"GLAD TIDINGS OF GOD" | C. H. Mackintosh

C. H. Mackintosh

GLAD tidings were announced to Abraham when it was said to him, "In thee shall all nations be blessed." Glad tidings were also announced when the angel proclaimed to the watching shepherds the birth of a Saviour, Christ the Lord, and the praises of the heavenly host rang through the heavens: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." In a fuller way still, glad tidings were preached after Jesus died, and rose, and ascended, as we have it in 1 Corinthians xv.: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you....for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures: and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures; and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve," &c. There is also the gospel, or glad tidings, of the glory of Christ, which Satan labours to obscure, as it is written: "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Cor. iv. 4-6.)

    
What was announced to Abraham was something to take place in the future. It was not an accomplished fact. It was something he could look forward to as a hope—a sure hope, no doubt, but only a hope. To us—to you, reader—something better is announced. It is the blessed fact of a present salvation, through Him who died on the cross, and who rose again for [literally, because of] our justification. The facts announced in the gospel of our salvation are:

1. Christ died for our sins.
2. He was buried.
3. He rose again the third day.
4. He was seen by many witnesses after His resurrection.
5. He is now a Man in the glory of God. [This truth is inherent in the "glorious gospel": 2 Cor. 4:4-6; 1 Tim. 1:11.]

Blessed facts announced to those who are lost! Facts of eternal importance to every ruined child of Adam!

    
Reader, are you a child of Adam? Then know that these are facts which deeply concern you for time and eternity.

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Excerpted from C. H. Mackintosh, "GLAD TIDINGS OF GOD," Things New and Old (London: G. Morrish, 20, Paternoster Square, 1889), Vol. 32, pp. 184-185.