Introduction
An evangelist is a herald of gospel. As a representative of the Good Shepherd, he announces the amazing good news that God has made it possible for those who are helpless, harassed, and lost because of their participation in mankind’s rebellion against God to once again have hope. The evangelist proclaims Jesus, the Savior-King, who conquered sin and death and made a way for those who believe and receive this good news to be reconciled to God by being born again into God’s eternal family, to receive eternal life, to participate in his glorious mission to announce this good news to the world through the power of the Spirit, and to share his glory and rule for eternity. His plea is for people to be reconciled to God.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (ESV)
His desire is to present the gospel accurately and passionately. Since the gospel is the power of God to save people (Romans 1:16), he takes great care to present it fully and correctly, not watering it down into some sort of easy to remember formula or low cost consumerist sales pitch.
The evangelist’s goal is to make disciples, not merely add more uncommitted believers.
Part 1: The Message
The First Evangelist: Seeker of Those Who Are Afraid and Hiding
When Adam and Eve turned their backs on God, choosing a self-directed life instead of joyful dependence on their Creator, in the very act of pronouncing righteous judgment on his wayward creatures, God himself preached the first glimmer of the gospel. He was the first evangelist. He told the serpent, the one who orchestrated the rebellion, who no doubt believed that he had just pulled off an amazing victory, that in the future one of Eve’s descendants would bruise or crush his head, at great cost to himself.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15 (ESV)
The good news was that God would judge evil on man’s behalf, even though it would be very costly. This was the first Messianic promise, the first announcement of the gospel. Someone was coming who would turn things around!
The evangelist offers hope to those under judgment for their sin.
Adam and Eve had been hiding in the garden due to their guilt and fear, but God the Evangelist came looking for them, which foreshadowed the Good Shepherd, who came to seek and save the lost. It was a precursor to the Great Commission through which Jesus sent the entire church to go after those who don’t know him.
One of the marks of an evangelist is that he seeks those who are lost. He doesn’t passively wait for them to come to him.
God of the Impossible
Many centuries later, God the Evangelist, who is also God the Promise Keeper, undertook to launch his program to judge the Evil One and redeem his fallen people. He chose a particular individual named Abram, whom he would use to bring his Messiah King into the world, a second Adam who would restore the universe back to God’s purposes. This is the good news that evangelists continue to herald.
God reached out to the least likely of people, which is another mark of the evangelist.
Abram was an old childless man married to an old childless woman. They had long since given up on having children; yet, the God of the impossible selected him and gave him this amazing promise.
I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” Genesis 22:17-18 (ESV)
God would use Abram and Sarai to begin a lineage that would usher in the offspring of Eve promised in the garden, the one who would crush Satan. Here the Lord expanded the promise, saying that this Promised One would gain a victory over his enemies and become a blessing to all the nations of the earth! This was another proclamation of the gospel!
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Galatians 3:8-9 (ESV)
The evangelist announces that God has done the impossible, what we could never do for ourselves, in order to keep his promise to save us from our sins.
God Who Sets the Captives Free
Centuries later God the Evangelist chose another least likely person, a fearful man who was hiding from his destiny. Moses had been trained to be a leader, but was living as a lowly shepherd in the wilderness. God appeared to Moses and told him that he had heard the desperate cries of the descendants of Abraham who were cruelly enslaved by the powerful nation of Egypt. He told Moses that he had chosen him to confront Pharaoh and demand he liberate them.
Through Moses, God demonstrated the good news that he will use his power to strengthen the weak, humble the proud, devastate the powerful, and liberate the oppressed.
This is when God first revealed the need to sacrifice a Lamb so that a nation could be spared from God’s wrath, foreshadowing the Lamb of God who died for our sins.
Evangelists today also herald the wonderful news that God uses the death of a Lamb to spare his people from judgment and set them free!
