The Gospel of the Kingdom part 1
What exactly is the “gospel”?
Is it really as simple as the good news that Christ suffered, died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures? What do the Scriptures say?
That’s exactly what we’ll be looking at in this series. As it is written, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter: but it is the glory of kings to search it out.”
It may come as a surprise but the biblical concept of the gospel, or good news, did not originate with the New Testament. Not by a long shot! In fact, what is generally called the Christian gospel is actually the original Jewish gospel - or good news - that began almost 4,000 years ago with the call of Abram.
There are many passages throughout the Hebrew Scriptures that proclaim the good news – or gospel - not only of God’s blessing, protection, salvation and deliverance but also of the coming Messiah as righteous king and judge, the Messianic age, eternal life, restoration of the creation, the resurrection of the righteous, true justice and peace on Earth, and even a new heaven and new earth.
In this episode of “Called to Glory,” we’re going to look at the Gospel of Kingdom that Christ and John the Baptist proclaimed to the people of Israel at the beginning of their public ministries. We begin with the call of Abram and continue through the gospel to mankind and the entire creation found in the Torah up to the Davidic Covenant. Future episodes in this series will cover other aspects of the gospel such as "The Gospel of Christ," "The Gospel of Peace," "The Gospel of Salvation" and "The Everlasting Gospel."
Why is this important? And why should it matter to you today?
First and foremost, because this is the original gospel of the New Testament and it is inseparably related to what the New Testament writers called the gospel of Christ - the good news that Jesus is the promised Son of David Who is coming to this earth as the Righteous King of kings and Lord of lords to save the remnant of His Jewish brethren, destroy the enemies of God, inherit and rule the nations from the throne of David in Israel, take the earth as His possession and build a house – or Temple – for God’s Name! It is the same gospel of the kingdom originally God promised to Abraham and the nation of Israel. It is the same gospel of the kingdom that was foretold by the Hebrew prophets.
And it is the same gospel of the kingdom that was proclaimed by John the Baptist, the apostles, the New Testament writers and Christ Himself. Or as it’s also called in the New Testament, “the gospel of the kingdom of God.” All of these wonderful promises all find their fulfillment in Christ and His kingdom.
When you consider what the Scriptures actually teach concerning the calling, destiny and inheritance of the saints, it should be evident that the “gospel of salvation” is just the starting point. Absolutely necessary and indispensable, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But it is not the full counsel of God nor is it the full gospel proclaimed by Christ and the apostles. We simply cannot understand the fullness, power and glory of the New Covenant and our inheritance in Christ unless we have a full and complete understanding of the gospel of the kingdom proclaimed by the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.