EVANGELION - The Five Fold Ministry Of Ephesians Part 4

Image of a sunrise with the word 'evangelion' written on it

The Great Comission

The word evangelist comes from the Greek word evangelion – meaning ‘good news’

In my tradition, whenever we think of the good news, we view it as synonymous with the great commission found in Matthew 28:16-20 –basically, tell people about Jesus.

When we view the good news from this perspective then everything else becomes a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. I remember one of my lecturers saying that social action, like feeding the poor, should only ever be used as a reason to tell people about Jesus.

The Kingdom of God

When Jesus spoke of the good news, he used it in conjunction with the concept of ‘The Kingdom Of God’.

In the words of Tom Wright, 'what would it look like if God was running the show'; And the answer is, there would be no poor, no hungry, no-one in need.

When we consider our proclamation of the good news, then these things are part and parcel of it, not just precursors to it.

When I think of the Good News, I see a God who is love, who loves us.

I see a God who became human, who experienced the worst that humanity had to offer.

He met the barbarism of humanity with peace. He met the hatred of humanity with love. He took the death that was handed to him and turned it into new life and called us to follow him in this way of love.

I see hope. Hope for a world torn apart by war.

I see a new creation bursting forth right in the midst of this one, and we are invited to be a part of it.

This is good news.

 May we be those that announce this good news wherever we go, may we be those that live this good news, bringing hope to those around us, and may we be those that love.
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