The Good News of the Kingdom

Jesus tells his audience to “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…” (Mat. 6:33). Jesus was preaching the ‘gospel of the Kingdom’ (i.e. Matthew 4:23) and the kingdom of God/heaven was arguably the primary theme of Jesus’ message and why he believes he was sent (Luke 4:43).  Jesus showed himself to be the Messiah by his miracles and deeds to the poor and broken-hearted (Dan. 7, Matthew 8:16,17 connects Isaiah 53 with Jesus’ healing ministry, Isaiah 61 is read by Jesus in Luke 4). “Christ” was not Jesus’ last name but is a word derived from words meaning “the anointed of God”; a more accurate translation of “Christ” could be the modern word King. The Jews were waiting for a literal king (i.e. Mat. 11:3, Acts 1:1-8).  God was faithful to his covenant with Israel and had in mind the redemption of all earth extending to all people out of every tribe and nation (i.e. Amos 9:7-15 is quoted in Acts 15).  Thus, the gospel of the kingdom is a declaration of God’s reign and completion of the Law and Prophets (Luke 16:16).  It is what he has always desired: to rule over his creation and have a people of his own for his purposes (Exodus 19:1-9).  In Mark 1:14-15, the “gospel” is equated with the Kingdom of God.  Much of the narrative of the four Gospels tells the story of how Jesus is the long awaited King. He was fiercely opposed by the corrupt pagan and religious systems of his day which corroborated to crucify him (Mark 8:15). The Pharisees resisted the Kingdom of God with their insistence on covenant identity being defined by Torah (Law of Moses).

After the fall, Satan became the “prince of the power of the air” and earth went under his control (Eph. 2:2, Rom. 5:13-17).  The Lord chose the nation of Israel until the time of the incarnation when Jesus was sent to redefine the kingdom and clarify/expand the meaning of the God’s law (“you have heard it hath been said, but I say unto thee…”).  Through Jesus’ death and victorious resurrection, sin, death, and ultimately Satan were mysteriously defeated and humanity was ransomed from corruption (Mark 10:45, 1 Tim. 2:6).  By turning in repentance and faith to God, humans can be freed from bondage, “born again” into God’s Kingdom, and given a new nature to obey the commands of Jesus (Romans 8:1-8).  To Nicodemus, Jesus states “unless you are born again, ye cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3-6).  The purpose of being redeemed is to “see” the Kingdom of God. 

Jesus continued to preach the Kingdom of God after the resurrection (Acts 1:1-8) and it appears to be a key talking point for the Apostles, including Paul (Acts 19:8, 20:25, 28:23, 28:31).  In Acts 17:6-8, the Christians were accused of saying there was a different “king, one Jesus,” and not Caesar.  The early church seemed to believe that Jesus was indeed a king of God’s nation in very concrete terms and in competition with Caesar’s kingdom (Acts 4:24-28/Psalm 2:1,2).  The kingdom of God is to penetrate the earth (Mat. 28:16-20, Mark 16:15-20), turn lives around by the power of the Spirit, and literally deal with the problems that plague our globe.  The good news of the Kingdom of God is the cosmic explosion of God’s power and love meant to defeat the devil (1 John 3:8 and Heb. 2:14). The atonement fuels this objective as sin is defeated within each converted and baptized disciple of the King (Heb. 2:14-15, Rom. 6:14-18, Tit. 2:11-15, John 8:31-36).

A kingdom has a king, a domain, citizens, and laws. Citizens of God’s kingdom love and obey Jesus while repudiating all evil and any system not built on the foundation of Jesus’ rule (John 15:14).  The kingdom of God is in competition with all other kingdoms as they are built on wealth, dominance, and carnal resources (Satan’s powers) and the whole creation groans because of this (Rom. 8:21-23). The salvage/salvation message is not merely so we can “go to heaven when we die” or “get saved” in a forensic sense but to submit to the Lord, let him “kingdomize” our entire life, and show others this way (John 14:6, Acts 19:9).  Jesus’ teachings are to be followed and obeyed as they contain eternal wisdom from the Father (i.e. divorce/remarriage, non-resistance, forgiveness, not taking oaths/honesty, overcoming lust, etc.). We cannot serve two masters so following Jesus is no light matter hence Jesus’ serious call to allegiance in the Gospels (i.e. Mat. 6:24, Mat. 19:21, Luke 9:22-27).

The Ekklesia/Church are groups of citizens of God’s kingdom called into council together (1^st Peter 2, 1 Tim. 3:15).  The church is separate/cut off from the world system and seeks to establish a culture that is distinct and connected to the apostolic pattern found in the New Testament (John 17, 1^st Cor. 11:16, 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, 1^st Thes. 2:14, James 4:4, 1 John 2:15-17).  The church follows the commands of the King and the pattern of the New Testament church even if culturally awkward or seemingly irrelevant (Mat. 10:33, 2^nd Tim. 10-14).  At his final appearing, King Jesus will establish his eternal Kingdom where evil is dealt the final blow and God can once again lovingly rule over his creation in peace and bliss (Rev.19-22).  The life of Jesus, the atonement, and the Holy Spirit given as a source of power for holiness and obedience is indeed all of God’s love and favor (John 3:16, Eph. 2:8-10, Titus 3:3-8).  Whoever willingly submits to the “righteousness of God” (his covenant faithfulness to Israel in sending the King to establish his Kingdom) will have the power to follow his commandments and extend his Kingdom (John 1:12, Rom. 1:16, Rev. 12:10).  This is all very, very good news!