The gospel of the Kingdom of God

The gospel of the Kingdom

Jesus started his public ministry with these words: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark.1:15) Right from the start it is all about the Kingdom of God. The single object of most of the parables and teachings of Jesus is about the Kingdom of God (just read the gospels).

Jesus starts his ministry with the Good News of the Kingdom of God, “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” (Matt.4:23); He ends his time on earth teaching about the Kingdom, “To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3); the early disciples continue to preach the Kingdom of God, “But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” (Acts 8:12), “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”; and the book of Acts ends with Paul preaching the Kingdom of God, “He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of Godand teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” (Acts 28:30)

In What is a disciple? The true Good News, we read a little bit about the true gospel in contrast to various false gospels. But the word “gospel” (Besorah in Hebrew / Euangellion in Greek) means something like “Good News”, “Happy Message”, “Joyful Proclamation”, “glad tidings”. It is used in the Old Testament already (e.g. after victory over enemies - ) and in New Testament times it was often used for the glad tidings that a new king or emperor has been crowned and the uncertainty of deciding who will reign has been settled. One of the clearest passages in the Old Testament is part of the introduction to Isaiah 53, “How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” (Is.52:7) What is the content of the message of peace, happiness and salvation? “Your God reigns” (He is King!). This Kingdom of God has been promised in connection with the Messiah, the Son of Man, in multiple Messianic prophecies, e.g., “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ … But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.” (Jer.23:5-6, 30:9) 
“I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. … And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.” (Ezek.34:15-16,23)
“I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.” (Dan.7:13-14)

These are the promises to which Jesus was referring when He said “the time is fulfilled”. This is a whole different viewpoint of the Good News – it is not primarily about us being saved from our sins and eternal death, but about the righteous King coming to take his rightful place. More about this story of the Kingdom in the next piece. But here I want to mention some practical implications to the fact that the gospel is all about the Kingdom of God:

1. We enter the Kingdom by repentence and faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed King, High Priest and Prophet of the New Covenant. “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”” (John 3:3)
2. We are saved into something. From the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of light. We are not simply saved for ourselves and our own “eternal life in heaven” (pie in the sky someday when we die).
3. The whole purpose of the Kingdom of God is to re-establish the Kingdom of God (his reign) on earth as it is in heaven. Mankind, who was put in charge of the earth, has rebelled against Him, serving the “prince of this world” and He has overlooked this rebellion for some time. But now He is re-establishing his reign over the earth, through a Man, Jesus the promised Messiah King.
4. The Kingdom is all about the King. It is all about Messiah Jesus. All of our previous posts about the church and revival comes back to this principle… it is all about Jesus.
5. He, Jesus, the Messiah, is the King. We follow Him. We obey Him. We serve Him… when we enter his Kingdom. This is a voluntary decision. He never forces anybody to enter the Kingdom. But if we do it, we belong fully to Him. He created us, and He bought us back from sin, in order that we may belong to Him. He has a double claim on our lives.
6. The Kingdom is built on foundations of righteousness and the love and mercy of God, not on military power or earthly authority. There is only one King, and He rules in our hearts when we enter his Kingdom. He makes us new people that are able to keep his cmmands of love, by coming to live inside us (How to follow Him).
7. The Kingdom starts small (like a mustard seed) and grows slowly to become big (like a large tree). It involves individuals entering in, not nations “converted” by the sword. It grows through discipleship, becoming like Jesus, and disciple-making, helping others to become like Jesus. All living born-again Christians are part of the physical representation of Messiah on earth, his body. While the Kingdom of God is already here on earth where-ever Messiah reigns in the hearts of his disciples, this is just the beginning. The future involves the Kingdom being established in its full power, when Messiah returns in glory and power, and all those who have died in Him are resurrected to eternal life (1 Cor. 15). Then the original creation purpose of God, why He created mankind in the first place, will be fulfilled.