It’s time I get somewhat on track with regards to my series on the gospel and evangelism (after another 2 and half week break). For those interested, here are part 1, part 2 and part 3.

But as a brief recap, I have claimed that we could be missing something important, something central to the reality of what the gospel (or evangel) is, and thus we are missing something important with our proclamation of the evangel, what we call evangelism.

The central missing characteristic is that of the announcement of God’s kingdom coming in Jesus, the Messiah-King. Jesus was and is and will always be King, and he came to fulfil the story and promises as God’s Messiah-King. That is the announcement that Jesus proclaimed in the Gospels (or Gospel) himself. And it is important to centre our understanding of the gospel in the great Evangel-Bearer, Jesus Christ.

Then, from this reality, we move into the story of what Jesus did, as found in the Gospels and expounded upon in the Epistles. We see Jesus’ kingship and rule established in the most unique of ways – through his sacrificial and grueling atoning death on the cross and then through his powerful resurrection from the dead. And because of this, forgiveness of sins can be granted, we are called into relationship with our God as sons and daughters, and we can now enjoy the community known as the church-ekklesia. Continue reading →