The Gospel

revmattchoo.com · House Cat Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 165

What is the Gospel, a.k.a. good news?

Option one says that the gospel is the story of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, which results in one being saved if they only believe in the Christ.

Option two is held by some of those that claim that the Kingdom of God is here now and not yet. This sees the gospel as the fact that Jesus is indeed King and ruling now.

Option three is that there needs to be a bettering of society through programs such as feeding the poor, cleaning buildings, etc. This is otherwise known as the social gospel.

Options four through whatever number is all the other forms of the gospel that could be talked about, but I would like to leave that discussion here.

nobody important · Cobra Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 462

option 1..... and by it has paid our debt and given us salvation

lone-traveler · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:35 pm Post subject:

Pro 25:25 [As] cold waters to a thirsty soul, so [is] good news from a far country.

lone-traveler · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:03 pm Post subject:

Good News

2Ch 6:10 The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
2Ch 6:11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein [is] the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.
2Ch 6:12 ¶ And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
2Ch 6:13 For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,

2Ch 6:14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, [there is] no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and [shewest] mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:
2Ch 6:15 Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled [it] with thine hand, as [it is] this day.
2Ch 6:16 Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
2Ch 6:17 Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.

2Ch 6:18 ¶ But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
2Ch 6:19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:
2Ch 6:20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
2Ch 6:21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, [even] from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
2Ch 6:22 ¶ If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;
2Ch 6:23 Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

2Ch 6:24 ¶ And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;
2Ch 6:25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

2Ch 6:26 ¶ When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; [yet] if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;
2Ch 6:27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

2Ch 6:28 ¶ If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness [there be]:
2Ch 6:29 [Then] what prayer [or] what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:
2Ch 6:30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
2Ch 6:31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

2Ch 6:32 ¶ Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
2Ch 6:33 Then hear thou from the heavens, [even] from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as [doth] thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

2Ch 6:34 ¶ If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
2Ch 6:35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

2Ch 6:36 ¶ If they sin against thee, (for [there is] no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before [their] enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;
2Ch 6:37 Yet [if] they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
2Ch 6:38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and [toward] the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:
2Ch 6:39 Then hear thou from the heavens, [even] from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.
2Ch 6:40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and [let] thine ears [be] attent unto the prayer [that is made] in this place.

2Ch 6:41 ¶ Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
2Ch 6:42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

2Ch 6:10 The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Mar 13:10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave [it] again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Act 8:25 And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Act 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Good News

God keeps his promises...

SealedEternal · Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:45 pm Post subject:

What about the second birth?

John 3:3-7: Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, You must be born again.”

John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Titus 3:5: “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.”

God washes and regenerates our hearts so that we can be His children and inherit His Kingdom. The Apostle Peter states in 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…,”

Again Peter says in 1 Peter 1:23: “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”

Summarizing what we have just read, we are BORN the first time physically of the “flesh,” from the “womb,” when the “water” breaks. We then become our parents’ child (Water baptism has absolutely nothing to do with either birth). We are BORN AGAIN spiritually, becoming adopted children of God, when God regenerates us which means that He has fundamentally changed our wicked heart to one that loves Him and desires to do His will.

Adam sinned and received a fallen heart that we have all inherited from him which causes us to desire to rebel against our Creator. The only way we can be reconciled to Him is by having our heart renewed or circumcised by Him:

Romans 2:29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

1Corinthians 15:48-50 As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Romans 8:13-17 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Galatians 4:5-7 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

Only those hearts have been renewed by God are His children and can inherit His Kingdom. Anyone who still lives according to their flesh is not a child of God because they have not been reborn. You know you are a child of God by your fruit:

Matthew 7:16-23 "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "So then, you will know them by their fruits. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

1 John 5:2-4 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.

1 John 5:18-20 We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

1 John 2:3-6 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

1 John 3:2-10 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

It is absolutely clear that you know you are reborn by the fact that you no longer practice sin. That does not mean that you will be perfect however because you still live in your fleshly body, but if you are born of God you have the power to overcome every sin. You will have a heart that loves God and desires to keep His commandments because they have been written on your heart:

Hebrews 10:15-17 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, "THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM," He then says, "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."

