Paul was another eye witness. He summed up the heart of the Good News in this way:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel [Good News] I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
The Corinthians had not seen the Event. They had only heard of it in the Good News shared by Paul. What had they heard? That Christ died for a specific purpose. That Christ was buried. That Christ returned to life on the third day. All this was “in accordance with the Scriptures” for God foretold the Event. Since the Event was confirmed by eye-witness reporters (1 Corinthians 15:5-15), we too can enjoy its impact.
How is the Event of Jesus’ death and resurrection Good News for us today? Paul touched on the answer in 1 Corinthians 15, saying that the Good News saves believers. It rescues us since Christ died for our sins.
Do you wonder about all the “bad news” in the world? How can seemingly normal people turn into monsters? Why do we humans commit crimes and terrible acts? Why, despite our best intentions, do we keep hurting each other? Why do our families break up? Why do we plunge into dark habits of selfishness, greed, conflict, lying and immorality? So often, we know we ought to do better, but we don’t.
The Bible calls this moral sickness “sin.” It is like a cancer that destroys us spiritually (Isaiah 1:4-6). Have you felt it eat away at your heart and conscience? Unfortunately, some people interpret these feelings as God beating them and robbing them of happiness. In the Bible, however, God reveals Himself as caring for us and wanting what is best for us. His rules are there for good reasons of love and protection. 1 John 3:4 defines sin as breaking God’s law. And when we do that—when we go against God’s good plan for us—we end up hurting ourselves. James 4:17 defines sin as failing to do what we know is right. Have you ever failed in that way? Have you hurt others, even those you love? Have you been hurt? All of us can sense how sin ruins lives.
“Sin” is not always a popular subject. Yet even unbelievers tend to recognize that evil exists. If evil exists, what about good—as that against which evil can be identified and contrasted? Do you believe that imperfection exists? Then consider its opposite, perfection. The Bible describes God as positive perfection. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise and ever-present. He is perfectly honest, perfectly merciful and perfectly just. The Bible often likens His absolute purity and goodness to light.
Here is our problem: Light and darkness cannot co-exist in the same place. This is true physically, and has its equivalent spiritually. The Scripture says,
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1 John 1:5-6).
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you (Psalm 5:4).
You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong (Habakkuk 1:13).
… your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear (Isaiah 59:2).