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The Good News of the Kingdom of God!

December 3, 2018 / / 0 Comments

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First the Kingdom, Part 3: The Good News of the Kingdom of God

What do people think of when the word “Gospel” is used? Some like to emphasize the truthfulness of a story they are telling by claiming that their story is “the Gospel truth!” Often the word even describes a certain style of music. Most of us are familiar with the great American tradition of Southern Gospel music with its lively and emotional feeling.

The word Gospel is from a very old English word “godspel,” or good spell. While I believe there is a sense that God’s work has a supernatural effect upon people, the original meaning in this case was the “spelling out” of the good story, or good news of Jesus Christ. This in fact agrees with the original Greek word in the New Testament, which is “euangélion.” The first part “eu” means “good,” while the last part “angélion,” means “message” or “announcement.”

That is why in English we call those who preach the Gospel “evangelists.” They are in fact the bearers of the good news of Jesus Christ!

The earliest “evangelists” where the messengers who ran great distances to report when wonderful events took place. Before the postal service, newspapers, telegraph, radio, telephones, and the internet these messengers were responsible to keep people informed in ancient times.

This is the background of this passage in the book of the prophet Isaiah 52:7:

How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
(NKJV)

This picture of an ancient foot messenger in actuality was fulfilled in Israel years later in John the Baptist, Jesus, and His apostles, who came with the greatest news of all!

Now every year around this time we are reminded of the heavenly news reporter who appeared to certain shepherds even before those days:

Luke 2:10-14:
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”  
(NKJV)

There are of course many kinds of announcements of happy occasions that bring joy to people. Most would consider a job promotion to be good news, or perhaps the birth of a child. Yet the appearance of Christ to the world is an event that stands alone in the minds of believers. This is The Good News, and the reason why the meaning of the phrase, “The Gospel” above all refers to the Good News concerning Him!

Isaiah prophesied centuries before that a message of peace, joy and salvation was coming. At His birth, Jesus was proclaimed by supernatural messengers that the day of salvation had come. Decades later John His forerunner and Jesus Himself began announcing the Good News that the reign of the Kingdom of Heaven had indeed come to the earth!

Some believed the Good News, repented and obeyed the God Who had come to save them. Others did not. They did not understand that this salvation goes deeper than the financial or political situation they were in. He was called Jesus, because He came to save His people from the condition of their hearts. He came to save them from their sin.

For many centuries now, people have been believing and receiving forgiveness and deliverance from their sin. This is indeed the Good News, The Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, for some reason or other, the words Jesus used in His announcement are seldom used today. The Good News according to Jesus was that the Kingdom of God was near to them, and that they could enter therein.  Why is this important?

It is understood that the Gospel according the apostle Paul is the story of how “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV)

The fact that the real problem was in the human heart, and that Christ came to not only to offer forgiveness but a way for us to have a new heart has been often overlooked for centuries. Like many in Christ’s time the concern in many yet today is to simply try harder to be good. therefor, Evangelical Christians in every generation have rightly emphasized what Jesus and Paul stressed, that the Gospel is the only answer. The bad news is that we cannot live righteously on our own, but the wonderful Good News is that God in Christ has delivered us from ourselves. Because He died and rose again, we can die to our old lives and truly live again in Him!

In this way we enter into the Kingdom of God. Paul states that believers have been transferred from the domain of darkness and into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son! (Colossians 1:13) There is of course a life through Christ that extends far beyond our material existence, but this Life is available to us now, and this Kingdom is here and now, by the authority and the Word of Jesus Christ, the one and only creator of all things! (Colossians 1:16-17).

Again, why is this important? Why do we need to be reminded of the Gospel in the dimension that Jesus proclaimed it? I believe we need a new emphasis on the Gospel of the Kingdom because we are so prone to focus on our own personal needs, forgetting the great desire of God for His Creation. The Gospel of the Kingdom includes me, but it is also beyond me! It is like the leaven in the flour that is hidden for a time but ultimately permeates the whole loaf of bread. It is like the tiny mustard seen that cannot help but grow into something greater and larger and beneficial. (Luke 13:18-21)

It is also possible that the present work of God in His world can be neglected if our only concern is for eternity in heaven.

It is shown in the Kings dream to Daniel who learned that the Kingdom of God was like a rock that grew into a mountain that filled the whole earth! This is bigger than you and I, and it can lift us up from a self-centered life to a vision that we can be a part of the progressing Kingdom! You and I are becoming partners with Jesus Christ who is changing this world from the inside out!

We also need to see that the Kingdom of God was as important to Paul and the other apostles as it was to Jesus. The rest of the 15th chapter of First Corinthians shows the intention of the the Gospel of Grace:

1 Corinthians 15:21-28:
“For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, ” All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”
(NASU)

The Kingdom of God came to the earth 2,000 years ago in the person of Jesus Christ. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the death of the Cross. Then He was raised from death and highly exalted with a Name above all names! At the Name of Jesus Christ every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father! (Philippians 2:6-11)

Is He Lord of your life? If not, say yes to Him, believe the Good News and enter into His Kingdom of righteousness, Peace and Joy today!

