Good News (Christianity)

Good News (Christianity)

In Christianity, the Gospel, Good News, Evangelion, or Evangelium is the message of Jesus, the Christ or Messiah — God's ruler promised by the Scriptures — specifically, the coming Kingdom of God, his death on the cross and resurrection to restore people's relationship with God, the descent of the Holy Spirit on believers as the helper, the resulting promise and hope of being saved for any who believe and follow Jesus, and through this, a healing of the brokenness of the entire created universe.

The term is derived from the Koine Greek euangélion, which is also translated as "gospel", "glad tidings" and variants.

The Christian message of good news is described in the Bible generally and in the four gospels specifically. It relates to the saving acts of God, which is solely due to the work of Jesus on the cross and resurrection from the dead which bring reconciliation ("atonement") between people and God.

The context of the Gospel is the imperfection of man in contrast to the perfection of God. The Christian Bible as a whole shows this contrast, by showing that in the beginning God created all things perfect, but that sin was introduced into man's now imperfect nature, as a natural consequence of humanity's rebellion against God, disobeying a clearly stated command of God. The context of the Gospel also, crucially, includes the final destiny of man. This part of the context is necessary and urgent, because the Bible explains, there will be a Judgement day, and, in the words of Jesus, the standard which will be required of every person is to "Be perfect" (Matthew 5:48]). The Law of God requires judgement and punishment of unrightousness, and the Bible clearly states that no-one is righteous. Because a holy, perfect and just God cannot deny his own nature by simply ignoring or excusing the sins of people who have rebelled against his holy law, all people are in a desperate situation. Having shown man's problem in its correct context, the Bible goes on to explain the solution: the Good News. This Good News is that there is one way (and only one way, John 14:6) by which people from all nations may be restored to relationship with God: if they choose to stop living life their own way and turn to Jesus in repentance and faith. A key theme of the Christian good news is that God offers a new life and forgiveness through Jesus. Jesus' teaching of the good news also relates to the coming of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15, see also second coming).

Christian Theology also emphasizes the fact that the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ is not a new concept, but one that has been foretold throughout the Old Testament and was prophetically preached even at the time of the Fall of Man as contained in Genesis 3:14-15. It is called Proto-Evangelion or Proto-Gospel.