GOOD NEWS!

GOOD NEWS!

Prov 25:25

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

          I was surprised to learn, in my morning research, that the phrase “good news” is only used together one time in the Authorized Version! With all of our talk of the gospel being good news, I would have thought the phrase would have been heavily sprinkled throughout the New Testament.

          The word gospel can be found 101 times from Matthew through Revelation. The word itself is an old Anglo-Saxon word and meaning "God's spell", i.e., word of God, or rather, according to others, "good spell", i.e., good news. It is the rendering of the Greek evangelion, i.e., "good message." (from Easton's Bible Dictionary.) But what makes good news good?

          Surprise is always part of good news! Often, like bad news, good news breaks into our normal life with an unexpected change. The clouds roll back and the sun shines again in an otherwise dismal day. Good news changes everything.

          Grace is the foundation of good news! When something good comes our way we often wonder “Why me?” The real answer is that God is very good to us. We have been given good news and we feel unworthy. That is Grace.

          Good news announces beneficial circumstances. The gospel means a gift from God. It is the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins and sonship with God restored through Christ. Perhaps the following story will help to illustrate how we should relate to this good news.

A minister tells this story: “While I was attending seminary, our two older children (ages 9 and 7) seemed to attract every other child in the mobile-home park for after-school games of hide-and-seek.

 

Our youngest, Carrie, was not quite 3—and (in the minds of the older siblings) always in the way. It was something you could count on; ten minutes into the games our little one would get pushed aside or skin a knee.

 

One afternoon she came through the front door crying for Mommy. She had gotten the worst again. My wife, Elizabeth, attempted to comfort her by giving her two freshly baked cookies. "Now, don't tell the big kids yet," she cautioned. "I haven't finished; I haven't got enough for everybody yet."

 

It took less than three seconds for Carrie to make it to the screen door, fling it wide, and announce to the big kids, "Cookies, I gots cookies!"

Great news should be shared with enthusiasm!

Dear Lord, may all who reads these words today be surprised with good news! Thank you for the good news of salvation. AMEN