John 14:21,23,24 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

Jesus warned that many who think they are Christians, (some even thinking they are BORN AGAIN), will be shocked at what He will say to them on judgment day because they were never BORN AGAIN. In Matt. 7:22-23 Jesus says:

“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

In John 10:27-29 Jesus knows those who are BORN AGAIN:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

SealedEternal

daviddale3 · Kitten Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 138 Location: georgia

I Corintihians 15:1-4

revmattchoo.com · House Cat Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 165

What about Romans 1:1-6 and 16:25-27?

daviddale3 · Kitten Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 138 Location: georgia

beloved57 · Fierce Poodle Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 288

The Gospel is the good news of a finished and accomplished salvation for all those who have been chosen by God., The elect, the sheep...Jesus through His death, burial, and resurrection has paid and satisfied Gods broken law on their behalf and procured for them a righteousness that is well pleasing and acceptable to God.

Colter · Rabid Pit Bull Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 409

Maybe the question should be, "What was the gospel/good news being taught by Jesus and the apostles for 3 years prior to his death at the hands of religionists".

It had nothing to do with his death, human sacrifice, substitutional atonement or changing the heart of a changeless God.

The gospel changed at Pentecost, it became one about Jesus as apposed to the one of Jesus, the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.

Colter

beloved57 · Fierce Poodle Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 288

Nah I would say you are dead wrong on that, The gospel has always been the same and based on scripture, see 1cor 15

Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news I preached to you. You received it and have put your faith in it. 2 Because you believed the good news, you are saved. But you must hold firmly to the message I preached to you. If you don't, you have believed it for nothing.
3 What I received I passed on to you. And it is the most important of all. Here is what it is. Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would. 4 He was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be.

Here is a good summary of what the gospel is :

The Gospel is about what Christ Has Done
by Brandan Kraft

The Gospel or “good news” about Christ and salvation is not about what He is doing. The Gospel is about what Christ has done. The Gospel comes as an announcement to God’s people that those who believe this message are already part of of God’s kingdom. Those that believe were justified by Christ over 2000 years ago on the cross.
Jn 19:28, (KJV), After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Jn 19:30, (KJV), When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Heb 9:12, (KJV), Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

1 Cor 15:3-4, (KJV), For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; (4) And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

That’s all there is to it! It’s a simple message and comes as “glad tidings” (Rom 10:15) to God’s chosen vessels of mercy (Rom 9:23). Christians look back to the cross of Christ for all of their salvation and nothing else. They do not look to any experience or any other event in their lives.

The Apostle Paul warned against anti-christs that would come and pervert this message with false gospels and was even fighting these awful messages during his ministry. Today, the warning of anti-christ has been realized and there are many false gospels. There are generally two prevailing characteristics amongst these false gospels. First, they all use “Gospel language”. Second, they all point to a real benefit of the cross as the basis of salvation. For example, one of the benefits of Christ’s death is the precious gift of faith which is given to Christ’s people for their assurance. It is how they come to rely and know of Christ’s atonement for them. But many people have made it the basis for salvation. Phrases such as: “you must be born again”, “you have to have faith”, “God loves you and wants to save you”, and “accept Christ as your personal savior” are generally dead giveaways that the person using this language is promoting a false gospel.

We must be on guard against confusing our experiences with the message of Christ. It is true that we must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God, but that is not the Gospel. Being born again is a result of Christ’s accomplished salvation – not the cause of it.

I for one take great joy in knowing that salvation is entirely outside of me and rejoice in the alien righteousness of my Lord Jesus Christ. I am content to know that His righteousness is mine simply by God’s Sovereign Grace. This truly is good news.

Colter · Rabid Pit Bull Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 409

I'm curios if someone here can answer the question:

What was the good news being taught across the land during the 3+ years by Jesus and his apostles prior to his death?

Here is a good explanation of what happened after the tragic rejection of Christ:

BEGINNINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

When Jesus was so suddenly seized by his enemies and so quickly crucified between two thieves, his apostles and disciples were completely demoralized. The thought of the Master, arrested, bound, scourged, and crucified, was too much for even the apostles. They forgot his teachings and his warnings. He might, indeed, have been "a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people," but he could hardly be the Messiah they had hoped would restore the kingdom of Israel.

Then comes the resurrection, with its deliverance from despair and the return of their faith in the Master's divinity. Again and again they see him and talk with him, and he takes them out on Olivet, where he bids them farewell and tells them he is going back to the Father. He has told them to tarry in Jerusalem until they are endowed with power--until the Spirit of Truth shall come. And on the day of Pentecost this new teacher comes, and they go out at once to preach their gospel with new power. They are the bold and courageous followers of a living Lord, not a dead and defeated leader. The Master lives in the hearts of these evangelists; God is not a doctrine in their minds; he has become a living presence in their souls.

