The Good News of Y’hoshua HaMashiach, Part 1

The Story Begins With Avinu Y’hovah, Covenant, and Yisrael

In our generation, the message commonly called “the gospel” has often been reduced to a slogan, a formula, or a short emotional appeal. Many have heard phrases about asking Y’hoshua/Jesus into their heart, about going to heaven when they die, or about YHVH/God having a wonderful plan for their life. While some of these statements may contain fragments of truth, they are often presented in a way that is detached from the full counsel of Scripture (TORAH).

As a result, many people hear a message about personal salvation without understanding the story into which that salvation comes. They hear about forgiveness, but not covenant. They hear about grace, but not the Kingdom. They hear about Y’hoshua/Jesus, but not Yisrael. They hear about a Savior, but not always about the King, the covenant promises, or the redemptive purpose of our loving Father Y’hovah that stretches from Berĕshith (Genesis) to Hitgalut (Revelation).

This matters greatly.

Because in these modern times, when the Good News is disconnected from its scriptural roots, it becomes easier to shrink it, distort it, sentimentalize it, or turn it into something man-centered, like a prosperity or self-help gospel. But when the Good News is restored to its full biblical setting, it becomes far more powerful, far more coherent, and far more able to produce mature talmidim/disciples.

So we must begin where Scripture begins.

Not with man’s feelings or modern religion. Not even first with our personal needs.

We must begin with Avinu HaRachaman Y’hovah.

The Good News Begins With Y’hovah the Creator

The first truth of the Good News is that reality begins with Avinu Y’hovah, not man. Before there was sin, there was creation. Before there was exile, there was purpose. Before there was redemption, there was relationship.

Berĕshith (Genesis) 1:1–3, JPS 1917
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
And God said: ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.”

Berĕshith (Genesis) 1:26–28, JPS 1917
“And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
And God blessed them; and God said unto them: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.’”

Mankind was created in the image of Elohim, blessed by Him, and given purpose under His rule. That means the ultimate human problem is not low self-esteem, lack of motivation, or lack of religious activity. The deepest human problem is that humanity has fallen from the life, order, and fellowship for which it was created.

So the Good News is not merely about escaping punishment. It is about restoration to life in Y’hovah, under the rule of Y’hovah, in relationship with Avinu (Our Father).

That is a much larger and richer beginning.

The Good News Makes Sense Only Because Sin Is Real

A message of salvation means little unless we understand what we are being saved from.

Scripture presents the human condition with sobering clarity. Man did not simply make a minor error. Humanity rebelled against its Creator.

Berĕshith (Genesis) 2:16–17, JPS 1917
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying: ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat;
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’”

Berĕshith (Genesis) 3:6–8, JPS 1917
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”

In those verses, we see the tragedy of fallen humanity. Man now hides from the One for whom he was created. Fallen in disobedience, self-rule, shame, fear,
and separation.

This is why the Good News cannot be reduced to therapy, self-help, or inspiration. Humanity needs more than encouragement. Humanity needs redemption. We need cleansing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and life from above.

Without the reality of sin, the Good News becomes shallow. With the reality of sin understood, the Good News shines brighter.

Avinu Revealed the Hope of Restoration From the Beginning

Even in the midst of judgment, Y’hovah spoke hope.

Berĕshith (Genesis) 3:14–15, JPS 1917
“And the LORD God said unto the serpent: ‘Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou from among all cattle, and from among all beasts of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.’”

The story of redemption was not an afterthought. Avinu Y’hovah was not surprised by the fall and was forced to invent a rescue plan. From the beginning, the conflict is set forth, and the promise of victory is already implied.

The seed promise points forward. Evil will not reign forever. Death will not have the last word. The deceiver will not stand forever.

This early promise opens the door for the long story of redemption that unfolds through the rest of Scripture.

The Good News Moves Forward Through Covenant

If we are going to understand the Good News correctly, we must understand the covenants. Avinu Y’hovah chose to reveal His redemptive purpose in history through covenant relationship with Yisrael.

That brings us to Avraham.

Berĕshith (Genesis) 12:1–3, JPS 1917
“Now the LORD said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee.
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’”

This is foundational to the Good News.

Notice carefully:
Y’hovah Elyon chooses Avram and promises to make of him a great nation
and promises that through him all the families of the earth will be blessed.

That means the universal reach of salvation is already present in the covenant with Avraham. The blessing of the nations is not a later invention. It is built into the covenantal purpose of Y’hovah from the beginning.

Berĕshith (Genesis) 15:5–6, JPS 1917
“And He brought him forth abroad, and said: ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to count them’; and He said unto him: ‘So shall thy seed be.’
And he believed in the LORD/YHVH; and He counted it to him for righteousness.”

Faith, promise, and righteousness meet here. But this faith is not vague spirituality. It is covenant trust in the Word/TORAH of Y’hovah.

So already we can see that the Good News is not rootless. It is covenantal, historical, and it is anchored in promise.

Yisrael Is Not Peripheral to the Good News

One of the great problems with many modern religious presentations of salvation is that they remove Yisrael from the story. But Scripture never does that.

