We've just come through Easter — a season of prayer, song, and hearing about the Gospel. But that raises a question worth sitting with:

What actually is the Gospel?

It seems simple, but when you ask people, you get a range of answers. Today we want to go deeper than the familiar phrases and discover what Jesus and Paul actually meant.

We'll cover three things:

 1. Diagnosing the problem — where we've got it a little wrong

 2. What Jesus and Paul meant when they said "Gospel"

 3. What it means for our lives

PART 1: THE PROBLEM — AN INCOMPLETE GOSPEL

The Gospel has become an all-too-often used word that has potentially lost its meaning. For many, it has been reduced to what's sometimes called the "John 3:16 Gospel" or the "Ticket to Heaven Gospel" — the idea that Jesus died for our sins and now we are saved.

This isn't wrong. But it isn't the full picture either.

Dallas Willard called this the "Gospel of Sin-Management" — a version of the Gospel reduced to how you deal with sin and secure your place in heaven, with no real connection to how you actually live.

The consequences are real. Theologian Scot McKnight notes that while 90% of kids raised in Christian households give their lives to Christ, only 22% are still following Jesus by age 35.

A salvation Gospel can leave the church with a shallow and unsustainable faith.

Key distinction:

 - A Salvation Culture says: "You're saved — that's what matters."

 - A Gospel Culture asks: "Is Jesus the ruler over your life?"

PART 2: WHAT THE GOSPEL

The Greek word for Gospel throughout the New Testament is Euangelion — where we get "evangelist" and "evangelism."

In the Roman world, an evangelist was a herald who travelled the countryside announcing that there was a new king or emperor, and that life had now changed. It was a public proclamation after which everything was different.

This is the same kind of announcement the early church was making — not just sharing personal stories of salvation, but proclaiming that the world has a new King.

This is why Jesus was such a controversial figure. The language used about him was in direct opposition to Rome.

Isaiah 52 foreshadows it:

 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,

 who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,

 who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"

Jesus himself makes it plain:

 Matthew 4:23 — "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,

 proclaiming the good news of the kingdom."

 Mark 1:14–15 — "The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near.

 Repent and believe the good news!"

Jesus speaks about the Kingdom around 90 times. This was not background detail — it was the central message.

THE KEY PASSAGE — 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1–5

"Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you,

which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved,

if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins

according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day

according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.

Notice the phrase Paul repeats twice: "according to the Scriptures."

Paul is not introducing something new. He is grounding the story of Jesus in the whole story of the Bible — from Genesis, through the Exodus, through the failures of kings, all the way to its fulfilment in Jesus.

The Gospel isn't just the moment of the cross. It is the entire royal story of how God, through Jesus, has come to reclaim and restore his creation.

Even the imagery of the Passion points to kingship:

 - The triumphal entry into Jerusalem

 - The purple robe

 - The crown of thorns

 - The sign above his head

Jesus is the true King — and his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension are his royal procession.

PART 3: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR OUR LIVES

WE ARE CHANGED PEOPLE

Recognising Jesus as King — not just Saviour — changes everything. It changes how we relate to people, how we speak, how we spend our money, and how we see the world

We don't just need members; we need disciples. Apprentices who are learning to walk in the ways of Jesus, under his rule.

As Scot McKnight puts it:

 "The story of Jesus isn't about us. It will redeem us, it will shoulder and remove our sins,

 we are justified, and we are filled with the Spirit — but it is a story about Jesus.

 We are called to tell this story."

WE CAN HAVE HOPE

With so much suffering and pain in the world, we cannot fix everything on our own. But we don't have to. We have a good, merciful, just, and loving King who is reigning.

This isn't the prosperity gospel. It isn't passivity. It is the relief of knowing that the kingdom is near, and that we can have hope because we know who is in charge.

THE QUESTION TO CARRY WITH YOU

How has — and how is — the Good News of Jesus as King changing things in your life?

As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:8:

 "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel."