THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

For many years after I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, I always thought that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is synonymous with the Gospel about Christ. How wrong I had been. The bible stated categorically in Mark 1:14-15, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.' But what exactly is the gospel of the kingdom of God? He can't be talking about Himself since He has yet to die for the sins of the world then, and not even His close disciples knew!

Throughout the centuries, millions and perhaps billions of people were confused. Rather, I should say being blinded to the truth! Most thought that the kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven) is the universal church, many thought it is heaven and some presume it is the faith residing in the hearts and souls within you. Some are misled by the incorrect translation in Luke 17:21b which states that 'the kingdom of God is within you'. In truth, the correct translation should be 'the kingdom of God is in the midst of you'. This points to Christ as He is the divine Representative of the soon coming kingdom. Misguided preachers compounded the problems multifold.

Shortly after the passing of the first Apostles towards the close of the first century, there had been a conspiracy to deceive the masses about the true gospel. The gospel of the kingdom is about the coming kingdom of God which God the Father will send Christ at His Second Coming to establish a worldwide government to dethrone Satan who is the current king of this world (2 Cor 4:4). A kingdom will have four elements - King (Christ), territories (all nations of the earth), subjects (humans who survive the Great Tribulations and reconstituted humans from the second resurrection) and Laws (the ten commandments and laws of Christ). Without the Laws, there will be lawlessness leading to anarchy!

The gospel of the kingdom was what Christ came to preach at His first advent (Luke 4:43). The gospel of Jesus Christ is about the good news of the kingdom of God. He is the Prophet spoken of by Moses (Deut 18:15) and we are all told to hear Him - His message given by God the Father for mankind! Christ is the Messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1). Sadly, most so called Christians only believe in Him (even the demons do and trembled) but do not believe Him - His message and commandments! Many put their trust in the traditions and teachings of man whom they see, but lack the faith to believe the words and teachings of Christ whom they do not see.

Please don't get me wrong, we must all accept Christ as our personal Savior in order to find acceptance for the forgiveness of our sins in order to be born again as spirit being to see and enter the kingdom of God. But by preaching only Christ and ignoring His message is like accepting the means but forgetting the end! We need to proclaim both hand in hand. Christ is preached in conjunction with the gospel not apart from it! This is evident in Acts 8:12 when Philip preached 'the things concerning the kingdom of God AND the name of Jesus Christ ' to the Samaritans. Subsequently, those who heard the gospel were then baptized. Similarly, the Apostle Paul preached 'the kingdom of God AND teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence.' (Acts 28:31). These show that the gospel of the kingdom and Christ are clearly two separate matters but yet to be preached together!

Note that Christ sent out His twelve disciples and told them to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2).Whenever the gospel of the kingdom was preached, there is healing! Christ cannot be talking about Himself since He has yet to walk the road to calvary then. Make no mistake, it is the gospel of Christ. The gospel that Christ preached and not the gospel about Christ. Readers may ask how did all this confusion come about? The answer is both religious and political.

By the middle of the first century A.D. the mysteries of lawlessness is already at work  (2 Thess 2:7). Simon the Sorceror, aka Simon Magus was one of the founding fathers of heresy. Such heresy sought to twist the gospel . With the Jewish religious leaders under the patronage of the Roman authorities (kind of civil servants), they were afraid to proclaim the kingdom of God as the gospel lest it be misconstrued to challenge the Roman Empire and taken as subversives and be put to death. Obviously, these religious leaders were looking after their own interests at the expense of God's gospel message to mankind!

One must believe the gospel of the kingdom of God (the kingdom and kingdom of heaven are all used interchangeabley) to be saved. Because without seeing and entering the kingdom of God, no salvation can take place. All those who will be saved will be changed into spirit being at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). In the New testament, these words 'kingdom', kingdom of God' and 'kingdom of heaven' are used a total of 136 times.This is so important that the Apostle Paul issued a warning not to pervert the true gospel or else be accursed (Gal 1:6-9). Notice the good Apostle emphasised the gospel OF Christ and not the gospel about Christ (verse 7). The gospel of Christ is the gospel of the kingdom of God, with Christ as the means to fulfill the end salvation of it all.

As a Prophet sent by God, Christ came to proclaim hope to a hopeless world that one day He will return to govern the world to bring world peace, harmony, universal health, universal education and prosperity! The religious leaders including Christs' disciples thought that it will happen in His first advent. Everywhere He went, Christ spoke about the kingdom of God, many of them through parables. He sent His twelve disciples and later His seventy disciples to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God and also to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2, 10:1,9). Make no mistake, the gospel of the kingdom is the goods news of the coming government of God to rule all the nations of the world - only then will every knee bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

The Apostle Peter preached the gospel of the kingdom, 'for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:11). And so did the Apostle James in James 2:5, 'Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?'  Notice that Paul in Acts 20:21& 25 preached about the kingdom of God to the Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. All these passages clearly show that Christ Himself and the early Apostles consistently preached the message of the kingdom of God.

But that is not all. The early prophets of the Old Testament also preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. This was revealed by the Apostle Peter in Acts 3: 21, 'the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.' - starting with the righteous men before the Flood, Enoch and Noah. Jude 14-15 tells us that Enoch prophesied that the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all people. This is in clear reference to Christ millennial reign on earth after His Second Coming. Next came Noah - the preacher of righteousness - a reference to the time when God's Law will be instituted worldwide (2 Peter 2: 4-9) which can only happen during the millennial reign of Christ.

God promised Abraham that through him, all the families of the earth  shall be blessed (Geneses 12:3). In Galatians 3:8, we are told that the gospel was preached to Abraham (probably through Melchizedek) and that all the nations shall be blessed. It is a no brainer to understand that only when God's government is firmly established on earth can such prophecies be fulfilled! Then there was Moses, who preached the gospel in the wilderness about the coming Messiah and Prophet Jesus Christ Who will someday rule and judge the world as King of the earth (Deut 18:15, 18-19). King David proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom in many of his Psalms, 'For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations' (Psalms 22:28); 'For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth' (Psalms 37:9, 11, 18,22,29,34); 'Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For YOU shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth' (Psalms 67:4).

The prophet Isaiah stated clearly and succinctly in many of his prophecies about the government and coming kingdom of God on earth that will bring lasting peace, power and prosperity and that it will last forever (Isaiah 9:6-7). Even the nature of the animal kingdom will be changed during the coming kingdom (Isaiah 11: 6-9). Jeremiah 23:5-6 states, 'Behold, the days are coming, the Lord will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.'  The prophet Ezekiel wrote in Ezekiel 36:24-30 of the coming rule of God's government on earth to bring about restoration and forgiveness. Then there was prophet Daniel who stated in Daniel 2:44 about the coming kingdom that will stand forever and never be destroyed.

Let's get the Christian goal clear - it is to be born into the kingdom of God as a spirit being (sons of God for those in the first resurrection and children of God in the second) to rule under the Kingship and leadership of Christ on earth for a thousand years and then onto eternity. It is only through the Blood and forgiveness of Christ can this be made possible. With one trillion galaxies and quadrillions of stars in the universe, the tasks of restoration and rebuilding upon the creation of God is humongous. Satan and his demons will by then be banished into the blackness of darkness (Jude 13) to spend eternity in the far flung corner of the universe without light forever.But the sons and children of God will be equipped for the glorious tasks ahead!