John T. Eapen
M.E.Eapen Institute of Science & Technology for Community Development (MEEISATCODE),
S-8, Shanti Vista, Yeshwant Shrusti, Boisar (W), Palghar Dist, Maharashtra, India. 401501.
jeteapen@gmail.com, jeteapen@chaloglobal.com
What is the gospel?
The word “gospel” means good news.
The word itself comes from the Greek word euangelion, which literally means “good news.”
The New Testament refers to the gospel as the announcement that Jesus has brought the reign of God to our world through his life, death, and resurrection from the dead. [1]
What is the good news?
In order to understand the good news, one should know some basic things about man and his Creator.
What is a man?
Man is the supreme being in creation. Man is tripartite in nature. He has a body that is visible to the eyes. He has a soul consisting of his mind, will, and emotions, as shown in Fig. 1.
What we see in a man is his soul, consisting of mind, emotions, and will, expressed through his body. In other words, his personality is in his soul, guided by the spirit.
It is like a bulb emitting beautiful light when it is connected to the right voltage. Voltage cannot be seen. But we know electrical energy is required for a bulb to work. Similarly, the spirit and soul of a man are invisible to the eyes, and that is what gives personality to the person.
The body is just an outer covering that starts with one single structure during conception in the mother’s womb and fills the whole 37 to 40 trillion cells in the body.
As previously stated, man is tripartite. Each component is designed to rely on something outside of man.
God has created man in the following design:
Man’s body is made to depend on the sun’s energy, directly or indirectly. We know we cannot live without the sun. We receive food from plants or animals that depend directly or indirectly on the sun’s energy.
Man’s spirit (jeevatma) is made to depend on God, the Supreme Spirit. That is why, in Indian culture, God is referred to as Param Atma.
Fig. 2. The tripartite nature of man
Man is created to have a continuous relationship with God (Param Atma), the source of all values and morals. His body is created to depend on the sun’s energy through the food and water he takes in moderation. Man’s wellness depends on the balanced relationship between all three components of him.
What is the present status of man?
We learn about the present condition of man from some observations.
- Observation 1: Man cherishes certain values.
A man cherishes and appreciates certain good values in his life. Take a look at some of the prize winners in history. Their work highlighted some values cherished by men. No one has ever gotten a prize for any illegal or cruel activities. This shows that deep inside the man, he cherishes values and morals. In the world in which he lives, these values are seldom observed, and he is incapable of doing what he cherishes.
What does it indicate?
The man is trapped in a situation that was not intended for him. Unfortunately, men console themselves by saying, “This is part of life.”
- Observation 2: There is no natural relationship between man and his Creator.
There is a purpose and a relationship between a creator and his creation. Despite the fact that man is a marvel of creation, no natural relationship is observed. Take his body. The total length of blood vessels in his body is enough to go around the earth on the equator two times. In other words, it is about 80,000 to 100,000 km.
Where can we get answers to these observations?
The answers to these observations can be obtained from one single source—the Bible. It is a collection of books written by 40 authors who lived in different time periods over a span of 1600 years. The Holy Spirit inspired the authors to write, and that is why there is no contradiction between any one book.
When you hear the Bible, most people say it is a conversion speech. This is a message to help you establish your relationship with God from where you are and has nothing to do with the Christian religion. It is something you need to know before you take the last breath in this life to choose your destiny.
Let us see what the Bible has to say about creation and man.
The Triune God created space and time.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen:1:1)
God created all the matter you see around you with His invisible energy.
“The universe was created at God’s command so that all things were made of what was invisible” (Hebrews 11:1).
He created all things for his pleasure.
“And God saw everything he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Gen 1:31).
God created the first parent on this earth in His image, and that image gave man creative power.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Gen 1:26).
God created man with free will. Free will is the greatest gift God has given to man. That is why we appreciate it when someone loves us and shows kindness toward us. You may pass through an automatic door a hundred times. You will never turn back and say to the door, “Thank you.” But if someone opens the door for us, we will courteously thank that person. A great God wants devotion and love from man’s free will.
The first parents walked with God, and that was the main purpose of their lives. They constantly had fellowship with God. As shown in Fig. 2, their spirit was constantly in communication with God’s spirit.
Fig. 3. The fallen nature of man where his spirit and soul are guided by Satan
One day, they fell into the temptation brought by Satan. This disobedience broke the relationship with the Holy God. As a result, man became estranged from God. This disobedience paved the way for all sins to fill man’s heart.
Now you may ask, “Who was Satan?” Satan?” and “Who created him?”
Satan was an angel in heaven, and he was a powerful cherub. One day, Satan was jealous of God and wanted to share the worship due to him alone. The omniscient God knew the very thoughts of Satan and was thrown out of heaven. Let us hear from Jesus Christ, the second person in the Trinity, who was the eyewitness.
“I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18).
Later on, some angels disobeyed God and joined Satan.
The first parent of man disobeyed God under the influence of Satan’s lies. But God wanted to restore the relationship with a man. He is just, and he wanted to pay the price and restore the relationship.
The question was, “Who will pay the penalty for man’s disobedience or sin?”
Can a man pay the penalty for his sins?
The answer is no.
Why?
Have you ever seen a child ask a parent or a teacher to teach him to tell lies?
I am sure your answer will be no.
Why is this the case?
