“EVERYTIME I PICK UP A NEWSPAPER, TURN ON THE TV, OR HEAR SOME REPORT OF WHAT’S GOING ON IN OUR WORLD, IT’S ALWAYS BAD NEWS! ISN’T THERE ANY GOOD NEWS OUT THERE THESE DAYS?”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the fact that there is Good News for all the world to hear…

…Every one wants to hear the news, but even more they want to hear good news! Why with headlines blearing bad news most often, it’s time to hear some good news, right? Well, listen then for a good dose of good news around our world. Although these reports don’t make headline news listen to some of them…

1. Five Million Zambian children were vaccinated against life threatening diseases by the Red Cross and international health organizations last week. The campaign included delivering vitamins and medicine to treat parasites. Also 75,000 bed nets treated with insecticide were given to tackle malaria which normally claims more than 1.5 million children in Africa alone each year!

2. India and Pakistan have composed new overtures to peace. Both nations have agreed to tone down the anger between them and establish good relationships and normalize them.

3. A new technology called depolymerization has been invented that turns the world’s garbage and almost anything into oil! Imagine turning waste from landfills, city sewage, and even infectious medical waste into oil. Indeed this is true for we now have the science and two factories to prove it! 

4. American schools show an astounding rise in ACT scores, with more students taking tougher courses in advanced English, math and science. In addition the latest reports show the high school dropout rate declining and more students going on to college.

5. This year statistics show that in comparison with 27 countries, U.S students’ rank 2^nd in the world in reading literacy!

6. U.S corporate profits in the first quarter of 2003 rose the most they had in 2 ½ years. Earning rose 11% for a year earlier, and for the fourth straight quarter, for the 329 companies in Stand and Poor’s 500 index!

7. American airlines is calling back to work hundreds of furloughed employees as business picks up!

I could go on and on, but you get the picture there is GOOD NEWS these days, you just don’t hear it often enough! However, the greatest good news the entire world needs to hear is even more rarely told, and after our second musical pause, I’ll share with you the greatest good news anyone can ever hear…

…Good news! Everyone wants to hear good news. Why with newspapers and other media always reporting the bad news out there, its time we hear some good news too. I hope the selected good news I told you about taken from worldwide sources encourages you. However, my greatest desire is not just to encourage you about world events and happenings that affect our daily lives; we also need to hear good news about the tings that affect our future life as well.

Well, I’ve got good news for you there, for the Bible is a book about the greatest news and happenings that affect us worldwide in every generation. The problem is not many are telling about it, and even fewer know it exists. So today I want to tell you the GOOD NEWS the Bible has for you to know and embrace.

To begin with we have to define what “good news” is.  For starters, good news is anything we can hear that tells us about something good that is either to happen to us or is available for us to embrace and enjoy. The secular good news I shared with you a moment ago truly should encourage you, and bring you a ray of hope and joy! Why? Well, because the results of that good news eventually trickle down to make our lives more pleasant and fulfilling in future days.

Well my friend, the Bible has the greatest Good News; in fact it calls it that too. I did a search through my Bible this week on this subject and I was amazed at how many times and many ways God’s Word desperately wants to tell us about its Good News. Let me share this with you.

Our first encounter with the Bible’s “good news” is found in,

Mat 4:23 (NIV) Jesus went throughout Galilee , teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

In this text we find that the ministry of the Lord Jesus was threefold: (1) He faithfully and deeply taught God’s Word in the synagogues; (2) He preached or proclaimed the “gospel” or “good news” of the kingdom; and (3) He went about miraculously healed the sick. Now one of the main purposes of performing these miracles of healing was to authenticate His person and ministry (Heb. 2:3-4).

Heb 2:3-4 (NIV) how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Then in chapters 5–7 we find an example of His teaching ministry, and in chapters 8–9 Matthew goes on to describe His powerful miracles.

However, in Matthew 4:23 is the first use of this word “gospel” in the New Testament. The Greek word and term means “good news” of salvation. Yes indeed, in every age of the world’s history there has been only one “gospel, only one way of salvation. For instance, the gospel or “good news,” originates in what the bible calls the grace of God (Eph. 2:8).

