The Gospel That Jesus Preached
It's been awhile since I blogged. Feels good to be back in the saddle.
We will be posting podcasts, photos,videos, etc in the very near future. Stay tuned!
"The Gospel That Jesus Preached"
When Jesus had heard that John was in prison, he began His ministry by declaring this in Mark 1:15: "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
Historians tell us that there was 400 years of virtual silence from the heavens between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the new. 400 long years of the people of God hearing nothing through the prophets. That is a long time.
Then the silence was broken forever when The Father sent His very Voice, Jesus Christ, The Word!
Words are powerful. When exchanged, words express communication. Communication is important to God and to his crowning creation, mankind, because communication is the outflow of relationship. It is significant that one of the Names of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is THE WORD!
Let's look at the statement Jesus made introducing his ministry. "The time is fulfilled (the long wait for the Messiah was over) and the kingdom of God is at hand; (as my friend Dudley Hall says "I've come on the scene and I've brought my Kingdom with me") repent (change your direction and your whole way of thinking; your mindset) and believe the gospel. (the good news!)
In Matthew 6:33 we are told by Jesus to "...seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (what we eat, wear, etc.) will be added to us."
If Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God and it was the message that He preached, it's obviously important.
The Gospel of Salvation
Is the gospel of salvation the same thing as the gospel of the kingdom? No! The gospel of salvation, that Jesus became man, lived in perfect obedience to His Father, died on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended to the Father is vital. It is the entrance point to the gospel of the kingdom, but is not the entire gospel. God's intention is that the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God (that is, Who God really is- "glory" means the "true essence.")
We have majored on the gospel of salvation and thus relegated the church to a future age and escaped involvement in the nitty gritty here and now of where people live.
Jesus said to "occupy 'til I come." Not just hang on, grit our teeth, do the best we can and wait for heaven. Indeed, God's goal is not so much to get us to heaven but to get heaven into us! To conform us to the image of Christ.
The gospel of the Kingdom permeates every part of society, it's not just for "spiritual" or "religious" folks. It's the message of God's love, His benevolent rule, His righteous reign in everyday life. We, the people of God, are to make a loving difference in every sphere- social, political, economic, education, arts and entertainment, family. Real people full of real Life by His grace. Through faith we will be a living demonstration of the Love, Life and reality of God. Christ in us is the hope of glory... the hope of the world!
Godrest and Godspeed!
David Baroni
Download | Duration: 00:32:23
Download | Duration: 00:32:23
Great word and in insight David. Thanks and please keep em coming!
Reply to this