The child already has the trait of lying. This is because of the fallen nature of man.
Jesus Christ said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, and blasphemies.” Mathew 15:19
Man’s characteristics are passed down from generation to generation.
So, a man cannot pay the penalty for his disobedience because a criminal cannot bail out another criminal.
Then who can pay the penalty?
The only option left for God was to send Jesus Christ, the second person in the Trinity, to pay the penalty of sin. He was second person in the Trinity (the triune God).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The same was true of God in the beginning. “He made all things, and without him, nothing was made” (John 1:1).
To understand this, here is a story. There was a judge in a town, and he had two sons.
His second son committed a crime, and the police brought him before the judge.
Do you think the judge will acquit his son?
No.
What do you think the judge will do?
Sitting on the Judgment Seat, the judge will send his other son to pay the penalty and bail out his son from custody.
This is exactly what happened in heaven concerning man.
God, the father, sent Jesus Christ, the sinless one, to this world to pay the penalty for man’s sin.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
At the appointed time, the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus Christ in a virgin’s womb. As a result, he was born without any sinful traits passed down from any man.
He was born in a manger, grew up as a child, and then matured into a man. He worked as a carpenter with his earthly father to earn his livelihood.
At 30, he started his public ministry. Before he started his public ministry, Satan tempted him. The third temptation was a hard one. Because he knew all the resources hidden on the earth, Satan tempted him to become famous and wealthy. But he overcame all the temptations. This was possible because he was in constant fellowship with God the Father and he wanted to do His will. In other words, he lived the life that God intended for man, as illustrated in Fig. 2.
He selected 12 disciples, and they were with him for three and a half years.
When the time arrived, he went to the cross, bearing the sins of the world. Though it was unbearable, he gladly did it because he knew it would save millions from the eternal punishment meant for Satan and his angels. He paid the penalty by shedding his blood. He died on the cross. They buried him in a tomb.
He descended into the abyss, where Satan lodged all the souls that had departed from the earth. In the abyss, the souls of those who lived a good life were in Sheol, the upper part of the abyss, and Jesus Christ freed them to be with him. Jesus Christ defeated Satan. This was his sole mission. This is the reason he came to this world. On the third day, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and death was defeated. Man’s greatest enemy is death, and Jesus Christ defeated it.
“Just as one man’s sin brought condemnation upon all men, so one man’s righteousness brought the free gift of life upon all men.”
For as one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Rom 5: 18-19).
As a result, those who are in Christ Jesus and walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit are no longer condemned. (Rom 8:1)
Just as we became sinners due to the sin of one man, we are justified by the obedience of one person. We need to repent and trust in Jesus Christ because he has defeated death.
Fig.4. The result of repentance and accepting Jesus Christ as the Saviour
We no longer need to be afraid of death if we place our faith in Jesus Christ. I learned this lesson from a child’s behaviour. Often, children and infants have taught me many profound things in life.
One day I was about to get into a department store in our town. The store owner had a dog in front of the store, which was harmless to all the customers. A three-year-old boy was standing outside the shop because he was doing window shopping while his parents got into the shop. His parents had already gotten into the shop and started shopping. The boy could not get inside as the dog was standing on the other side of the door. As I was about to enter the shop, the boy felt confident, walked with me, and joined his parents. This experience gave me a strong message about how one can confidently face death by trusting in the name of Jesus Christ. Yama Raj, or the Lord of Death, cannot touch anyone who believes in the name of Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ has already defeated him. In other words, we do not need to land in the abyss, a place kept for Satan and angels waiting for trials.
This is the good news.
It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with Christianity, conversion, or other paraphernalia associated with Christian rituals and practices. I have many educated Christu Bhakt Hindus in India who reads and obeys the Bible. They are not bothered about their burial or cremation because they remember the words of Jesus Christ,” Let the dead bury the dead” (Luke 9:60). They are interested in saving their souls that live forever.
There is hope for mankind. This is why the gospel is preached everywhere. Whoever loves his neighbour will surely share the gospel. It is not for the purpose of increasing the number of members in the community. It is to help people get away from the destiny they are heading toward. In Mumbai, when someone trespasses on a railway line and if any train is approaching, people shout about the coming danger. The greatest danger that awaits man is death and the life that follows it. One can change his destiny by trusting the one who defeated death. Now it is up to you to choose your destiny.
For further reading:
1.Tim Mackie. https://bibleproject.com/blog/what-are-the-gospels
2. Editors. Whatever we do individually, will affect ALL of us Collectively”. http://www.thegoldrose.org/blogs- 20/mans-tripartite-nature—a-spirit-a-soul–a-physical- body–1thessalonians-523-51438
3. Eapen JT. Defeated and Enslaved condition of Human Race after Death- An Evidence-Based Case Study. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356438459_THE_DEFEATED_AND_ENSLAVED_CONDITION_OF_HUMAN_RACE_AFTER_DEATH_-AN_EVIDENCE_BASED_CASE_STUDY
4. Eapen JT. The Defeated and Enslaved condition of Human Race after Death- Is there any hope for Humans? https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356977423_THE_DEFEATED_AND_ENSLAVED_CONDITION_OF_HUMAN_RACE_AFTER_DEATH_-IS_THERE_ANY_HOPE_FOR_HUMANS
For further information visit gospel pavilion at online trade fair in chaloglobal.com