By William Oldham
“…I am not ashamed of the Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Romans 1:16-17
After Adam had sinned and gave Satan access to this world, it was good news when God told the devil that He would bring forth a seed from woman that would crush his head. The apostle Paul encouraged the church with these words: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…” Romans 16:20
God called Abraham to leave the idolatrous land he was living in; Abraham believed God and obeyed Him. The Lord led him to a land he knew nothing about and would be a stranger there. But once there, because of his faith, God had good news for Abraham. The Lord made an unbreakable covenant with Abraham: He promised him the land as an everlasting possession, his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and a Seed through Whom all nations would be blessed—that Seed is Christ Jesus. Genesis 12
King David, as the ruler of Israel, decided to build a house for God. But the Lord told him no. Instead, God had good news for David—He was going to build a house for David. It would be a dynasty of kings. The Lord told David that He would raise up a Seed to rule over this kingdom; that He would secure His throne forever, “…that He would confirm Him as King over My house and my kingdom for all time, and His throne will be secure forever.” That Seed is Christ Jesus 1 Chronicles 17:10-14
When Jesus Christ was born, the gospels of Matthew and Luke give the genealogies of Jesus: one from Joseph and one from Mary. This was vital to the identification of the promised Seed. He had to come from the house of David, the tribe of Judah, and from Abraham’s son of promise, Isaac. Both Joseph and Mary’s lineage meet these points. Joseph was not Jesus’ father—God Is! But it was into his house Jesus was born. Mary was His mother in fulfillment of the prophecy that unto a virgin, Immanuel would be born.
The birth of Jesus Christ was Good News; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Lord of King David, was giving His only begotten Son to a world of lost sinners, to save them: to reconcile them back to Himself; God had declared that both Jews and the Gentiles were sinners and must have a Savior. On the day Jesus was born, God had come in the flesh to save sinners from their sins, and give them everlasting life.
The Good News from heaven is that God loves you; that Jesus loves you. “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood.” Romans 3:23-25
This is the Good News from God to sinners; it has to be told. All of the religious ceremonies and rituals, and all of the church programs and activities cannot save a single soul. The simple message of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and resurrected from the dead is God’s word. When it is told and heard, God’s word has the power to penetrate a dead sinner’s heart and raise him to life with Christ and make him a justified, sanctified, glorified child of God.
God’s good news is wrapped up in Jesus Christ and it’s all good!
Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net