Eph 2:8 (NIV) for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

This means that God gives eternal life freely to sinful people who don’t deserve it. The basis of the gospel or “good news” is the very work of Christ on the cross (1 Cor. 15:1–4).  Paul the apostle tells us this GOOD NEWS!

1 Cor 15:1-4 (NIV)  Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel [good news] I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel [good news] you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Yes indeed, our Savior God fulfilled all the claims of divine justice. The Bible warns humanity of a perilous state in which we are all born and live. It tells us the bad news first. We read of this first in the Book of Genesis where God told Adam that his earthly and future life would be cut short if he sinned by disobedience,

Gen 2:17 (NIV)  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Ezek 18:20 (NIV) “ The soul who sins is the one who will die…”

Once Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, the penalty became mankind’s portion, and all who were born of Adam and Eve were under its curse and death sentence. That’s the Bad News. The bible tells us we are all sinners by birth and by nature. As such our only ability is to reject, resist, and refuse to follow God’s laws for righteous living in His glorious Creation. We don’t need to hear more about the bad news. The press and media tell us about it every day. The TV news shows the riots, fighting, the crime, the disease, the death and heartache, night after night, day after day. It’s all here my friend because of sin. But there is GOOD NEWS, and Jesus Christ is the bearer of it. His life and death are the prime evidence that God was at work through Him, enabling God to justify and forgive believing sinners of their penalty.

Yes, Old Testament believers were saved only one way! It was through the work of Christ, seen in the sacrifices on Jewish altars, even though it was still future.

Lev 17:11 (NIV)  For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

Heb 9:22 (NIV)  In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

The Old Testament saints probably did not know much about the coming future Messiah, but God did—and He imputed the value of Christ’s work on the cross to their account. So in a sense they were saved “on credit.” We, too, are saved through the work of Christ, but in our case, the work has already been finished. This is the GOOD NEWS, the Bible speaks about!

Now it’s important to understand that the gospel or “good news” about Christ’s person and work, is received by faith alone (Eph. 2:8).

Eph 2:8 (NIV)  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

As we see, in the Old Testament, people were saved by believing what God had told them about their sins and the sacrifices that could save them. In this age, even the 21^st century, people are still saved by believing God’s testimony concerning His Son as the only way of salvation (1 John. 5:11 -12).

1 John 5:11-12 (NIV)  And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

So, the ultimate goal of the gospel or good news to be preached to all the world is god is offering to all fallen sinners the gift of heaven and eternal life. Believers and followers of Jesus Christ have the sure hope of eternity in heaven (2 Cor. 5:6–10),

2 Cor 5:6-10 (NIV)  Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

You see, this is just as the Old Testament saints did too. We read of this in Abraham’s life and others (Heb. 11:10 , 14–16),

Heb 11:10 (NIV)  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Heb 11:14-16 (NIV)  People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

While there is only one gospel, [Good News] there are different features of the gospel in different times. For instance, there is a different emphasis between the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel of the kingdom says, “Repent and receive the Messiah; then you will enter His kingdom when it is set up on earth.” The gospel of grace says, “Repent and receive Christ; then you will be taken up to meet Him and to be with Him forever.” Fundamentally, they are the same gospel—salvation by grace through faith—but they show that there are different administrations of the gospel according to God’s dispensational purposes.

When Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom, He was announcing His coming as King of the Jews and explaining the terms of admission into His kingdom. His miracles showed the wholesome nature of the kingdom, and the promises of God’s miraculous care and provision that would be provided when God brought the kingdom of God to man. Christ’s offer was a legitimate offer.

If the Jews had responded, the kingdom of God , the millennial reign of Christ would have occurred. But God foreknew their rejection. That’s the bad news for the Jew, but it became the GOOD NEWS for all the world. God delayed the kingdom to come, and created in dispensational theology what we call a GREAT PARENTHESIS in the time clock of God’s dealings and plans for mankind, the earth and creation itself. This parenthesis in time has continued for over two millenniums, but we have no promise how much longer it will last.

