Gospel as Verdict (Euangelion)
Referenced in: The Gospel Isn't a Song, It's a Verdict
The Greek word euangelion (“gospel”) was not originally a religious term. In the ancient Roman world, it meant a public announcement of a military victory or the accession of a new emperor; a report of something that had happened in space and time that changed the political reality for everyone in the empire, whether they believed the report or not. When the early Christians used this word for their message about Jesus, they were making a deliberate political and historical claim: the resurrection was a real event that changed the status of reality itself. It was not an invitation to a private spiritual experience. It was a verdict; a declaration that a new King now reigns because He defeated death. The modern reduction of “gospel” to “my personal truth” or “a genre of music” represents a complete evacuation of its original meaning.