The Sovereign Grace Truth of Glad Tidings!
Dear
Friends,
The term “glad tidings” appears in the Bible four times. The first
time it is the angel Gabriel speaking to Zacharias, “I . . . am sent
to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings” (Luke 1:19).
Then, of Jesus Himself it is written, “he went throughout every city
and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God”
(Luke 8:1). A third occurrence of this term is found in Paul’s sermon
in the synagogue in Antioch, where he boldly proclaims, “And we declare
unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised
up Jesus again” (Acts 13:32-33). The final use is in Romans 10:15, where
the question is asked, “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?
as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel
of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” in each of these verses
is spoken of showing, declaring, and bringing “glad tidings.”
The Greek root word from which the term comes occurs fifty-two times in Scripture.
The noun is defined as “good news” and is usually translated as
the “gospel.” Its verb form means to tell the good news. Specifically
in the New Testament the good news is the gospel message about Jesus.
In the Great Commission that Jesus gave just prior to His ascension into heaven, the disciples (and in them the church of all ages) are commanded, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Since that day, the glad tidings of the gospel have been proclaimed. Those glad tidings reached our forefathers in Europe. The glad tidings reached the shores of North America. From these places, missionaries were sent out to far away places with the commission to show the glad tidings. Today the work of missions is carried throughout the world. Sinners are saved the same way sinners have always been saved, that is by faith in Jesus Christ. The glad tidings of the gospel is that, for sinners (which we all are), there is salvation to be found by faith alone in Christ alone, by grace alone, on the basis of Scripture alone, and thus to God alone be the glory.
Also in our community the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed. That includes such passages as Mark 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Do you believe the glad tidings or do you not? Your eternal destiny is at stake. One way believers are described is found in Isaiah 66:2, where Jehovah says, “to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” When you by faith embrace the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, you will realize that you are unworthy of such grace, but that He is worthy of all praise. Another matter you will learn by bitter Christian experience is that you are poor: poor in holiness, poor in humility, poor in obedience to Christ. When you consider this in light of the inestimable grace of Jesus Christ, and you realize that sin is “exceeding sinful” (Rom. 7:13), it will break your heart. Yet God says that He will look to the poor in spirit, and that he will not despise a “broken and a contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17). That is also part of the glad tidings. So, my friend, having heard the glad tidings, do you tremble at the Word of God? It will be a trembling of holy awe and reverence, with the awesome thought that Jesus Christ shed His blood for sinners such as I am. He, notwithstanding all my sins, comes again today with the glad tidings of His gospel. Glad tidings, of sovereign grace truth!
Pastor Neels