Henry David Thoreau, approximately 150 years ago, sat in his haven at Walden Pond and watched the linemen string a wire down the railroad track. Thoreau inquired of the workmen what they were doing. They explained that they were building a telegraph system so that people in Maine and Texas could talk to each other. Thoreau then asked, “What if the people in Maine do not have anything to say to the people in Texas, and what if the people in Texas do not have anything to answer back to the people in Maine?”
It was a good question. The point Thoreau was making is that there is no reason to talk unless you have something to say. That is why I am glad Christians have something worth saying that others genuinely need to hear. It concerns the good news from heaven of what God has done and is doing through His Son, Jesus Christ. The New Testament calls it the gospel – which means “good news.” And what is the gospel?
The gist of the gospel is this: “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3-4). That is very good news. It is an announcement and not an argument. It is the story of what God has done and is doing for lost persons that they could never do for themselves. It is news about an event that took place in history 2,000 years ago. It happens to be the greatest story ever told.
How can news that is nearly 2,000 years old continue to be good news? The book of Revelation calls it “the everlasting gospel” (14:6), which means that it is always good news and will never become old news. The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus was news in 1492, but since that date it has been nothing more than a fact of history. The death of Abraham Lincoln was news when it happened, but it is no longer news. All news stories cease to become news after they are released. The facts of old news stories are sometimes printed many times, but not as news.
But the truth contained in John 3:16 never ceases to be news – very good news indeed! When God loved, He loved the entire world. When He gave, He gave His one and only Son. The reason He did this is that all who believe might be redeemed from sin, made a part of God’s family, and have everlasting life. That was good news 2,000 years ago. It was good news a century ago. It is good news today. It will be good news next week. It will always be good news.
Millions of people in our world have never even heard who Jesus is. Bible publication companies are working diligently to get the Bible translated into native languages and dialects so the people of the earth can be introduced to God’s good news for the very first time. But Christians are not doing nearly enough to share the gospel with the people who have not yet heard it and who, therefore, desperately need Christ.
Many have heard the gospel proclaimed but have not yet accepted it or understood it. They have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear, hearts to understand but do not understand. No one can understand the gospel who is not aware of being a sinner. The apostle Paul said, “If the gospel be hid, it is hid to those who are lost” (II Corinthians 4:3-4).
The facts of the gospel become news with life-changing power only when the Holy Spirit opens the eyes, the ears, and hearts of people, enabling them to believe. This new awakening, this impact of good news, this glorious dawning, leads to a decision to accept Him as Savior and Lord. To believe the good news is to enter the kingdom of God and to embark upon a new way of life.
The gospel never ceases to be good news to those who believe it. It is never an old, uninteresting story to the Christian. Hearing it anew in every new experience in the power of the Holy Spirit is always a transforming experience. Studying the Bible under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is always discovering some new aspect of the truth of the gospel.
There is a famous street in London called Charing Cross Road. It is so familiar to the people who live in London that they refer to it as “The Cross.” On a cold, dark dreary day in London several years ago, the police found an elderly man who was lost. They offered to help him find his way home. He thanked them and said, “If you will take me to the Cross, I can find my way home from there.”
The central message found in God’s Word couldn’t be said any better or more accurately than that. All any person must do to become a new creation in Christ, and become heir to eternal life, is to go to Calvary’s cross, lay his (or her) sins down, accept Christ as Savior and Lord, turn to the right, and keep straight ahead.
The Paper Pulpit 
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