Just what is the Good News?

As Christians we're charged by Jesus to "go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19) and told that before His return "the gospel must first be preached to all nations" (Mark 13:10). The word gospel literally means "good news", and though many of us know in our hearts and through our experiences that Jesus Christ is indeed The Good News, I for one have a tough time verbalizing this articulately and succinctly.

This brings me to my ambitious memory challenge, 1Corinthians 15:3-8: (That's right - 6 verses!)

"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 Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." NIV


Kay Arthur points to this passage when she sums up the gospel message as follows:

"Briefly condensed, the good news according to the Scriptures is: Jesus died for our sins and was buried (vv.3-4). He rose again on the third day and was seen by many (vv. 4-8)." (Lord, Teach Me to Pray Bible Study, pg. 15)

Now there's a clear, succinct statement of belief.

But that's not all. As if to drive home the significance of this passage, God kept putting it before me over the past few weeks. In fact, it is cited again and again in Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ," where it is repeatedly referred to as one of Christianity's earliest creeds. Though Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians about 55 A.D., there is strong evidence that here he is actually reciting a Christian creed, received by him 20 years earlier when he met with Peter and James in Jerusalem. That means this basic statement of belief would have been initially formulated and adopted within just a few years of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.

I challenge you to memorize this passage with me. Many of us know the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed - they are much longer and more detailed than this, yet we know them by heart. Use Kay Arthur's paraphrase above to provide a framework or summary to help prompt you. To commit these words to memory, and better yet to share them with others, is to hold in our hearts and minds the same statement of faith embraced by the very first believers - those who saw the resurrected Christ face to face, and to speak literally the same words they spoke to share the Good News.

Arrow prayer with a punch

You know what an arrow prayer is, right? It's a quick prayer that you shoot up as it comes to mind, wherever you are, whatever you're doing. Well, apparently David used them, too, and I came across this one the other day in the One Year Bible:

"Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, LORD, and help me." Psalm 70:1 (NLT)


Now that's something I can memorize with no trouble - 10 words! I bet you can, too. And there's no end to the situations in which this prayer might be appropriate. I can think of all kinds of circumstances from which I may need or want to be rescued. What about you?

The Life Application Bible sums it up nicely - it lists the theme of Psalm 70 to be "An urgent prayer for help. It can be your prayer when you're short on time and long on need." Amen!