Y’hovah chose Yisrael with purpose.

Shemoth (Exodus) 19:5–6, JPS 1917
“Now therefore, if ye will hearken unto My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine;
and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”

Yisrael was chosen to be a covenant people, a holy nation, and a kingdom of priests. This did not mean the nations were excluded from Y’hovah’s concern. Rather, it meant that through Yisrael, He would reveal His Name, His Torah, His holiness, and His redemptive purpose.

That is why the Good News cannot be properly understood apart from Yisrael. Our Rabbi Gadol Y’hoshua did not arrive as a detached spiritual figure floating above history. He came as the promised Son of David, the seed of Avraham, the hope of Yisrael, and the fulfillment of promises spoken through the prophets.

When Yisrael is removed from the story, the message becomes abstract, and when Yisrael is restored to the story, the message becomes scriptural.

The Exodus Is a Pattern of Redemption

The redemption from Mitsrayim (Egypt) is one of the clearest patterns of salvation in all Scripture.

Shemoth (Exodus) 6:6–8, JPS 1917
“Wherefore say unto the children of Israel: I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments;
and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am the LORD.”

This is covenant redemption language:
“I will redeem you.”
“I will take you to Me for a people.”
“I will be to you a God.”

This is not merely a rescue from pain. It is deliverance into relationship.

And then comes the Pesach.

Shemoth (Exodus) 12:12–13, JPS 1917
“For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

Judgment falls. But where the blood is present, there is covering.

The Good News will later be seen in even greater fullness through the work of Mashiach (Messiah), but already the pattern is unmistakable: Y’hovah redeems His people through judgment and by means of the blood He provides.

The Good News Was Promised Beforehand in the Scriptures

The emissaries did not preach a message disconnected from the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures). They preached fulfillment.

Romiyim (Romans) 1:1–4, CJB
“From: Sha’ul, a slave of the Messiah Yeshua, called to be an emissary and set apart for God’s Good News.
God had already promised this Good News beforehand through his prophets in the Tanakh Scriptures,
concerning his Son, who in terms of his human nature was born from the seed of David,
but who in terms of the Spirit of Holiness was powerfully declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord.”

The Good News was promised beforehand.

That one truth overturns a great deal of shallow thinking. The Good News is not a new religion called Christianity. It is not a Torah-detached religious system. It is the fulfillment of Y’hovah’s promises spoken through the prophets in the Tanakh.

That means if we want to proclaim the Good News faithfully, we must proclaim it according to the Scriptures.

The Prophets Spoke of Cleansing, Renewal, and Restoration

The prophets did not merely warn of judgment. They also proclaimed hope—hope of renewal, hope of cleansing, hope of heart transformation, hope of restored covenant life.

Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 31:31–33, JPS 1917
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah;
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; forasmuch as they broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, saith the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Notice what this does not say. It does not say Avinu Y’hovah would abandon His people and make a New Covenant with the Church. The covenant is with Yisrael. It does not say He would abolish His instruction (TORAH). It says He would write His Torah upon the heart.

That is restoration, not lawlessness.

Yechezqĕl (Ezekiel) 36:24–27, JPS 1917
“For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep Mine ordinances, and do them.”

What a beautiful promise!

The Good News includes cleansing, a new heart, the Spirit, and empowered obedience. That is far greater than merely securing a future destination. It is the promise of transformed covenant life.

The Good News Includes the Coming Kingdom

Another element often minimized in modern preaching is the Kingdom. Yet the scriptural story is filled with Kingdom hope.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 9:6–7, CJB
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace], in order to extend the dominion and perpetuate the peace of the throne and kingdom of David, to secure it and sustain it through justice and righteousness henceforth and forever. The zeal of ADONAI-Tzva’ot will accomplish this.

The coming of Mashiach is not merely about private comfort.
It is about government.
Justice.
Righteousness.
Peace.
Davidic kingship.

So the Good News is not only about forgiveness. It is also about the reign of Y’hovah being established through His Anointed One, King Mashiach, Y'hoshua.

That truth prepares us for the message Y’hoshua Himself would proclaim.

Conclusion to Part 1: The Good News Begins Long Before Bethlehem

By now, the pattern should be clear.

The Good News begins with Y’hovah the Creator. It takes seriously the reality of sin and exile. Moves through the covenant with Avraham. It is inseparable from Yisrael. Is foreshadowed in the Exodus and is promised through the prophets.
It includes cleansing, heart renewal, power by the Spirit, and the Kingdom.

In other words, the Good News does not begin in the middle of the Bible. By the time we arrive at Y’hoshua, we are not meeting a disconnected religious founder. We are meeting the promised Seed, the Son of David, the hope of Yisrael, the One toward whom the Scriptures have been pointing all along.

And that brings us to Part 2.

For once the foundation is laid, we can finally understand why the coming of our Rabbi Gadol Y’hoshua is such very good news indeed.

By Rabbi Francisco Arbas
📧 franciscoarbas.yisrael@gmail.com
Following His ‘WAY’ — Netzari Mashiach Judaism