Facing some tough questions about “the Gospel”!

We, Christians, the contemporary Church of today, need to look ourselves squarely in the eye, do some soul searching and  and honestly ask ourselves some tough questions!
We have to ask ourselves if, despite the sincere and grand efforts made by so many to preach ‘the gospel’, if the true essence of ‘the Gospel’ has not unknowingly  fallen through the floorboards of the contemporary Church?
If the essence of true message concerning Jesus Christ, has not become obscure in the muddy waters of religiosity, or trampled underfoot by ecclesiastical establishments, in their eager  quest for public approval and their own need for survival? 
Lets consider if everything being promoted as being ‘the Gospel’ today,even though it may be based on what is written in the Scriptures, referred to as the  ”The New Testament” , is necessarily “The Gospel” that we are supposed to proclaim to the world!
For most Christians the New Testament and the Gospel simply comprises the pages between Matthew and the Book of Revelation in their Bibles. In fact most Christians will fall of their pew in shock when told that this is not the New Testament, neither is it the Gospel per se.
The New Covenant is indeed testified to in these pages of Scripture, so is the Gospel, the Good News!
The ‘New Covenant’ is in fact in its deeper implications an ‘us’ inclusive, living relationship between God the Father and God the Son! The Gospel is actually the good news that we, humanity have been reconciled, accepted and included, by the grace of God, into this, the only perfect relationship in the universe.
The wonderful news that Jesus not only brought divinity into humanity by His Incarnation, He has also lifted humanity into Divinity by His Ascension and Glorification.
In the light thereof, let us now examine some questions in reference to our present mode of understanding and proclaiming the Gospel. God’s plea through us, His ambassadors, towards mankind, the heart cry of a Loving Father to His wayward children! An invitation to ‘come home’ and be reconciled, based on the already accomplished Redemptive work of Christ.
Much of our theology and efforts at preaching, although sincere and dutifully based on Scripture, has in fact contributed in producing a mixed Gospel.
Much like making a fruit salad, we have sliced into one mixture everything that ‘sounds good’ from the Bible, everything that would make an impression and produce a decision to ‘believe the Gospel’ in the hearts and minds of the hearers
Many of the scriptures upon which we generally base our preaching of the ‘Gospel’, are historical records of pre-crucifixion events and narratives that took place within a particular past context.
About what transpired in the early period of the infantile Early Church, before the calling and commissioning of the Apostle Paul, who eventually wrote two thirds of the New Testament and was the first to shed true light on the full implications of Christ’s Redemptive act.
All these recorded events unfolded within the backdrop of the passing away of a deeply established judgemental and legalistic religious culture, in particular the Law of Moses and the Priestly order and system of sacrifices introduces through Moses.
This was a rigid and intolerant system based on a deliberate divine demand made on mankind’s self-effort at obedience and moral performance, and was , in the nature of the case never designed to enable or empower man to succeed, but to he contrary to cause him to utterly fail.
Thereby proving to man that his own weakness and inability, despite his best performance, despite legalistic  self-effort religiosity having reached its climax, to redeem him or to establish himself as righteousness before God, based on his own works.
This incapacity of man to pull himself up by his own religious bootstraps was meant in fact, to rub his nose in his ruin, so to speak, and to bring him face to face with his desperate need for a saviour.
The culmination of mans innate spiritual corruption necessitated the ushering in of a totally different, antithetical and counter productive to the old, totally grace based method of redemption.
A previously inconceivable and impossible deliverance from spiritual darkness and bondage based on a once off Divine unilateral intervention on man’s behalf. A divine operation far super ceding and going beyond the mere Divine ‘pardon of man’s sin’‘, but in fact culminating in a spiritual union between Divinity and humanity.
Much of the history of the early Church reflect a co-mingling of the Old and the New and the progressive clarifying of the confusing issues this raised in the lives of those whose mentality had been shaped by the Old and those who had no Law based frame of reference.
The most far reaching and important Divine intervention in the history mankind and the Cosmos was the Incarnation of the unique Son of God into the human body of Jesus of Nazareth as the representative Corporative Man.
Through His birth into humanity and subsequent vicarious Life, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and Glorification Christ had created the context for interpreting the mystery regarding the nature of God and his relationship with man.
The revelation of this mystery, previously hidden from all previous ages and from all preceding generations has now has been revealed and is now no longer supposed to be a mystery to humanity!
First revealed directly by Jesus Christ and especially to the Apostle Paul, given him the ‘stewardship from God’ in order to fulfil the Word of God and the responsibility to make the revelation of the mystery known.
This by informing and completing man understands of the reason and the implications for the Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Glorification of Jesus Christ, Himself simultaneously the Son of Man and the Son of God.
This revelation and understanding had been incomplete in the Early Church up to the launch by Christ Himself personally of Paul’s teaching ministry and only became a reality to Paul through his teachings.
Paul’s ministry introduced a revelation and an explanation of Gods eternal intention and Christ’s earthly intervention without which our interpretation of the ‘Good news from God about man’ what we indeed name ‘the Gospel ‘ would be incomplete.
For the sake of clarity we have to discern and admit that more than one interpretation of ‘the Gospel’ exists within the recorded history of the early Church. For this reason Paul go to great lengths to contrast and set ‘his’ gospel over against the ‘gospel’ others were preaching at the same time?
Paul distinguishes ‘his’ gospel message in this way;
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ‘according to the revelation of the mystery’, which was kept secret since the world began.  But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith..” Romans 16: 24 – 26
Paul contrasting his ‘certified’ and ‘completed’ Gospel message of ‘reconciliation’ over against those who only understood ‘at that time’ a gospel message based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth with in the backdrop of a Jewish Law based religious dispensation.
Paul’s gospel was based on a revelation of…”Him that is of power to stablish you according to ‘my gospel,’ and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ‘according to the revelation of the mystery’, which was kept secret since the world began,  ’But now is made manifest,” Romans 16:26

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