Just what is the gospel anyway?

If you ask a typical eight-year-old child (in America) what the word "gospel" means, he/she will tell you that it means "good news."  But what, exactly, is the good news of the gospel?  The very first place that we find the word "gospel" is in Matthew 4:23 where it says:

And Joshua [Jesus] traveled all over Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom...
[Matthew 4:23]

Years ago I read Adolph Harnack's The History of Dogma where I found this amazing quote:

In proclaiming Jesus to be the Christ, men thereby ceased to proclaim the gospel.

In other words, the gospel of Messiah Joshua ben Joseph [a.k.a. Jesus Christ] was replaced by a gospel about Messiah Joshua ben Joseph.  To put it simply: The messenger became more important than the message.  Eventually they even turned the messenger into a god. [See related article: Was Jesus "God" or the "son of God"?]

But just what is the "Kingdom of God" anyway? Click here to see the answer.


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