What is the gospel? If you were to share the gospel to someone on the streets or a friend, how would you lay it out for them? That can be a pretty tricky question for some believers. Though they believe in the gospel, it may be hard to clarify exactly what the gospel is. The gospel primarily contains a few key truths that Christians stand on as fundamental truths.
"Jesus is both fully God and fully man. He was born to the virgin Mary and conceived by the Holy Spirit. He lived a perfect sinless life. He died on a cross for our sins, was buried and was risen by the power of the Father on the third day. He is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high and will return again one day to capture His people."
This may be a basic gist of what we sometimes share with people as we spell out the gospel for them. But in chapter one of Mark's gospel, Jesus' gospel seems to be a bit shorter. Mark's gospel is the shortest of the four New Testament gospel accounts and certainly the most active. Mark's perspective on Jesus' life (most likely rendered from Peter) is quick and to the point. Mark doesn't spend nearly as much time in discourse or explaining Jesus' actions and words as the other gospels do. Usually, when you find a text in Mark that is paralleled in the other gospels, Mark's is the shortest. However, in Mark 1:14-15, we have the longest version of what Mark calls, "the gospel of God." It is paralleled only in Matthew 4:17 and Matthew's version reads, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Let's build a little context to help us better understand this text. Jesus had recently been baptized. After His baptism, according to Mark 1:12, Jesus was then "immediately" driven out by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. After Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He went into Galilee. The next words in Mark's gospel are greatly important. Jesus entered Galilee and was "proclaiming the gospel of God." How often do we say, "We'll know what this means when we get to heaven and ask God"? Don't we long to know what God knows? Don't we long to ask God the tough questions? What are God's thoughts on....?" We are blessed, here, to know exactly what God calls His gospel. The words that Jesus preached in Mark 1:15 IS the God's gospel!
It seems so much shorter than how we would describe the gospel. Yet it is all encompassing of the truth of God's heart. The gospel of God in the words of Jesus are, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." The core command that Jesus preaches in regards to the gospel is that we REPENT and BELIEVE! It is short, but highly effective. Repent, turn from your sins and sin no more! Believe, trust in Jesus Christ as your salvation and place your faith in Him. "Believe" is merely one word, yet it holds so much truth. WHAT must we believe to be saved? The answer is: believe in Jesus. But don't the demons believe? Is it enough just to believe? "Believe in Jesus" may sound too general of a statement to be effective. But look at the words Jesus speaks just before saying "repent and believe in the gospel." Jesus says, "The kingdom of God is at hand." What does that mean?!?! In order to understand that, we must realize what his words prior to that statement mean. Jesus says, "The time is fulfilled."
What is fulfilled? The time of waiting is fulfilled. The time of waiting for God to send the Savior of Israel has arrived. Jesus is saying, after thousands of years of waiting, after all the prophesies about a coming Messiah, after all the preachers and prophets declaring the Way, finally, I HAVE ARRIVED! All the prophesies about the coming Messiah have now been FULFILLED! HE IS HERE! So when Jesus says, "The kingdom of God is at hand," He is saying, "I AM AT HAND." Or in other words, "I AM HERE!" When we put these parts of Jesus' gospel message together (at the risk of putting words in Jesus' mouth), He is saying, "I am the Messiah, the chosen one. The one that all the prophesies declared. I am here now, I have finally arrived to save my people from their sins. Therefore, turn from your sins and believe in me, trust in my work for your salvation. This is the gospel that My Father has sent me to proclaim!"
Why doesn't he just say that then? If you were a first century Roman Christian, as were the recipients of Mark's gospel, or a Jew living in Galilee, as were those hearing Jesus preach, you would have known about the prophesies and you would have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. So Jesus' words are not too brief, but perfectly effective for the listeners. Jesus doesn't shorthand the magnitude of God's gospel, He effectively wraps up the gospel in two powerful words; repent and believe!
