The question of what, exactly, the "good news" - the "gospel" - is has frequently been a point of contention among those claiming to be followers of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah [the Christ], the Savior, the King - the very Lord of creation.
A key point to understand is that this Jesus of Nazareth has been raised from the dead, - really and truly and BODILY raised from the dead. And it is by this fact, this truth, that "God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus ..." and, "was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord ... ".
So is he Lord [King, Messiah [Christ], Savior] BECAUSE he has been raised? Well, the Greek word translated as "declared" has a wonderful range of meaning. Certainly it means "to determine, appoint, constitute" but according to one lexicon it means those terms in the sense of "marking out definitely." In other words, the resurrection is the means by which WE can be sure that Jesus of Nazareth is and has always been the Messiah [the Christ], the Savior, the King - the very Lord of creation!
So is the good news now to include both the doing of God's will on earth and the acknowledgment and acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah [the Christ], the Savior, the King because he has been raised from the dead?
Or is there more to this maybe?
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