Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom. He sent the twelve and the seventy disciples out to preach the gospel of the kingdom and instructed all His disciples to preach this same gospel.
Is the gospel of the kingdom any different from the gospel of salvation or being born again?
We have preached the cross and personal salvation in Jesus for many years. Is that the gospel Jesus preached? Is it the gospel that the twelve and the seventy preached?
Shouldn’t we be preaching the gospel Jesus preached?
God has been restoring revelation to His church in waves or layers. After one wave comes and men receive it and that layer is in place, then another wave of restoration brings another layer. The newer layer does not replace the last one; it builds upon it.
The gospel of being born again is the first part of the gospel of the kingdom. Although it is vital and completely necessary, it is only a part. One must be born again to see the kingdom of God. To stop at the first part of being born again is stopping and forever remaining just inside the door of the vast kingdom and never experiencing the bountiful life and treasure of the kingdom prepared for us before the foundation of the world.
Most of the teachings of Jesus were focused on what the gospel of the kingdom is and how it works. Vital, basic, foundational principles of the good news of kingdom living on earth are contained in the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament gospels. We will explore these powerful kingdom principles in later sessions.
In recent years, the gospel of the kingdom has been widely restored. The gospel previously preached focused on missing hell and getting into heaven when we died. For the most part, there was little or no real help for living life today. We tended to write off this life and looked forward to dying to have victory or to Jesus’ coming back and rescuing us from this mess. Certainly, the Lord’s bodily return and Heaven, with all its wonder, are primary to our Christian faith. However, the gospel of the kingdom focuses on restoring the rule of God from heaven on earth.
The gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached focused on heaven’s ways coming to earth more than our going to heaven. (“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”) He taught how to live in the highest order of life that would bring peace on earth and goodwill toward men. There is, however, another being on earth that desires his will on earth and not God’s. I wonder who would like to cloud our minds and prevent us from seeing the potential of the will of God being done on earth.
Gospel means “good news”; kingdom refers to“ruler/dominion.” The gospel of the kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God means “the good news of the ruler dominion of heaven, or God”. Or another way to say it is, “the good news of the government of God from heaven on earth.” The good news is that the blessings of God’s rule are potentially available to His children now in this life.
Jesus announced the blessings of His kingdom in that portion of Scripture we call the Beatitudes. He had been preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing the sick, and casting out demons all about Galilee. And seeing the multitude, He began to speak to His disciples, telling them that the needy people were blessed now. The kingdom is finally here, and those who are entering are blessed. Before the kingdom, those who mourned simply mourned. Now they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:3-6: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Let me illustrate the difference between the gospel of being born again just to go to heaven and the gospel of the kingdom with this story.
A man had set out to cross a large swamp in a small boat. He paddled well into the swamp and was attacked by several large alligators. The attack was so vicious that the small boat was damaged and sank. The man was left standing in about waist-deep, murky water with only his paddle to fight off the alligators. The fight was so fierce that his paddle was broken. He was now left with only a stub of a paddle with which to jab and beat the alligators.
A voice heralded from a distant shore, “Hey out there! I’ve got good news for you. An important government man was here a while back and looked at this swamp. He promised to come back someday with a big crew to drain it.”
Jesus’ coming back and the “heaven someday” message is good news. But the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached can also help us with our alligators now. Let’s continue our story.
A man in a boat appeared and glided quickly to the man in the water and asked, “Do you need some help?”
“Yes! Please help me!” the man anxiously replied.
The man in the boat commanded the alligators to stop their attack. Immediately, the alligators swam away. The man in the boat helped the tired, wet and bloody man into his boat. He gave him dry clothes and medicine, which quickly healed his wounds. They immediately were at their destination.
As mankind sees the reality of the kingdom message and its overcoming power the devil will be made powerless. This is why the kingdom of darkness so violently opposes the kingdom of God now message. There is a violent pressing involved in entering the kingdom of God walk. It is not a pressing or violence toward or from God, but from the opposition, the kingdom of darkness.
Luke 16:16: “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.”
Matthew 11:12: “And from the days of John the Baptist till now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”
Often there is more opposition toward the kingdom message than any other. The devil is much less threatened by a message of “heaven some day in the future”. Our seeing the rule of God only in the future allows the devil to continue his dirty work now. The simple message of Jesus, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand,” the kingdom-is-now gospel, draws violent reactions from anyone who, in some way, is infected with or influenced by the opposing kingdom. Religious people and those of one’s own household often become the most violent. The Lord spoke of kingdom rising against kingdom and nation (or tribe) against nation (Matthew 24:7).
Matthew 24:10-11: “… many will be offended, will betray one another and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many, and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Matthew 10:21: “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.”
Matthew 10:34,36: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. And a man’s foes will be those of his own household.”
Remember that the conflict is between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness” (Ephesians 6:12).
The spiritual battle is for the prize of entering and walking in the kingdom of God lifestyle, not just being born again, nor just going to heaven when we die.
Keep on Pursuing Love,
It Will Never Fail,
Lots of Love,
Ron McGatlin
http://www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 