“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” Matthew 4:23

Jesus had a mode of operation during his time of ministry here on this earth, and Matthew records it succinctly here in the verse quoted above. Jesus had a “gospel” that he preached throughout Israel, a message of “good news” that he spread. But importantly, Jesus didn’t just talk the talk of a gospel from God, he demonstrated the promises foretold in that good news. Jesus taught the good news, preached the good news, and showed mankind the extent of the gospel God desired to impart to all of us.

 The last couple of weeks we have endeavored to think about Jesus’ rightful position in the Universe. The Bible declares that it should be “first place,” and it’s hard to deny him that position when it is by his power that the very elements of the Universe are held together (Colossians 1:17). Yet, we don’t see Jesus in first place in many lives, even many Christian lives.

What’s the solution?

According to the Scriptures, a key in Jesus being able to ascend to his rightful position in the hearts of humanity is the proclaiming of his gospel. So, we need to preach Christ’s gospel, but what really is the gospel of Jesus Christ? That’s a question whose full answer only comes from our source of absolute truth, the Bible, and so we’ve looked together at passages that tell us of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We’ve looked in particular at Romans 15:29, and we’ve seen that Paul mentions the “fullness of the blessing of the gospel.”

That got us wondering what this “fullness” would include. Again, the answer is in the Word.

What is the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ? What is this “full” and “complete” good news from God for humanity? Well, what does the Bible say? Let’s look, and as we do let’s pay particular attention, not just to the words of the message, but also to the immediate application of those words found in the pages of Scripture.

Why would that be important? Because the message, the words themselves, can be taken out of context and watered down over time. Man can and does interject his own reasoning into God’s Word way too often. God, in His wisdom, knew this and gave us practical application that provides accurate interpretation right there in the Bible.

Examples? Of course!

The reference in Matthew 4:23 at the head of this article is a prime example. There it is relayed to us that Jesus preached the gospel, but it also states that he demonstrated that same good news right along with the preaching.

Think about it. It’s not like Jesus was preaching one thing, then abruptly stopped, switched directions in the conversation, and then said, “Okay, now I’m going to do something completely different. Something that’s not associated with the gospel. Now I’m going to heal people. You know, just so you know I’m God.” Nope! Jesus taught the good news, preached the good news, and demonstrated the fulness of the good news by healing all that were oppressed by our ultimate enemy!

Do you really want to begin to understand the depth of the fulness of the blessing of the gospel that Jesus taught and demonstrated? I challenge you to read and re-read Matthew 4:23, 9:35, 11:1-6, Mark 16:14-20, and Luke 4:18 and 9:6. There you will see the Bible’s definition of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This was the gospel that he proclaimed everywhere he went. It was also the gospel that the early Christians practiced as well (Acts 5:12-16 and Acts 14:6-10).

Shouldn’t it be the gospel that we enjoy today as well?

Friends, give me that old-time religion. I want this original form of the gospel in my life!

Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.