The Latest News or the Good News
“For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing” (Acts 17:21 NKJV).
Back in the days of Paul, people went to the public square or the marketplace to satisfy their curiosity and air their opinions. Today, most people use social media and the Internet for the same purpose. Due to the technological advancements in our time, it is no exaggeration to say that the accumulated knowledge we have access to is impressive. Despite the massive information flow and the instant accessibility to what is happening worldwide, our generation does not seem to be happier than previous ones.
The apostle Paul said that he is not ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16). The Greek noun, euaggelion, literally means “God’s good news”. The gospel is not the latest news, but the timeless good news. The gospel has been around for 2000 years. In fact, it was promised and prophesied already 6000 years ago, right after the fall of mankind, to provide redemption for humanity (Gen 3:15).
What a tragedy to have access to all the latest news, yet remain unaware of the good news. Many people all over the world are today still ignorant of God’s message of salvation. This is where you and I come into the picture. We are called to go into all the world, not with the latest news but with the good news (Matt 28:18-20).