Introduction
Acts 2:36 (ESV) “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
What qualifies as “news”?
- An Announcement of an event that has happened
- A larger context (Backstory) within which this makes sense
- A sudden unveiling of the New Future that lies ahead
- A Transformation of the Present moment, sitting between the event that has happened and the further event that therefore will happen
Mark 1:14-15 (ESV) Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
The “gospel” (euangelion) was a royal announcement about a king and about a kingdom.
The Gospel: The Story of Jesus
The most important key to the gospel that Jesus preached, that the Apostles delivered to us, is the connection to “the story.” The Gospel (good news) of Jesus is built on a story, not a philosophy or theology, our theology and philosophy come from the story.
What do we call the accounts of Jesus’ life? The “Gospel” — according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The gospel, according to the writers of the New Testament, and the Apostles, is the Story of Jesus. Not primarily the doctrine or theology Jesus gives us, not even exclusively His atoning death, but the story of His whole life. They assumed telling the story of Jesus was telling the gospel (“according to…”).
The gospel is the Story of Jesus.
The Story of Jesus Christ is a complete story and not just a Good Friday story. This means that the whole Story of Jesus is good news, and therefore is important. We do the gospel, and Jesus, no favors by only talking about one part of HIs life, even if it is an important part. The Apostles felt the need to include more than just the death of Jesus when preaching the gospel, but included elements of His whole life. This means that Jesus, and the Story of His life, is the centerpiece of the gospel; even more, His life IS the good news.
Acts 2:22-24 (ESV) “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Acts 10:36-41 (ESV) “As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”
Why include the Story of Jesus’ life in the gospel? They important elements of the gospel in these two sermons were Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Why do these matter? The key is in Jesus’ summary statement of the gospel, Mark 1:15, and Peter’s conclusion to his gospel message on Pentecost, Acts 2:36.
Mark 1:15 (ESV) “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Acts 2:36 (ESV) “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
The gospel Jesus preached is the availability to everyone of living right now in the Kingdom of God through trusting and following Him as King.
To understand this, we have to examine some of the backstory that leads into this reality. How does the Scriptures lead us to this understanding?
Kingdom of God
Jesus’ primary message was the Kingdom of God. In the four Gospel accounts, the word “kingdom” is used 122 times, 90 times from Jesus Himself. This was nearly all he talked about. He had a vision of this “Kingdom of God reality” that he was announcing and enacting, it’s how he made sense of everything he did. He was living in a story and was inviting all of us to live in it as well. So where does this idea (and reality) come from? Let’s review the basic story of the Bible.
As we should always look first when thinking about the story of the Bible, we must begin at the beginning: Genesis 1. In Genesis 1:26-28, humans are created in the “image of God,” which means “representation and rule.”
Humans made in the “image of God”: Representation and Rule
The idea is that God would rule creation through his royal representatives, they would rule the world together in partnership and relationship. The idea that all humans were made in the image of God was an extremely counter-cultural idea in context. In historical context, it was only the “kings” who were the “image of God,” and they asserted their rule over their subjects as slaves to their will. But the Scriptures give us an extremely dignified vision of all humans: humans were to “co-rule” over the earth with God, under His authority and direction. However, by Chapter 3, the humans launch a coup against God’s rule and try to seize the rule for themselves, by redefining good and evil for themselves, make themselves into God. They are then exiled from the garden, released into their own kingdom. But even in sin and rebellion, God’s mercy is extended to them, and He clothes them and saves them.
The story of the Bible continues to show the downward spiral of humanity into sin and rebellion, asserting their rule over one another in violence, even asserting their rule by attempting to hold the position of “gods” at the Tower of Babel. God scatters them across the globe, but out of the scattering, He calls a man Abram, later renamed Abraham, that He chooses as His partner to bless the world through. Abraham’s family grows, and through a series of events end up in Egypt, and in Egypt, they become slaves. They cannot fulfill their vocation of being a blessing to the nations if they are under the rule of a tyrannical Pharaoh. So God miraculously delivers His people Israel out of slavery, defeating the most powerful empire and army in the world in the Red Sea.
This is an important and significant moment, not just for Israel, but how we understand what the Kingdom of God is. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for King is “melek.” “The first mention of a king is religious: ‘Yahweh is King.’ After the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses and the Israelites sing a victory chant: ‘He is King, Lord forever and ever.’ This is not a reference to some monarchical government, but rather to the exercise of absolute power to protect and guide the chosen people; thus Yahweh is King of Israel.”
Exodus 15:18 (ESV) “The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
The people of Israel, as they live under His reign, become the kingdom of God, God as King. Israel after many generations enter into the Promised Land, and become the Kingdom of Israel under King David, and his family dynasty. His family line was intended to rule in partnership with God and exercise His kingdom rule over the people of Israel. But every king’s attempt to co-rule with God ended in failure. Israel herself needs to be saved. Whatever has gone wrong with humanity is deeper than we thought. We cannot fix it with a new politic, or the right person in power, or a new technology, or the right economic system, or the next medical breakthrough.
By the end of the Old Testament, Israel is exiled waiting for God, as King, to come back to Israel, and for the king from the line of David to come who would save Israel from her sins.
Isaiah 52:7-10 (ESV) How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Isaiah writes how God’s presence had departed and Israel in exile, but a Messiah (the “anointed King” in chapter 53) would come to end Israel’s exile and bring God’s presence back to Jerusalem in person, to establish God’s reign in Jerusalem and beyond. They were waiting for this fulfillment.
Jesus Christ is Lord
Jesus’ life was marked by living in the reality of the Kingdom of God. Jesus had a totally different vision of reality than what anyone could imagine, the Kingdom of God, God’s reign, the range of HIs effective will now available through Him. But the Kingdom of God that Jesus announced and enacted is utterly unlike any of the kingdoms of this world. It’s an upside down Kingdom, and He is unlike any typical king. A kingdom where “the last are first and the first are last”; where the powerful serve the weak, the wealthy give to the poor, the lonely are placed in families, the tax collector is invited to an open table, the sick are healed, the leper is loved, the demonized are set free, those entrenched in sin and addiction are made whole, where agape is the ultimate value and most important virtue.
The Gospel the Apostles preached was that Jesus was that fulfillment. Jesus was the long-awaited King from the line of David. Look at the Gospel that Peter preached in a larger excerpt:
Acts 2:22-36 (ESV) “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 29“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ 36Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus is what the Apostle Peter preached as the Good News. His life was marked by announcing and enacting the Kingdom of God. His death and resurrection vindicated Him as God’s Anointed King. He ascended to the heavenly throne, at the right hand of God where He is Lord of all.
Jesus is “Lord” — he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; the master.
Conclusion
The Gospel calls us to respond: repent and believe the Gospel. If Jesus is Lord, we decide how to respond to it. We are called to submit and surrender. This is what it means to become His disciple.
Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”