Real Good Part 1: "We have An Announcement"

I love good news as long as it is real. If the supposed good news is not real, and is simply some one's spin on what is really bad news, I am not interest because I don't find comfort in spin. I realize that even with the worst of news there can be a good result or a good aspect, but in order for news to be truly good it has to be real. We all can make up stories of non-existent good news to makes us feel better or make us feel that the wrong we are doing is actually right. That may make us feel better for a season but in reality truth will one day wash away all the spin. Reality has a way of doing that.

In light of my love for good news as long as it is real, comes the belief that Christians have the greatest of all good news. In fact that is why we call our story, "the gospel". The gospel means good news, but the questions that need to be asked are, is the gospel real and why is it good? These questions will be the focus of this series of messages called, "Real Good". Here in part one we will answer these questions by addressing the fact that our news is the life of Jesus was His announcement of His identity and mission. When we begin to understand who Jesus is, and what He came to accomplish, we will see how the good news is real and truly good.

Paul the apostle gives us a good summary of the gospel in his letter to the church in Rome. In Romans 1:1-6 we read, " 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-- 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (ESV). Here we see that Paul is among other things saying that what we call the Old Testament point to Jesus and that His life displayed who he was and what He was seeking to accomplish. 

The Gentiles is Rome would have read this as the greatest of news for though Jesus they were being invited in to a relationship with God through faith. A proper understanding of the prophets would then lead to an understanding that through Jesus, Christian were offering the real good news about the identity of Jesus and how through His life, death and resurrection, God's restoration of His creation had begun. This is the real good news.

Turning our attention to the life of Jesus we see though the Gospel of Mark, that Jesus lived a life that helped, confused, worried and angered people. The first half of the Gospel of Mark is filled with examples of how this took place. He helped people to the point that he and his disciples could not enter any town freely (1:40-45). He confused people by the way that He taught and the type of people that He associated with (2:21-28). Jesus also angered many people by disrupting their power structure and interpretation of God's law. Finally Jesus also worried people by the pace at which he served and words He used. His family came to think that He was out of his mind (3:13-21). 

Jesus lived His life in this way and it finally led to a key question. In Mark 8:27-30 Jesus asked His disciples, "who do people say that I am?" There answers were typical for their day. Some said that Jesus was John the Baptist who had returned from the dead. Other due to their understanding of prophecy thought that Jesus was Elijah. Still others believe as many today that Jesus was simply a prophet. In this text, Jesus then asked His disciples, "but who do you say that I am?" Once again Peter was the one who spoke up and said, "You are the Christ." Based upon the manner in which Jesus lived His life, Peter's answer was the only correct one. 

With this in mind, the question still looms concerning the identity of Jesus. He is asking the same questions to the church today. We as Christian posses the real good news about the identity and mission of Jesus because we answer the question based upon the most reliable historical evidence. The challenge for us to to answer based on this evidence while others make up their own answers based upon wish fulfillment. Ever since His birth people have tried to define Him based upon their own desires and thoughts of what He should be a do. 

We have an announcement, and the announcement is that through Jesus God has begun His restoration of His creation. Jesus has reveal God, died to paid the penalty for sin, and has conquered the grave. As we enter in to relationship with Him our lives are renewed.