Why Spread the Gospel (the Good News)?
There is a very simple reason for Jesus instructing His disciples to spread the good news about Jesus and the Kingdom of God (what “gospel” means). It is this: if we don’t do it, it won’t be done.
Jesus isn’t into giving His people pointless commands. Surely, He intends that they should be obeyed. When He said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news,” He meant that we should do just that. The whole world hadn’t heard it during the lifetime of the first disciples, so that leaves it up to us. We seem to be getting very close, but the job is still not done.
Why doesn’t God just use angels to do it? In the Bible book of Acts chapter 10, we read of a man named Cornelius who saw an angel of God. Instead of preaching the gospel to Cornelius, the angel tells him to send for the Apostle Peter. Why didn’t the angel just tell him? Because it wasn’t his job (at least not yet).
Spreading the good news takes time and resources. We can say that “God doesn’t need our money,” and it is true that He does not personally need money because everything is His. But why does Jesus talk so much about money, and why was there so much talk in the Law of Moses about giving money and offerings? And when those things were taken to the temple, did God “beam up” the goods? If not, what happened to it? It went to equip those who ministered in God’s name, doing what He told them to do. The wealth stayed right here on earth for people to do God’s will with it. This basic method for fueling the work of God in the earth has never changed.
Sometime close to the end of this age, God actually will use angels to spread His message (Revelation 14:6-7). Until then, the job is ours. Let us commit to doing this using every available resource. Those who can speak should do it boldly. Those who can give money, goods, and services should do it generously. Those who can encourage and lighten the load of those directly engaged in evangelism and discipleship should do it heartily. All of them will share in the reward!
(Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:18-20, Isaiah 49:6, Psalm 67, Habakkuk 2:14, Acts 10, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, Mark 13:10, Isaiah 45:22, Acts 1:8, Colossians 1:21-23, Psalm 24:1, Revelation 14:6-7, Matthew 24:14, Luke 18:29-30, Revelation 12:11)