Mark 1:14-15
Jesus Announces the Good News
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
John 3:16-17
God So LOVES the World
16 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.
Galatians 5:22-23
Fruit of the Holy Spirit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Matthew 22:36-40
The Two Greatest Commandments
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
John 14:15-21
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
1 John 4:8
God is LOVE
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Most people follow the news...There is good news and there is bad news everyday...If we think only about the good news, what is good news to you?...Where do you normally get or hear your good news from?...
There is a another kind, a different kind of "good news" that is from the four gospels and the New Testament...And this news is still current...We often do not think of it as current and fresh, but we should...The followers of Jesus call the gospel the Good News...This Good News is the news of the coming of the Kingdom of God , and of Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection to restore people's relationship with God...Jesus, and others as well, remind us over and over in the gospels, and New Testament that God is for us and not against us, that He is near, and that we can be closer to Him...The Good News is about being saved (and not being condemned, and restoring our love with Him) and being reunited back to God, by His Son, Jesus...This Good News was delivered by and from Jesus...He was the One we heard the Good News from...The Good News came to earth in the Person of Jesus, to restore and strengthen our relationship with God...And Jesus brought with it the Power of the promise of the Holy Spirit...The Good News comes from the Power of God, and delivered through His Son, with the help of an Advocate, the holy Spirit...God gave Jesus the power to change the world...So the gospel is about a change in the world and how we think about God and how we should be and can be closer to God...And God so LOVES the world that He would give His One and Only Son to us for our sins, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life, with Him and His Son...For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him...God is about love, because God is LOVE...
This Good News is a powerful reality for those who believe in Jesus, and sadly not so much of even news for those who reject Him and who do not believe in Him...For the non-believer, it is another forgotten thought in their freewill that God has given them...But for those who believe in Jesus, we can see Him as this powerful reality, who provides comfort, rest, forgiveness, mercy, all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life...There is love in this fruit and this Good News...
The Good News is current, even today...This Good News is forever...And by saying that, it makes the news a little older, I think, but it is true, because His News is Absolute Truth...And even though we have heard these things so often, they nudge, they pull and tug at our hearts every so often, and we wonder what they are...It is His Spirit nudging us, tugging us, and gently pulling at us....And it is the best of news...
And those who follow His Teachings do so out of love, because His Kingdom, is a Kingdom of LOVE...To love God, and to love neighbor are His Two Greatest Commandments...The nature of this Good News is somehow mysterious, yet this mysterious Good News meets the wants of all men...To reject this Good News and His Kingdom makes your life this explicable riddle, but when you believe the Good News, your life and the history of mankind is satisfactorily explained....And you really do believe that LOVE can conquer all things...