Today I am going to jump onto the other foot. It seems like more recently my vlogs have been toward things that have been happening at hand, and not too much deeper. I have still been sharing perspective about the world, and about things that are happening in my life. One aspect of me, which is the biggest part of me, my spiritual life has not been shared much.
Recently I was reading the bible. I was reading the NASB version, and there were a few words that leaped off of the page at me, and it had to do with the gospel. I have been a born again believer for about 22 years now, and the way I see YHWH now is light years more intimate than it has ever been.
When I first became a believer there was talk about the gospel. So when ever you ask about what the gospel is..you usual get the same answer, but it is always applied differently. Most answers would simply be "oh, the gospel is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John". Well, there you go. The gospel is the the 4 books that outline Jesus personally.
Wait a minute, what IS the gospel. "oh, well the gospel is the good news of Jesus". So what I am hearing is that the gospel is the good news of Jesus, but it is also the 4 books. So would you refer to the books as the gospel or the good news of Jesus as well as Jesus being the gospel...or both.
Well, now that we are clearing that up what about the gospel of Jesus. Is that just as plain cut and dry? "well, the gospel is the good news of Jesus"...yes we've covered that. So is the good news Jesus, or the fact that the Messiah came, or the message he brought?
Now we are getting into a stickier situation because maybe it isn't so black and white, and may depend on who you ask. So Jesus came as the fulfillment of old testament prophecy. He is the Messiah (that's what I believe). So people would say that He came as a fulfillment of prophecy and that is the good news. You would also have others say that he has come to show us how to connect with the father directly and that is the good news. Some would also say that He came to die for our sins so we can connect with the Father, and that is the good news.
How about this....Mark chapter 1 verse 14 it says "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God"
and verse 15 "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel"
So there you go, Jesus is preaching the gospel. Would it be safe to assume that the gospel is whatever Jesus was preaching? Verse 15 says that he was preaching that the time is fulfilled..what time?....and the kingdom of God is at hand...does that mean right now we can experience the kingdom of God.....and we should repent and believe the gospel?
I guess by reading that then you can say that the gospel, or good news, is whatever Jesus would be preaching directly and that is that we should repent and believe the good news that the kingdom of God is at hand. Makes sense to me. So how do we live that out. rhetorical question.
At the end of all of this I would say that it is not for me to define something for you. It is for me to bring your attention to the fact that some things need more of our attention. If we are to blindly follow someone else, yes even our highly educated church leaders, we may not have any answer besides the one taught in a denominational school.
I would encourage you to push hard. To take responsibility for yourself and your own experience. Seek council but don't just rely on someone else. Ask the hard questions, and be bold enough to handle the answers.
Be well
~The Yeti
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