The Gospel of the Kingdom of God

In my reading of Psalms, I discover that David 'preached' the Kingdom of God in many of the Psalms he penned almost 3,000 years ago. Take Psalm 22:28 for example, 'For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations'. David understood full well that he will be king one day after his resurrection, 'You have made me the head of the nations; A people I have not known shall serve me.' (Psalm 18:43a-b). So is the famous Psalm 2:8, where it states - 'Ask of Me (God the Father), and I will give You ( God the Son) the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. Millions have quoted this verse without understanding what it means!

Interestingly, in Psalm 37, David refers to the term, 'inherit the earth' or 'inherit the land' FIVE times (Ps 37: 9, 11, 22, 29, 34). Such is his faith and trust in the Lord - knowing his destiny and the rewards to come when the Lord will set up His Kingdom on earth after His Second Coming. He understood that that is the reward of the righteous and they shall dwell in the land on earth forever!

Let's now take a look at he New Testament, it records for us that the early Apostles preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God. In 2 Peter 1, Peter enumerates the virtues to emulate so that 'an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ' (verse 11).

The Apostle James wrote, 'Listen, my beloved brethren: 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?' (James 2:5).

The Gospel of Matthew records for us the work of Jesus. Matthew 4:23 and again in 9:35, 'Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people'. It looks like healing accompanies the preaching of the Kingdom of God! In the Matthew Gospel alone, over fifty references were made of the Kingdom of God, and most of them through the use of parables taught by Jesus.

In the Gospel of Luke, it was recorded that the Lord Jesus commanded His disciples to preach the Kingdom of God. 'Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2). Similarly, in Luke 10:1-9, Jesus appointed seventy others to do likewise - preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God and heal the sick. Can anything be more clear than these specific commandments of our Lord?

In John 18:36, Jesus stood before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and uttered these words: 'My kingdom is not of this world' - meaning that God's Government is not found in this present system of human government. In the next verse, Jesus answered Pilate that He was born into this world to be King (Revelation 19:16) and for this purpose He had come - meaning that He came in His first advent to proclaim the message of the Kingdom of God - first to the Jews and when they rejected His message, it was later proclaim to the church (Matthew 21:43).

One of Jesus' disciples - Philip - preached the things concerning the Kingdom of God AND the name of Jesus Christ (clearly showing that they are two separate subjects). Subsequently, both men and women were baptized (Acts 8:12).

I shall now turn to the works of Apostle Paul. This faithful Apostle preached the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles. 'And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God' (Acts 19:8). Also, in Acts 20:25 '...I have gone preaching the kingdom of God' and this was preached alongside the gospel of the grace of God (verse 24). Take note that in Acts 28:30-31, 'Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God AND teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him'.

From all the above evidences found in Scriptures, it is clear that the Kingdom of God is separate from the gospel of grace or gospel of salvation which is equally important to comprehend. It is not one or the other but one with the other!