God Is the Gospel -- Chapter 1

I've decided to read this book, broken into parts as a portion of my TAWG (time alone with God). I will then post the notes and any thoughts I have accompanying them by chapter. This will officially be listed as book #5 in my 2007 reading list. Here is chapter 1.

• gospel means good news. Good news is for proclaiming—for
  heralding the way an old-fashioned town crier would do.
• It is easy in our day to lose the sense of wonder and amazement
  at the news quality of the gospel. If we would feel what the good
  news of the New Testament really was, we should not forget the way
  it was announced in Luke 2:10-11: “The angel said to them, ‘Fear
  not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for
  all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a
  Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”
• The war will be over soon, and there is no longer any doubt as to who will win.
  Christ will win, and he will liberate all those who have put their
  hope in him.
• The good news is not that there is no pain or death or sin or
  hell. There is. The good news is that the King himself has come,
  and these enemies have been defeated, and if we trust in what he
  has done and what he promises, we will escape the death sentence
  and see the glory of our Liberator and live with him forever.
• But the gospel is not only news. It is first news, and then it is doctrine.
• When the gospel is proclaimed, it must be explained.
• Our question is not merely, what is the gospel? Our question is: What is the ultimate good of the gospel that makes all the aspects of good news good? What is the goal of the
  gospel that, if we miss it, takes all the good out of the gospel? What
  do we mean when we say God is the gospel?