To Encourage You

1 Thessalonians 1:5 “Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”

The gospel: the meaning of the word is “good message” or “good news.”  Throughout the Bible it is further identified as “the gospel of the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14), “the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Mark 1:1), “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1), “the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13), “the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15), “the glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11), and “the everlasting gospel” (Revelations 14:6).  In each and every case “the gospel” is referring to essentially the same things, i.e., that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  It’s not only “good” news, but the best news that has ever been told. 

But it is in the name given to the gospel in the verse above that a precious truth about the gospel is revealed like no place else. In this verse the apostle Paul calls the gospel “our gospel.”  With these words he gives the word a personal touch that gives the word “gospel” a very sweet sense.  You see, anyone likes to hear good news, no matter what the nature of it.   A couple years ago I was speaking with a lady that was nearly 100 years old. She had witnessed such things as the end of World War II.  She spoke about the joy in the streets when that terrible war  ended. Everyone was in the streets shouting and partying and rejoicing with everyone else around them.  It was surely good news for all. However, for the person that had actually been on the front lines, or for a parent that had a child that was on the front lines, the good news of the end of the war had a much more wonderful effect.  It wasn’t just good news in a general sense, it was especially good news for them personally. 

Another example: perhaps you’ve heard about someone you know winning the lottery. Years ago, one of my grade school teachers won a million dollars.  Surely that was good news for me to hear about. However, it would be good news in a very different sense if it would have been me, personally, that had come into a million dollars somehow.  That’s the way it is with the gospel.

A couple months back we all celebrated Christmas 2023. It was a joyous time full of gift giving, parties, family gatherings, and feasting.  At its heart, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago.  It’s the message of “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” However, many people who celebrated Christmas probably never gave the true message of Christmas a second thought. The message of the gospel of the coming of Jesus into the world had no personal meaning to them.  Christmas was more synonymous to them with “a good time” than the “good news” of the gospel of Christ. However, for the believer, Christmas is personal. It is the message that Jesus came into the world not just as a good teacher or a good example as to how one should live, but He came into the world to save them, personally.  To them, Jesus is not just “the Savior,” but He is “my Savior.” 

And so it is the believers in Jesus Christ that can say that the good news that Jesus came into the world to save sinners is not just “the gospel” but “our gospel” for this is the good news that Jesus saved me.  That truth should fill the heart of the believer with a passion to share this same gospel with the world.  It is not just the message that “I have been saved by the grace of God and have the gift of eternal life” but that “You can have this salvation as well, if you will only believe.” 

It was the knowledge that there were those in Thessalonica that had heard “Paul’s gospel” and believed so that it now had also become “their gospel” that filled Paul’s heart with joy so that he could say of the Thessalonian church “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers” (1 Thessalonians 1:2). 

So, is this same gospel your gospel?  Is the message of Christmas a message of the gift of Jesus to you personally, or have you never thought about it that way?  Well, the fact of the matter is that this is what the message has always been meant to be, i.e., not just good news in a general sense, but very personal good news to you.  Is the gospel your gospel?  It can be, if you will only believe.