What is the Gospel of the Kingdom?

Centuries ago, a great man came on the scene declaring a powerful message; a message called the Gospel. But this message, as proclaimed from long before His appearance, was misunderstood by those who heard it; He did not meet their expectations. Why? Would He do so on His own timetable?

Anticipation; hope of a promise fulfilled in the future. That has long characterized belief in the God of Jacob and His truth. He promised Abraham that his descendants would be “as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore” and that his descendants would have their own land (Genesis 22:17). Moses promised a prophet for the house of Israel (Deuteronomy 18:14-22); one that didn’t come even till the day of Moses’ death. The prophets of old spoke of a future time of great peace and prosperity for Israelites (Isaiah 65:18); a time when the God of their forefathers would unite the scattered house of Israel and return Abraham’s descendants to their land (Ezekiel 36:24). This time was to be ushered in by a righteous man who would reign as the rightful King, one of noble blood (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

Israel’s history has been one rife with bloodshed. Many years have seen the sons of Jacob in captivity or having their land controlled by another empire. It was with this background that they anticipated this King and the era of peace. They called this figure ha Mashiach; the Messiah, the Anointed. He was to be a great King who would conquer the enemies of the people of God and establish Jerusalem as the centre of the Kingdom of Israel.

Many years after these prophecies were written, a young man appeared on the scene. A descendant of King David (Matthew 1:1-17), He claimed a great deal. He named Himself the rightful King of the last two remaining tribes of the scattered house of Israel, the King of the Jews (Matthew 27:11), the Anointed of God (Matthew 16:16-17). This man, known among His people as Yeshua and known today as Jesus Christ, told His people much of what they wanted to hear. He reinforced that the Kingdom they had long anticipated was coming. He was understood to be the very Prophet promised by Moses (John 6:14; 7:40). But the message He preached was not all that they desired it to be.

It’s hard to describe something that was both a beginning and an end. The King of the Jews died. His followers fled, afraid after losing their Master (Matthew 26:56). Like a lamb to the slaughter, a sheep before its shearers, He went quietly to certain death, neither objecting to the sentence nor fighting of His accusers (Isaiah 52:7; Matthew 27:12-14). This was not the great conquering King they had expected. His passing left disappointment and sorrow in the hearts of those who loved Him. They expected Him to be the one to free Israel (Luke 24:21). This man, this self-proclaimed “King” would not even let them coronate Him (John 6:15).

His message was called the euaggelion. In His day, the word was used to refer to the announcement of victory that a runner brought from the battlefield, and also could be political in the sense of a king being born or having ascended to the throne. The Greek word is translated today to “gospel” and is related to the root of the word “evangelize”, which means to declare the euggelion.

He knew that His early death was certain (Matthew 26:2) and yet He claimed to be the One who would usher in the age when Jerusalem the “city of the Great King” (Matthew 5:35) would be the delight that God promised it would be. Even while He was dying, He refused to give up the message of hope He preached. To one thief who had been sentenced to the same fate and was dying alongside Him, He promised “paradise” (Luke 23:43). But this certainly did not seem like a victory.

But what happened that spring was something tremendous. The “King of the Jews” had declared something else as well; the key to understanding His message. However, His followers had not wanted to hear it; it didn’t line up with what they expected and so greatly desired. They didn’t want their Lord to die (Matthew 16:22). And seemed to refuse to believe that He would. However, He knew that His death was not the end; He declared to His followers that he would be resurrected to new life (Mark 8:31).

Yes, that was certainly spectacular. The disciples of this King found His tomb empty when they went to find it before sunrise on Sunday morning (John 20:1-8). He walked on this planet Earth once again for another forty days (Acts 1:3), seen by a great many; five-hundred at once (1 Corinthians 15:6)! A few days before the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), He returned to His Father (Luke 24:51).

This was certainly a victory. Jesus came not as a conquering King, but the sacrificial Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), fulfilling another set of prophecies (such as Psalm 22:16, John 20:25, 27; John 34:20, John 19:32-33). But euggelion refers to a battle. What battle did He win?

The prophets of old indeed spoke of a battle. Zechariah spoke of a battle that the God of Israel will fight the nations of Earth to reclaim Jerusalem and sit on His throne as King of Earth (Zechariah 14:1- 9). And a more recent prophet, John, also spoke of a battle between men and the force of heaven. He symbolically describes one called the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” and the “Word of God”. This being, riding a white horse, battles the nations of Earth as well (Revelation 19:11-19). And again the surviving nations gather to battle, but their forces are quickly snuffed (Revelation 20:7-9).

The “Word of God” is none other that ha Mashiach Himself. He is identified as the “Word” by the very same prophet, John (John 1:1). The divine Son of God, called God by one of His servants after His resurrection (John 20:28), is the very LORD (Yahweh) that descends to Earth to battle the nations. This is one battle that is assured us; the battle to cleanse the Earth from Satan’s power and the battle to establish the Earth as His Kingdom. When He appeared to His followers before returning to heaven, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) His answer was that they would not know when this would be done (Acts 1:7); affirming that He would again come to Earth, this time as the as the conquering Sovereign the Jews have looked forward to for so long.

Without the sacrifice of the Lord, there would be no battle as there would be no point; all mankind would be doomed to the lake of fire. It is His blood that saves us from death (Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:9, Colossians 1:14). All that we have to do is repent; confess our sins to Him and make an effort, with His guidance and assistance, to avoid further acts of sin (Romans 10:9; 1 John 1:9; 1 John 2:1). What has this victory earned those who follow Him?

The commanded rite of baptism is a declaration that we are “baptized into His death”. Coming out of the water symbolizes being resurrected as He was; being “united with Him in His resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5). Jesus was resurrected as a “life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). He was even able to change His form (Mark 16:12). He is called the “firstborn among many brothers” and His “brothers” were “predestined to be conformed to the likeness” of the Son of God (Romans 8:28-29). As John wrote:

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

This is the Gospel of the Kingdom; what the victory won by the Lord Jesus. His triumph over death has already been assured (1 Corinthians 15:26, 54; Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 20:14). Your God and His Lamb have provided a way for you to “participate in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). This is our anticipation, our hope for promises fulfilled, our wait for that wondrous day when the trumpet will sounds and “we will all be changed” and be stripped of our mortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). He will establish the Kingdom of God on Earth by conquering those who aim go against Him, and He will live with us forever. This is what Yahweh has laid out for you. All that remains if for you to believe in Him and His euggelion, His Gospel.

What will your choice be?

Note: All Bible quotations are taken from the New International Version. Bolded words in Bible quotations are my own emphasis

· Whosoever Believeth In Him

· What It Means To Be Under Grace

· Anthony Coore’s The Destiny of Man!

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