To begin with, the word Gospel does not mean religion. As we all know, the majority of Antilleans are religious, and are fettered to one or another religion. In most cases, we were brought up in a religion our parents were brought up in, and they in turn by their parents.
We may ask: What in fact does the word the Gospel mean? My friend, we find the answer directly from the Holy Scriptures. To begin with let us read together in Luke 4:17-21 these words: The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him, and He began by saying unto them, “today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
According to this Scripture, friends, the Lord Jesus taught that He is The One that God, the Father, authorized to preach the good news of salvation to sinners throughout the world. How did He do that? The answer is in the Scriptures itself. For example, In Matthew 16:21 we read, the following: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Also in this same book of Matthew in chapter twenty, verses seventeen to nineteen we read: “Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the teachers of the law. They will condemn Him to death and will turn Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day He will be raised to life!”
If we compare these Scriptures here with Luke 4:17-21, we can see that in Luke chapter 4, Jesus was not speaking of the poor in material goods, or about those in incarcerated, nor about those who are blind and oppressed physically. But, instead He is speaking about such who were living at that time, and to all who are living today. He is speaking here to our spiritual lives in this world. He is speaking to us who are poor towards God, and are willingly prisoners of every kind of wickedness there is, and who are spiritually blind and serving Satan without even being aware of it.
In the light of the above Scriptures we learn that “The Gospel” is Good News of Glad Tidings that there is forgiveness and freedom through faith in Jesus, Who was betrayed and given over into the hands of men and was mocked, mistreated and crucified. But, God, the Father, gave Him life again on the third day, that we, you and I, may receive pardon and eternal life. THIS IS THE GOSPEL that we proclaim today in Aruba, in Bonaire and Curaçao and throughout the entire world. This is the GOOD NEWS the Apostles preached – that now there is eternal life available in the name of Jesus to everyone who repents from his or her sin and believes in Jesus Christ. Without repentance, God says, there is no pardon for sin.
Dear friends, the Scriptures teach us, that after Jesus’ resurrection and glorification, God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit, Whom He sent to convince men and women of sin, so that we can repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Read Acts 2:29-30, and Acts 20:21. Without repentance, friends, there is no forgiveness.
Written by Bicento Henriquez and translated by Betty Henriquez
You may communicate with us at: bbhenriquez@shaw.ca
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