“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14)
I have often heard people ask: Is Jesus the only way to God? I guess they ask because they are concerned about their own eternal status or, more likely, the eternal destiny of a loved one, friend, celebrity or any person who is or was not a Christian. How can a loving God they ask, send a good person to Hell? God would certainly not condemn any good person to hell.
The question arises then, since no one is perfectly good, how good does a person have to be? Jesus is God who came to earth as a human being to tell us that, contrary to popular belief, none of us are truly good, none of us are godly. We are all sinners condemned to an eternity separated from God. But Jesus came to take the penalty for our sin on the cross.
When Jesus began preaching the gospel after John the Baptist was imprisoned, He proclaimed that the Kingdom of God had arrived in Him, that He was the promised Messiah. His message was that God was now fulfilling the promises He had made to Abraham and his descendants. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises. Jesus, like John and Jonah called people to repent, to turn away from sin and to turn to God because He would make it possible with His sacrifice. Like Jonah, Jesus knew sinners would repent and follow Him, but unlike Jonah, Jesus preached with joy and compassion for God is loving and merciful.
The best part of the Good News that Jesus preached was Jesus Himself. He came manifesting God’s power, and righteousness, and extending mercy and love to people who did not deserve or earn it. Jesus preached with authority and performed signs, wonders, miracles to add further power to His teaching. He proclaimed that the Kingdom of God had arrived and that the Lord was reconciling the world unto Himself in His own person. Yet the people who heard Him preach, even the disciples He called, did not understand how he was going to do this. And yet the cross is the greatest news anyone can hear, it is why we must tell everyone that no one comes to God, no one merits eternal life except those whom have faith in Jesus. With this good news of salvation He enables us not only to keep us persevering in the midst of a world filled with pain and strife, but to spread the good news of what He has done. And the good news is that Jesus still calls people to repent. This call is part of the Good News that we must preach.