The Gospel of Joy

The angel came to the shepherds with "the glad tidings of great joy." The term glad tidings (or good news) comes from the Greek word from which we get "evangelism." The Greeks used to proclaim news of victory or some other happy event. The angel came to the shepherds and proclaimed the good news of Jesus' birth. The promised Messiah had finally come! A world darkened by sin had received sin's remedy. In the Gospels and the book of Acts, the gospel (good news) was proclaimed. In the epistles, the gospel is explained. Paul alone uses the word over sixty times. "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ; called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God...." "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:1,16).