The primary reason that the early believers and writers of the Faith took over and adopted the term 'Gospel' from their culture was because it meant 'good news' and heralded either the birthday of the emperor or the coming (parousia) of the emperor to visit a city or province.
The event of the resurrection had to be tied to a term worthy of its greatness and importance. The titanic struggle with thanatos or death had been won. Peter said in his great sermon on the Day of Pentecost that it was not possible for death to hold him (Iesous). Indeed, the Iesous allowed thanatos to hold him for a little while and then the Iesous stood up out from death.
We are told in the Book of Revelation that the Iesous now holds the keys to death and the grave. His victory was complete. Yes, people still die. But there is a message that we can share with people about the future. Our message is one of life. Paul wrote to the church at Rome that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of the Ieosus because it was and remains the message of eternal life.
The peace of God and peace with God is given through the Gospel. The Gospel remains a radical message filled with life-giving power.
I visited an elderly man who had had a career in the United States Navy. He was an Afro-American man. At the time that I went to visit him he was in the process of having his bed changed. He saw me standing at the door to his room and with alert and piercing eyes he asked me to identify myself.
I told him who I was and that I would come back a little later to speak with him. His reply to me was "See that you do." When I returned to his room he told me that he was dying from cancer and he wanted to have peace with God. He had made references to some of the things that he had done in his life and he wanted to know how to have God's peace in his heart.
After years in the ministry one acquires an ear for what is truth and what is carefully contrived fiction. His words were angst filled and had an existential imperative. He wanted the words of eternal life from God.
I shared the Word of God with him and, thus, he received the Word of God. He received peace with God, and the peace of God through the Gospel that I shared with him that day.
No program can replace the Gospel. All men die. No one disagrees with that proposition. Death occurs daily. It is a relentless foe. Death does not mind if we ignore its presence because at some point we will face it. But one can decide how one will face death.
Iesous has defeated death. He has taken away the sting of death. The sting of death is sin. Death need not have victory over your life. You can decide now to have the Iesous in your life and appropriate the life giving message of the Gospel to rescue you from death.
When you die it will not be merely an eternal sleep as some teach today. Their refusal to acknowledge the after life does not remove the reality thereof. Some may not believe in gravity but if one steps off a roof of some height the reality of gravity makes one a reluctant believer.
I have gone on Youtube to listen to the music of the stars and the radio signals that stars produce. Stars speak in the language of musical harmonics. The moon has its own special music too. This is not by chance. This is by divine design. The body is sown in biologic corruption, but it will be raised and fitted for life in the presence of God. The body is sown in weakness and it is raised in power.
I have children here on earth and I have some who are now in the presence of God. I look forward to seeing my children. Loss of a loved one is never easy. I thank God for his constant grief ministry in the collective lives of us who know the loss of loved ones. God lost his Son to death too. God knows loss in a way that we can never know. God's Son came back from the dead and now we prosper through God's loss.
God has given us hope through the Iesous. Get your future settled with God. Remember the soul survives the death of the body. The Word of God gives hope beyond the grave. Think for yourself. Listen to the Gospel message. Read the Gospel of John prayerfully.
"For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten Son
that whosoever believes in him may not die, but have eternal life."
John 3:16
For more information about Dr. Rich and his teaching ministry, please follow his blog and visit his website.
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