The good news of Judgement
Paul never ceased to preach the gospel and when he arrived in Athens that's what he did—he preached the gospel. The good news is that the one true God is the God who has come to us in and as Jesus Christ in whom the kingdom of God is revealed (see Acts 17:7).
It isn't only that one day the kingdom of God will be revealed—it's that in Jesus Christ it is revealed. The world in which the will of God will be done as it is in heaven is the world that embraces Jesus as the rightful King and Lord of all. These Athenians with all their interest in "the supreme good" could only debate and guess what the ideal world would look like but Paul knew exactly what the ideal world would look like—it would be a world that took Jesus as King, a world that embraced him as the embodiment of the will of God for creation.
The life and death of Jesus Christ was the judgement of the world in which these Athenians lived. In exalting him God had put his stamp of approval on how Jesus fleshed out the heart and will of God. "Therefore," God highly exalted him, Paul explained in Philippians 2:9, and gave him the name "Lord" over all.
Because this is true—because God saw Jesus Christ as the flawless image of himself and made him Lord of all—it's no surprise, then, that God has appointed a day when he will judge the entire creation in righteousness by Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30-31). Jesus is the judgement of the world (compare John 12:31 and Galatians 5:14 which refer to the cross on which the world hung him and on which it died). So when the time comes for judgement, the standard by which it will be judged is not some "general moral law" or some set of unknown ground rules—the world will be judged by Jesus who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
And how can that be anything other than good news? Could the Athenians have been glad to hear that one of the Caesars would finally judge all? Could 21st century people be glad to hear that an American President or a UK Prime Minister (or anyone else) was their hope for the righting of all wrongs? Can you imagine humanity's hope that all wrongs will be righted resting on any one of the various segments of Christendom?
And until Jesus comes, what do you suppose is the business of those who are truly "the body of Jesus Christ"?
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.