicted me of. One of the main things that was brought to my attention is that I don’t ultimately view the Gospel as the “good news” that it truly is, and I think that there are many in the Church today that do the same thing. A lot of people will say stuff like, “We just have to share the good news” or “Go and preach the good news!” But, do we really believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is “good news”? I think that if we did, the majority of our church services, evangelistic efforts, and our own personal relationships with the Lord would be drastically different.

     In this book Piper’s overall point is that the Gospel is good news because God is the Gospel (hence the book title). What he means by this is that the news of the Gospel is good because of what it centers around: God Himself. Piper explains throughout the 179 pages of the book that the best thing the Gospel does for us, the most central part of the Gospel, is the fact that our faith in those truths bring us to God; the saving truths of Scripture allow us to come to God and behold Him and, as Piper would say, to “see and savor” who He is. This is the main thread that is woven throughout the book, and Piper shows how this is lived out in various aspects of our lives; I’ll let you read the book for yourself to get all the details.

       But why does this matter? Why is it so important to view the Gospel as “good news”? Well, I am convinced that the way that we view the Gospel dictates how its message will be preached and applied in our lives. So if I don’t see that the Gospel is good news because it allows me to behold my God (Isaiah 40:9), if I don’t see that “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God…” (1 Peter 3:18, emphasis added) then the Gospel won’t be shared, talked about, or lived out in a way that shows that. What you believe about the Gospel determines your behavior towards the Gospel. So without a deep, genuine belief in your heart that the Gospel is true and that the highest purpose of that truth is not to give you salvation, or forgiveness, or justification, but it’s to give you God and all other gifts of the Gospel flow from Him then that won’t be seen in your life. The Gospel is not good news because it makes us comfortable or wealthy, there is no evidence of that in Scripture, but the Gospel is good news because it opens the door for us to do what we’re made for: behold and know the almighty, sovereign, just, gracious God of the Universe. God, thank You that You have brough us to Yourself through the beautiful blood of Christ. Make the Gospel “good news” in the hearts of Your people.