The Bible warns us that a day is coming when the wrath and judgment of God will step in. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, two prolific writers have written a best selling series of fictional books on what they’ve entitled: LEFT BEHIND! A series of 12 books is planned to describe what life on earth will be like during the seven years of God’s judgments which will fall upon every living human being alive on the earth after God raptures His church away. At the end of this seven year tribulation period of unimaginable horror suffering and death – God will judge the living lost sinners, and reward the living righteous with a brand new world recreated without the curse of sin in which we live. Now that’s further GOOD NEWS!

Indeed, the Bible is full of Good News, mainly the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the question is, have you heard the news? Have you responded to the good news? What does one need to do? Let me outline it for you,

1. The Bible tells us that God loves us all, for He created the human race in the beginning to be His companion for all the ages to come.

2. The BAD NEWS is that companionship and future intimacy was lost due to the sin of Adam and Eve, the progenitors of the human race. Upon sinning and breaking God’s laws of  creation, they plunged the entire human race into a state of judgment and ruin.

3. But God loved this lost race of humanity so much that He devised a plan to rescue all who wanted to be rescued. How? He sent a special human being to be your substitute to pay for your sins and to free you from its eternal penalty.

The GOOD NEWS gospel is that God came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, and lived a perfect sinless life, to qualify a human being to be worthy of heaven and eternal life and be a qualified substitute “lamb” for sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
John 3:16-17 (NIV)  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

1. The GOOD NEWS is God offers this sin payment on our behalf to all who will believe and receive His Son into their heart and life by surrender to His Lordship and leading.

2. Upon trusting in Jesus Christ alone, as one’s Savior from our sins, and Lord God of our lives – God the Father removes the blot of sin, its stain and its judgment coming from us. Thereupon, we are declared righteous and worthy of heaven and eternal life.

Now that’s GOOD NEWS! Good news so good it should be proclaimed from every housetop, on every radio and television broadcast, on the cover of every news magazine worldwide. Ala s, it’s not. Like most good news it’s passed over and forgotten. But say friend, have you heard the GOOD NEWS? The answer for all at this point of the broadcast is YES YOU HAVE!

But, the question is, what are you going to do about it? Will you like the vast majority simply yawn in the face of God and His Word and walk away? Or will you respond right now, and look up to heaven and cry out for God to save you and give you’re his free salvation. When you do this God also has more GOOD NEWS for you. Along with granting you forgiveness of all your sins now and for eternity, but He offers you a brand new life principle to live in you, that will enable you to love and serve God. Isn’t that amazing? We call it the New Birth!

Yes God give us a new heart, a new life, a new perspective that grants us permanent hope for a bright and glorious future. That’s Good News, the best news one can ever have! But alas, multitudes, millions, even billions have nev er heard this Good News because so few openly proclaim it. Friend, it’s time for God’s people who know it and have embraced it for themselves, to get out there and share the good news with every one around them.

I challenge you today if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, to go out and tell the GOOD NEWS gospel to all in your sphere of influence! I tell you if every Christian were to do this, our world, our nation would find a revival and renewal unheard of in human history.  But the truth is you and I will not see it, for multitudes of believers are selfish enough and unconcerned about others and their peril ahead.

Well, the supporters of this broadcast are not. Each week we try to tell our listening audience the GOOD NEWS in differing and interesting ways. We hope we are accomplishing this in your heart and life. I trust and pray you’ve taken Christ as your Savior and Lord, and you’ve dedicated your life to living righteously as God tells us in His Word. If so, you are a part of the solution to world peace and a bright future. But if not, you need to repent and ask Christ’s forgiveness for being selfish, uncaring, disobedient and willfully self-centered. May God have mercy on every soul that knows the Good News and fails to share it. And, may God show forth His grace to every hearer who needs Christ to wash away their sins and the stain it has made on their lives. This grace is found in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. May God find a goodly number of listeners pray to receive Christ now to save them from their sin. In Jesus Name I ask this. Amen…

…Yes there are all kinds of good news to hear and receive around the world. Most often it is neglected or passed by, but the greatest Good News is Christ died for your sins, and God loves you enough to offer His death as a free payment to you to save you now and for eternity from the coming wrath of God. Have you received Christ by faith alone and trust in His person and work? This is our prayer and purpose now and until Jesus comes.

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[i] MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) (Ge 2:24). Nashville: Word Pub.

[ii] THE BIBLE NETWORK - http://www.siscom.net/