Freedom is Good News Part 181

For God so loved His creation that He gave His only begotten Son; you and I are a part of that creation.  It was for us that Jesus died.  And so begins the story of the Gospel.  But that story did not begin some 2000 years ago with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth – that story began from the creation of the world.

Our God had known from the beginning of time that mankind would need a Savior and so His plan was set in motion.  In his first letter Peter makes this statement, “The precious blood of the Messiah, a lamb without blemish or defect was chosen before the creation of the world” (1 Peter 1:19).  People like to ask the question as to what would have happened if Adam and Eve had not sinned.  But this is not a profitable question.  The reality is that they did sin and so for about 6000 years mankind has had to suffer the consequences.

God knew their frame and their abilities.  He knew the adversary, Satan, would be a more than formidable opponent.

But what about this gospel, this good news that began before the world began.  I suppose we might understand that the good news we are considering started with creation: for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and on the seventh day He rested. 

Approximately 4000 years later the Savior, the Son of God, was born of a virgin into some very humble beginnings.  At the age of about 30 Jesus began His ministry with His baptism by John and then went to Galilee.  Luke puts it this way:  “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside.  He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised Him.  He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom.  He stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him.  Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor.’”

Yes, this section of scripture from Isaiah 61:1 was His mission statement.  What happened next is best told by Mathew, “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matt.4:23)  These things He continued to do for three and a half years.  We know that His life was taken at the time of Passover and if we back up those three and a half years we come to the fall of approximately 27 A.D.  This was the second phase of God’s good news.  Many people heard the gospel and news of Him spread quickly.

We shall visit about the third and fourth phase of this gospel in the future, God willing.