The Good News about Jesus involves four things:
The truths about who Jesus is: He is the Son of God—fully God and fully man—He is the Savior, the Christ-King, the Redeemer, the One who fulfills all God’s promises, the Lamb who takes away our sin, the Great High Priest, the Lion of Judah, the Rock, the Word, the Image, the Fullness. All of these things connect us to who Jesus is, and every part of who Jesus is, is part of why the news about Him is so great.
The truths about what Jesus did: He is the creator-God, but was born as a creature, and lived among us; He lived a sinless, wholly holy, righteous life; He died as a truly innocent man, in fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, to pay for our sins and set us free; He rose from the dead, as Scripture promised He would, and was declared, by the resurrection, to be God’s Anointed Son, to be the victor, to have succeeded; He poured out the Holy Spirit, in fulfillment of all our hopes; He mediates and intercedes for us 24/7/365 before the throne of grace; He is coming soon to set all things fully, finally, right and bring His people into the glory of the Father forever. All of these things Jesus did work together to create the full, amazing, goodness of the Good News.
The truths about what all Jesus did means for us: that we have peace with God, that we stand in grace, that we have no fear of condemnation, that we are washed clean, that we possess Christ’s righteousness, that we are fully forgiven, that we have nothing to fear, that all things are being worked for our good, that nothing can separate us from God’s love, that we have a strong and steadfast hope, that we can pray and be heard, that we can be honest and unafraid before God, that we can fight sin and be free, that we can love, that we can obey, that we are free. The goodness of the Good News is a tasted goodness, a goodness we receive, believe, appreciate, and are grateful for. The effects of Christ’s work in our lives are part of what makes the Good News such great news.
The truths about how what Jesus did becomes true for you: repent of your sin, trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. We live by faith in Him, not by hard work or intelligence or studiousness or cleanliness or fastidiousness or etiquette. We live by faith. The simplicity of this, how we “get in”, is part of what makes the Good News so good: even me, even you, right now, no matter what.
