“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Revelation 14:6
The spiritual landscape of our time is a landscape of turmoil and bitterness of soul. The masses are groaning to be free–not just free from the threat of a virus or free from repeated lockdown mandates, as real as those troubles have become–but free from the ache of an empty and unsatisfied heart; free from the madness of the fruitless search for identity outside of God; free from the poison that has hurt humanity for generations. The burden of injustice has grown too heavy to be borne, and man is at his breaking point. The questions of ages are clamoring to be answered. If ever we needed a messenger from heaven, we need one now.
And what a message this angel carries! It is nothing less than the universal answer to every problem of every person and every group of people of all time–it is the everlasting gospel. It is the same Word that moved upon the chaos of a barren universe, and moving, brought life and harmony throughout each detail of Creation. It is the same gospel which, in its merely foreshadowed form, produced such unparalleled wisdom and order and splendor in Solomon’s kingdom that its sight took the Queen of Sheba’s breath away.
It is the living gospel that, through the power of prophecy alone, changed a field of dry bones into a vibrant, powerful army. It is the same gospel whose light knocked a man from his horse and in one week changed the persecutor into a preacher. It is the gospel that has never changed and has never lost its power.
Ours is a gospel of simplicity. It works from the youngest to the oldest. No scientific formula, no university education, and no genius mind are needed to unlock its beautiful mysteries.
Ours is a gospel of power. Seeking souls are finished with dead, formal Christianity. They have been disappointed by those who profess much and possess little. This gospel offers both the form of godliness and the power to live godly in life’s most trying circumstances. Its message of holiness keeps us separate from the vanity of the world, and at the same time is abundantly relevant to every current crisis.
Ours is a gospel of hope. No case is too hard. No need is too deep. The blood of the Author of Creation and King of Heaven flowed in sacrifice so great that its comprehensive atonement can erase sin’s deepest stain.
Ours is a gospel of invitation. Not a single contrite sinner will God ever despise. Yet it is a gospel of offense because it runs contrary to the wisdom of the world. “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23-24). It is a gospel of the multitudes, but at the same time a gospel of the few (Matt. 7:14).
Our gospel brings the human in touch with the divine. Jesus left the courts of heaven to take on mortal flesh. He ate, He slept, He laughed, He wept. He suffered human pain and died a human death. Freely He touched and talked and mingled with sinners, yet no sin did He commit Himself. Christ’s followers, in the same manner, embrace sinners while hating sin. We despise no one, for doing so would be against the nature of Christ. But in our loving, we offer the perfect cure for the sin problem. Our message is one of divine change.
Our gospel is the gospel of the image of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). What was it that attracted us in the first place? It was not the talent or presentation, however great that may have been. What drew us was the salvation experience whose glory beamed from the faces of the saints and the power of holiness exemplified in their living. What drew us together in community of spirit was our common love of the uplifted Christ and our common loyalty toward those uplifting Him. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).
Our gospel is validated by what it has produced, for wisdom is justified of her children (Matt. 11:19). No other message can produce such unity among brethren and at the same time such integrity against sin as we see produced through the gospel. No other message can combine such burning love of fallen man with such perfect hatred toward the sin that ensnares him. No other message produces a people so godly and still so down-to-earth. The angelic messenger who bears this glorious gospel is surrounded by a cloud of testimony representing those whose lives his gospel has transformed.
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them …For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”
(2 Cor. 4:3, 4, 6).