"Day by day they continued steadfastly and with one accord in the temple and breaking bread at home. They took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. They were all filled with the spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. And the multitudes of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own, and they had all things in common."

What has happened to these men whom Jesus had ordained to go forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man? They have a new gospel; they are on fire with a new experience; they are filled with a new spiritual energy. Their message has suddenly shifted to the proclamation of the risen Christ: "Jesus of Nazareth, a man God approved by mighty works and wonders; him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you did crucify and slay. The things which God foreshadowed by the mouth of all the prophets, he thus fulfilled. This Jesus did God raise up. God has made him both Lord and Christ. Being, by the right hand of God, exalted and having received from the Father the promise of the spirit, he has poured forth this which you see and hear. Repent, that your sins may be blotted out; that the Father may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things."

The gospel of the kingdom, the message of Jesus, had been suddenly changed into the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They now proclaimed the facts of his life, death, and resurrection and preached the hope of his speedy return to this world to finish the work he began. Thus the message of the early believers had to do with preaching about the facts of his first coming and with teaching the hope of his second coming, an event which they deemed to be very near at hand.

Christ was about to become the creed of the rapidly forming church. Jesus lives; he died for men; he gave the spirit; he is coming again. Jesus filled all their thoughts and determined all their new concept of God and everything else. They were too much enthused over the new doctrine that "God is the Father of the Lord Jesus" to be concerned with the old message that "God is the loving Father of all men," even of every single individual. True, a marvelous manifestation of brotherly love and unexampled good will did spring up in these early communities of believers. But it was a fellowship of believers in Jesus, not a fellowship of brothers in the family kingdom of the Father in heaven. Their good will arose from the love born of the concept of Jesus' bestowal and not from the recognition of the brotherhood of mortal man. Nevertheless, they were filled with joy, and they lived such new and unique lives that all men were attracted to their teachings about Jesus. They made the great mistake of using the living and illustrative commentary on the gospel of the kingdom for that gospel, but even that represented the greatest religion mankind had ever known.

Unmistakably, a new fellowship was arising in the world. "The multitude who believed continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." They called each other brother and sister; they greeted one another with a holy kiss; they ministered to the poor. It was a fellowship of living as well as of worship. They were not communal by decree but by the desire to share their goods with their fellow believers. They confidently expected that Jesus would return to complete the establishment of the Father's kingdom during their generation. This spontaneous sharing of earthly possessions was not a direct feature of Jesus' teaching; it came about because these men and women so sincerely and so confidently believed that he was to return any day to finish his work and to consummate the kingdom. But the final results of this well-meant experiment in thoughtless brotherly love were disastrous and sorrow-breeding. Thousands of earnest believers sold their property and disposed of all their capital goods and other productive assets. With the passing of time, the dwindling resources of Christian "equal-sharing" came to an end--but the world did not. Very soon the believers at Antioch were taking up a collection to keep their fellow believers at Jerusalem from starving........ UR 1955

Colter

lone-traveler · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:44 am Post subject:

I believe one if not the very fundamental good news is, that God was no longer angry with us and he would show us mercy and grace and listen to our prayers.

That's what I believe the promise was mentioned in
2 Chronicles chapter 6. That God had not forsaken us forever and had left us to be doomed. But that a sacrifice was needed to reconnect the relationship.

Jesus showed us by giving up our trust in earthly things and to turning to God with all of our trust, then He would
hear us and save us from our sins.

When Jesus died on the cross I think the disciples thought that the promise of God's forgiveness hadn't been kept. But on the day of pentecost Jesus being risen from the dead, proved that God had not forsaken us and he hears us when we pray.

I believe the Good News is...God hears us and has not cast us off forever but is reconciling us to himself through his Son who taught us to have faith and to believe.

Psa 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
Psa 77:7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
Psa 77:8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth [his] promise fail for evermore?

Psa 94:11 The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they [are] vanity.
Psa 94:12 Blessed [is] the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
Psa 94:13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.
Psa 94:14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
Psa 94:15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

Mar 1:14 ¶ Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Twas good news to those who were waiting and hoping for the Lord to return.
Not so good news for those who believed that God had left on a long journey and wasn't going to return.

surprise.. Shocked

beloved57 · Fierce Poodle Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 288

beloved57 · Fierce Poodle Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 288