Going back again to the definition of evangelist, an evangelist is a “preacher of the gospel.” What is an evangelist to preach? He is a “preacher of the gospel.” Therefore, the evangelist’s message is the gospel. In order to grasp the importance of the evangelist and his message, then, we need to understand the gospel. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, gospel means “good message.” The angels who announced Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:10 called it, “good tidings.” Romans 10:15 defines “the gospel of peace” as “glad tidings of good things.” Gospel is commonly defined today as “good news.” So, the evangelist is supposed to be a preacher of good news, but not just any good news. The evangelist is a “preacher of the gospel” or the good news. What is the greatest news ever? Mark 1:1 begins, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” and then, the reader is shown the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. From I Corinthians 15:1-4, we learn that the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The Good News is Jesus Himself. The phrase, “the gospel of Christ” is found eleven times in the New Testament. In II Thessalonians 1:8, the gospel is mentioned as “the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis chapter three, God promised the good news of Christ in Genesis 3:15. Throughout the Old Testament, God had His servants prophesy about the coming Messiah. Jesus told the unsaved Jews in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” The entire Bible testifies of Jesus and of His life. You see, Jesus is Good News to all mankind because of Who Jesus is (Life) and what Jesus does for this whole world (He gives life). In John 10:10, Jesus stated, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” That is the two part plan of the gospel: through Jesus we have life and through Him we have life more abundantly. Jesus Himself is Life.

• “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” – John 11:25
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• “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” – John 14:6
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So, the evangelist’s message is the gospel of Jesus Christ and His life which is obtainable for all people.

The gospel of Jesus, as we just noticed from John 10:10, is two parts: through Jesus there is life and there is life more abundantly. These two facets of the gospel have been called: the gospel to sinners and the gospel to saints. The evangelist is responsible for preaching the gospel to both sinners and saints. This evangelist addresses the gospel to sinners/the lost in “The Gospel” series and “The Gospel of Salvation” series. In the next chapter, we will more closely examine the gospel to saints.

(This article is from “Chapter Four – Message of the Evangelist” series of “Section One – Understanding the Gift of the Evangelist” from “The Gift of the Evangelist” series.)