Good News Beyond Our Wildest Imagination
Much later God the Evangelist chose another least likely person, a lowly shepherd boy named David, the youngest in his family. David never dreamed or aspired to be Israel’s king; nevertheless, God elevated him to become probably that nation’s greatest ruler. A man after God’s heart, he desired to honor God by building him a proper house. God’s response, communicated through a prophet, overwhelmed David. It was beyond anything David could have ever imagined. Here is what God told him.
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 2 Samuel 7:12-13 (ESV)
Instead of David’s building a house for God, God would build an eternal house for himself from David’s line!
This foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah King Jesus who rose from the dead as the King of Kings, re-establishing God’s rule in the earth, something Adam had forfeited. This Messiah King would build God’s house, the true temple made without human hands, transcending anything man could ever create.
The apostle Paul, another herald of the gospel, wrote about this spiritual temple.
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22 (NLT) The evangelist announces that it was not enough for God to merely forgive us. The good news exceeds our wildest dreams, informing us that God has restored his benevolent rule on the planet and made a way for us to be united to the Spirit of God forever. Jesus, the Messiah King, will come as Emmanuel – God with us.
The Angel Evangelist
When God’s timing was perfect, God chose a young virgin to be the mother of his promised Messiah King. God sent an angel evangelist to herald this amazing and wonderful good news to Mary.
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:30-33 (ESV)
This soon to be born baby was the one promised in the garden, the one promised to Abraham and to David. The angel told Mary the good news that she had been chosen by God because he highly favored her.
The evangelist realizes that the proclamation of the gospel is a demonstration of the favor of God to those who hear it.
John the Evangelist
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. John 1:6-7 (ESV)
God selected Jesus’ cousin John to be the one who would introduce or witness to the Messiah to Israel and ultimately to the world. John is a wonderful example of an evangelist, who knew that Jesus must have the preeminence. He said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
John heralded that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would die for our sins, (John 1:29), explaining in more detail what the Exodus Passover lamb foreshadowed and what Isaiah had prophesied centuries before.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
John also announced the good news that Jesus is the Son of God or Messianic King (John 1: 34) and the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit (John 1:33).
Evangelists continue to herald the message that Jesus is the Lamb of God who died for our sins, the risen Lord who rules over all, the baptizer in the Spirit, who is Lord of the harvest.
Jesus the Evangelist
When time finally arrived for Jesus to begin his public ministry, he made an amazing announcement at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth.
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” 20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” Luke 4:18-21 (NLT)
The Promised One was fully aware of who he was and is. He understood that in and through him the good news announced through the centuries was being literally fulfilled. He is the good news!
Evangelists understand that the good news is a person whose name is Jesus!
Peter the Evangelist
When Jesus rose from the dead, he announced that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to him. (Matthew 28:18) Our Lord shares his authority with those who follow him. God has authorized us to speak on God’s behalf to announce the gospel.
Evangelists understand that it is an amazing privilege to have the authority to announce to people how they can be forgiven and reconciled to God.
When the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples on Pentecost, fifty days after the crucifixion in fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that they would be baptized in the Spirit, Peter stood up and publicly heralded the gospel to the assembled crowd, closing with these convicting words.
“So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” Acts 2:36 (NLT)
Evangelists pin on their listeners the responsibility for Christ’s death. Our sin nailed him to the cross. They also proclaim the good news that Jesus also rose from the dead as the Lord of lords. They look for the appropriate Spirit-inspired response of repentance coupled with surrender and a declaration of allegiance to Christ.
Paul the Evangelist
After his dramatic conversion, Paul, the former persecutor of the church, became one of its preeminent evangelists, a herald of the gospel message. (2 Timothy 1:11) As an evangelist, he heralded the good news, using his ability to persuade and reason with people.
As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” Acts 17:2-3 (NLT)
The evangelist should be “fluent” in the gospel and able to speak persuasively about Jesus the Messiah.
That’s it for Part 1. Look for Part 2, which will show how evangelists are shepherds of the lost.
