Luke 24:45-47 English Standard Version
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Since we are tasked with spreading the gospel throughout the whole world, it would seem only right that we know what we are talking about. Do search on Google by asking what is the gospel. We will discover a variety of answers from “The Good News” to various 30 to 50 page thesis about everything required to understand the gospel.
As we look at our opening verse we see Christ opening the minds of his disciples to understand the “Scriptures”. Those scriptures were not the New Testament, as it had not been written when Jesus preached the good news Himself. We can see this mission was given to apostles that began in Jerusalem, the heart of Judaism. They needed to explain to those who had lived by the Law that they too might see everything they had learned from their teachers was meant to show them that this Jesus of Nazareth was “The Christ” their Messiah.
Now here we are spreading the word to a world that may have no understanding of the Old Testament, any knowledge of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their God of promise. We need to discover a way of preaching the gospel that does not confuse them by requiring them to read and understand the Old Testament as if they were Jews themselves. That is not necessary.
The leading edge of the gospel message is the same for everyone. It is a life lived without God and a regret for the choices we all made. We will find we were in anguish over the results.
The preaching of the gospels begins with a yearning in the heart to end the emptiness in their heart because life has not been fulfilling.
Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
It is not our fault we were born this way. Futility indicates we are helpless to help ourselves. We cannot change ourselves. The “Good News” is that God can.
Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
The gospel message begins with the lost opening up to us the condition of their heart and exploring what they have tried that did not bring them happiness, their futility. The lost will resist opening up to strangers that have not earned their trust. How can we earn the trust of the lost?