The Good News of Jesus Christ

The focus of the entire Bible is the person and work of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, the Son of God.

We call Him Jesus Christ, but His last name is not Christ. Christ is His title—well one of them. It describes His vocation.

Christ is the English derivative of the Greek word Christos. In Hebrew, the word is mashiach. This is the word from which we get the English word Messiah. Christ and Messiah are equivalent words. They just derive from different original languages. Christ and Messiah literally mean, “the anointed one.”

So, when we say Jesus Christ, we are saying that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Son of God.

When we talk about the person and work of the Anointed One, we use the word gospel. The Greek word for gospel is euangelion.

The meaning of this word is good news, or good message. The root, euangelizo, means to announce good news or to bring glad tidings. It is the word the angel used in Luke 1:10 to announce good tidings (euangelizo)of great joy. From this word comes our English word evangelism.

It may be surprising to learn that evangelism does not mean “winning souls for Christ.”

When we speak of evangelism, we are talking about telling others the good news of Jesus Christ.

When we speak the truth of the good news of the availability of Father’s grace, the word of God is presented. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Whether they have ears to hear or not is not our responsibility. We are not in the business of changing people’s minds. We are in the business of giving to those who are interested a reason for the hope that is within us.

Jesus in us is that reason.

Grace and peace to you.
Larry Eiss