A question that needs to be addressed
Especially in our time
Since in pulpit practice
We see aberrations of every kind.
Some minor, some major,
Some totally out of sync,
Some so grossly misrepresentative,
It’s difficult to think.
But where do we begin
To address such a critical issue?
I would think via the Holy Scriptures,
Wouldn’t you?
And in this poetic discourse
There is no place better to start
Than at Romans, the very first chapter
Which is at the very heart.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
Called to be an apostle,
Separated unto the Gospel of God,
Which he had promised afore by his prophets
In the holy scriptures.
In the holy scriptures
Therein is the full picture!
And now for the current feature.
In the Law or the Torah:
In the book of the beginning,
God dictated to his prophet, Moses,
What would be the ending.
The ending of the arch enemy
We’ve come to know as Satan,
Once regarded as Lucifer, son of the morning,
In the heavenly kingdom.
Cast down from heaven
Headlong into to the earth,
Disrupted communion and communication
Bringing about sin’s birth.
And with sin came death
Which in the first instance was spiritual
But not along after the Fall
Became physical.
The soul that sins shall die
Was the sentence given
Unless of course, a plan could be put in place
For that soul to be forgiven.
And thus came the first pointer
Of the lifesaving Gospel
Which having been fulfilled in Christ
Is available to all people.
Turn in the holy scriptures
To Genesis chapter 3
And there at verse number 15
You will clearly see.
The first verse of promise
Concerning the Gospel of God,
Yes, it is right there and then declared
Immediately after the Fall.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
And between thy seed and her seed;
And it shall bruise thy head,
And thou shall bruise his heel.
Bruise is better rendered as crush
Signifying a fatal blow
And this would materialize at Golgotha
Which the scriptures show.
In this first ever court case
Sentences were given to three:
First to the serpent then the woman
Then to the man finally.
The serpent was the cause
Of the woman being deceived
And the man being an accessory after the fact,
A just sentence received.
Thus, sin originated
And by way of sin entered death
And for both the man and the woman
Ended that Sabbath day rest.
For in it while God had rested
Man’s rest was disrupted
And on account of man’s disobedience
All else was corrupted.
Fast forward through millennia
To welcome a new born babe
Which was born of a virgin peasant
In a virtual cave.
She had known no man
Yet this maiden had conceived,
It was the incarnation of the Christ child
Though many did not believe.
He shall save his people from their sin
His very name had meant
And straight from the heavenly throne room
This divine babe was sent.
Sent by the Heavenly Father
To be the Gospel of God
For unto you is born, the angel did say
That night when they called.
They announced to shepherds
The arrival of the Saviour
That prophets had foretold of long ago
To fulfil God’s pleasure.
For it pleased God
To bruise his own begotten Son
That through his death and resurrection
Our salvation would be won.
So, what is the Gospel
If I may ask you again?
It is the power of God unto salvation
Paul stated unashamed.
Quite unlike the Galatians
Who had quickly turned away
From the path in which he had pointed
Back in that day.
Perhaps they were confused
Or maybe were ashamed
Of the power of God unto salvation
Paul preached in Jesus’ name.
For salvation is in no one
Other than Jesus the Christ
Who crushed the head of the serpent
In his once-for-all sacrifice.
Herein is the Gospel of God
Aka the Gospel of Christ
Who in his own body on a cruel cross
Paid sin’s ultimate price.
In the words of a sacred hymn
And worthy of review,
I now share its Gospel message
In a verse with you.
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heav’n, and let us in.
“I am the door,” said Jesus,
“By me if any man enter in,
He shall be saved and shall go in and out,
And find pasture.”
So, what is the Gospel?
It is, God’s kingdom has come
And is made manifest in the work
And person of the Son.
In those days came John the Baptist,
Preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
And saying, Repent ye:
For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Spoken of by Isaiah the prophet:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
Make his paths straight.”
Thus, John seeing Jesus coming to him
Said, “Behold the Lamb of God,
Which taketh away
The sin of the world.”
From that time
Jesus began to preach and to say,
“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven
Is at hand.”
For some, at hand means
In another two thousand years
But for that 1st Century audience it meant
Virtually here.
The king had arrived
And with him the kingdom had come
In the person and work
Of Jesus, God’s Son.
And thus, we have the Gospel
In a proverbial nutshell,
‘Tis the person and work of Jesus Christ
Which the prophets did foretell.
This is what the Gospel is,
How oft do you hear it?
I have some disheartening news for you,
Not in many a pulpit.
What the Gospel is not
Is mostly what is spoken
And there is a dire need to present
More than just a token.
The Gospel of God
Is the Gospel of Christ,
Is the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven
And eternal life.
How beautiful are the feet of them
That preach the gospel of peace,
And bring glad tidings
Of good things!
Stewart Russell © October 15, 2025
