“. . . set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, . . .” (Romans 1:1b-4)
At this time, across the world, millions of people are in some sort of emotional turmoil. We view the effects of this chaos in the daily news we learn through the media: suicide, violence, and murder. These occur as many try to cope with their pain by lashing out at others, or themselves. Still many others are so dissatisfied with who they are that they seek to change their identity or mutilate their bodies in order to feel comfortable and accepted.
Governments cannot help these suffering people, even though they rely on credentialed scientists, doctors, psychologists, and educators who claim to be experts on solving the woes of all humanity. The reason: the real problem is sin. That is what must be resolved, not denied, condoned or accepted. And the church, you and I, has been given the message that can help people to overcome sin: the gospel.
Saint Paul, here in his opening to his letter to the Romans, presents the gospel here in a nutshell. The gospel is the good news about Jesus, God Incarnate, who died for the sins of all human beings and rose from the dead. We, the church, are called to tell our poor, misguided, and troubled neighbors and relatives that pure good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. The gospel tells us about our sinfulness and alienation from God our Father which is responsible for all our woes, suffering, and angst. The gospel tells us the good news, that God has acted to reconcile us to Himself through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross. He loves and cares for us. He gives us our identity as His loving children, heirs of eternal life with Him. It is that simple.