Is Faith in Jesus Christ Reasonable?

May 1, 2015 / / 2 Comments

Most modern atheists and materialists assume that faith in the Biblical Jesus Christ is basically irrational, and that their view of reality is purely objective and reasonable. At the same time we find many of them who accept as fact, fantastic theories that actually have not been proven with hard evidence!

Christians themselves often are quick to point out that our faith is heavily based upon a personal experience that cannot be explained in human terms. There certainly is a transcendent reality to which we are exposed when truly encountering Christ. We use words like “supernatural,” “spiritual,” and “revelation,” which indicate that there is a reality that is higher and deeper than what can be simply experienced with our five senses.

Throughout the Biblical story we see individuals who have been touched and transformed by this awesomeness, this overwhelming sense that God is far beyond anything the human mind can comprehend! There is even a taste of what we understand as heaven in our experience of God, and the realization that what we see, hear, touch, taste and smell is not all that there is.

A big part of Christian worship around the world is about entering into that transcendent realm where we are more conscious of God than anything else. This wondrous state of being puts everything else into proper perspective. Ideally, this experience, this different perspective will carry over into other aspects of our lives, empowering us to glorify God even in difficult situations.

Knowing of this transcendent reality, should we then jettison reason altogether in favor of personal subjective experiences? Some would suggest this very thing, along with even denying the value of our physical senses.

Today I would urge extreme caution when hearing this kind of language. It is the very language of many cults and fanatics who dislike having their words and actions questioned!

In fact, Jesus did not withhold from Thomas the evidence that would clear away his doubts. He also insisted that each of us should love the Lord our God will all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. John explained that one cannot truly love God, whom we have not seen if we do not love our brother, whom we have seen with our physical eyes.

The fact is, that it was God who created us as spiritual, physical, emotional and rational beings!

Faith itself is actually a persuasion, that is something that has come about through serious consideration. This is what the apostle Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends when He walked this earth, was attempting to say in his first letter, chapter 3:14-15:

“But if you suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are you: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you, a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

Notice what he did not say. He did not tell believers to answer inquirers with irrational statements or to tell them to “take a leap into the darkness.” They were told to prepare beforehand in order to present the logical reasoning that brought them to this place of faith.

Throughout the Acts and the letters in the New Testament we observe many powerful arguments attempting to convince others that faith in Christ was the most reasonable course of action available. Even in the face of death these witnesses could be emboldened by the historical reality of Christ’s resurrection!

Even though they knew that the Truth of the Gospel was too big and too marvelous for our human minds to fully comprehend, they told it anyway. Why? Because they also knew that the same Spirit of God that was within them and prompting them to speak, would also be on the other end convicting many of the truth of their words!

Acts 17:1-3:
“As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.”

Acts 17:17:
“So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”

Acts 18:4:
“Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.”

Here is where heaven, the invisible, spiritual realm, and earth, the physical realm come together. God calls us to come and reason with Him! We are to realize that His thoughts are so much higher than ours, but that He is still ready and willing to share them with those who humbly submit to Him. It is not that we abandon our God-given capacity to think, but that we abandon that poisonous tendency to think independently from Him!

Early in my Christian life I discovered that some of my questions and opinions had to be set aside in favor of a higher dimension of thought. We are told in Proverbs 3:5 to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and to lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.”

This is not “blind faith,” but an interaction that goes on between us and God. When people began to call for blind trust in their revelation of God, I became worried. I could not find this approach in the Bible. Even Moses, when called of God to go back to the elders of Israel, knew that they would need a reason to believe he had heard from God.

After forty years of seeking for and discovering the wisdom of God, there are still many things that I do not understand. I have made many mistakes and have failed Him numerous times. I have confused my will with His will, but not because of a lack on His part. He has always provided what was necessary, if I would only listen to His Word.

I am still learning every day, and hopefully will continue to learn to think about things the way He thinks.

This one thing happens when we trust in the Lord with all of our hearts: our vision becomes clearer. We can have “the eyes of our understanding opened,” we can become “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Over and over again we have seen individuals whose intellectual capacity has increased from time spent with the very One Who made these amazing brains of ours! (Ephesians 1:18, Romans 12:2)

This is not a time to be “dumbing down” to the level of so many in our culture! This is a time to be clear headed, clear thinking, not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is for our generation! While we gladly resign the final outcome of history to our all-wise God, we can still relish the opportunity He gives us to participate in it!

Believers in Christ can for His glory advance in every worthwhile field of endeavor, because they are called to be “the light of the world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14) Perhaps some will be called upon like Joseph and Daniel, to solve some of the nation’s problems! Others might become experts in family matters, social, legal or even economical issues, for they have sober, un-clouded minds, that is they are not drunken with vain philosophies or obsessions over worldly riches that fade away.

They have been sitting in the counsel of the wisest Being of all, our Lord, Savior and Creator Jesus Christ!, Who has given to us every reason to trust in Him!

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