The Gospel Message

Matthew 4:23, “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom…”

I believe that among Christians there is a great misunderstanding about what “the gospel” is. Most scholars, theologians, and even lay people know the term means “good news,” but what the good news is, is where the confusion comes in. Checking church doctrine across denominational lines you will find most Christian institutions define the gospel message as salvation through Christ. Oh they may get fancy with their descriptions and call it saved by faith through grace, or Jesus died for our sins. All of which is true, but that is NOT the gospel.

The gospel Jesus proclaimed is the kingdom of God is at hand. Salvation is an entrance to that kingdom, but salvation is not the good news Jesus came with.

Think about it. When Jesus sent the disciples out what did He tell them to say? Matthew 10 tells us it was, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew as a devout Jew would not say or write “God” so he substituted heaven, but the term kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God are one in the same.) Jesus did not say go and declare salvation through me. He did not say go and preach, ‘love one another.’ On the contrary He was very clear… “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is close, it is here. That was Christ's message. His good news is the kingdom of God is at hand and you are about to have individual access to it.

Think about the parables. What were they about? They were about the “kingdom of God.” So many of them start the kingdom of God is like… Why? So that post salvation when you experience the kingdom you will have a reference. Jesus was saying this is what the experience is when you are in the kingdom of God.

Some might argue, and I use to even think that by Jesus saying the kingdom of God is at hand that He was referencing Himself. But I do not believe so anymore. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." These were references to the gates into Jerusalem, and He was saying, ‘I am the way into the kingdom of heaven.’ Even more, this kingdom of heaven, this good news was not about some experience post mortality. It is about today. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," was not a hope for tomorrow, but a command for today. An invitation to kingdom awareness. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God coming upon us. He said that the kingdom has to be received and entered. Over and over and over He talks about the kingdom of God.

Yes Christ died for our sins and believing in Him is salvation by faith through grace. But it is most importantly the entrance to the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God is that place of awareness of Him. It is awareness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From inside the kingdom the commandment of love flows out. Did you know that Jesus referenced the kingdom of God nearly 100 times more than He did love? Salvation is mentioned 100 times less that the kingdom as well. Power and miracles too, 100 times less than the kingdom. All of which are important. All of which are part of the Christian experience. But the gospel, the good news is that you have access to the kingdom of God today, right here, right now.

What it is, how it works, that part… it’s the mystery for you to discover. Just ask to enter, and see where your spiritual life goes. 

I can tell you this. The kingdom of God is not a republic, a democracy, or any other form of top down or bottom up organization concocted by man. The kingdom of God is a center out organism. It is God is, and everything else exists in Him and because of Him. His kingdom boundary is where He ends, as if He had an end, which He does not. To be in His kingdom is to be in Him, and to know you are in Him, and He is in you. It is the place where your soul is at home.

Priceless

Matthew 13:44-46, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

In all of the various forms of Christianity it is pretty common to have an understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. Universally it is really understood that God sent His Son for the redemption of mankind.

Less familiar is the Holy Spirit Who is sent by Christ to be our Helper. In fact, the Holy Spirit comes with a bit of controversy depending on denomination and upbringing.

Even less known, or talked about is the Father.

Least of all seems to be this idea of the kingdom of heaven.

Here Jesus comes to earth with a message. That message was the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. It was not the gospel of salvation. It was not the gospel of Christ. It was the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. But what is it?

Simply put, and without theological explanation, the kingdom of heaven is God’s domain. It is the area, the spiritual space that God occupies. Jesus says that it is inside us. (Luke 17:21) Jesus also said that the kingdom of heaven grows. (Matthew 13:33)

So there is this space that is inside of us, containing the Trinity, that is growing and competing for more room. But why do so few connect to it? Why do we hear little to nothing from pulpits regarding the kingdom of heaven? What was Christ first request in Him teaching us to pray? “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

This kingdom is not something reserved for Christ return. It is here now. It is like a treasure that some stumble upon, and it is like a merchant that seeks some out. But it is real, it is tangible, and it is growing inside you. It is accompanied by a growing awareness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of heaven is expanding inside of us, and as it expands it is felt as conflict, ego must move aside and die as the kingdom inside of us grows.

But once the awareness happens, once the scales come off the spiritual eyes and the treasure that the kingdom of God inside us is made real; then we see how priceless it is. It is this kingdom of God awareness that inspires people to lay down their life, to take up their cross, and to do it at any cost.

May God allow you to discover the treasure that the kingdom of God is, and may He do it today.

Kingdom Territory

Matthew 22:37, "And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."

I've been reading yet another book by one of my favorite authors, T Austin-Sparks. This one is called "The Gospel of the Kingdom." In it he begins with defining the "kingdom" as the sovereign rule of God. He uses this definition as the explanation or the reason that all of the parables on the kingdom of God work together.

Of which I agree with the reasoning yet find it incomplete. And it is incomplete because all of scripture functions on multiple levels simultaneously, and to limit the message based on such a confined definition is in my opinion ungodly. After all, all scripture points to Christ. It functions in the past, present, and future. The Spirit of God can use all of it to prophesy into the life of the individual, the community, the nation, and/or the globe. Additionally, scripture describes not only the world around us, but the world inside us. Namely the world and interaction of the spirit, and soul housed in the body.

So with that in mind I must argue by the Holy Spirit that included in the definition of the kingdom of God, the most preached message of Jesus while on this earth, is the inclusion of territory. Just as a photon of light is both energy and particle, the kingdom of God is both the sovereign rule of God, and the territory where that rule operates.

Jesus spends a lot of time discussing who would be "in" the kingdom of God. If sovereign rule were the exclusive definition then at least one of the numerous references should say "under" the kingdom of God.  But it is territory that brings understanding to how the kingdom of God can suffer violence. (Matt 11:12) Because on the border of the kingdom, where the territory of God's sovereign rule meets the resistance of Satan there is a battle. And this battle rages not only in a physical realm, but inside us.

Jesus commands us to love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole mind. In that there is a whole, then there also is a part. Therefore this "territory" of the kingdom of God is in part what portion of the whole is under the sovereign rule of God. Have we brought our whole heart under His authority, or only a portion. It is this process of taking over the whole heart, whole soul, and whole mind, where we begin to see the territory represented by the kingdom of God.

Jesus said the kingdom is in you. It is in our heart, mind, and soul. He said that the kingdom is leaven. As such, it is alive and growing inside us. Our heart, mind, and soul is the flour, it is the territory, where the kingdom of God is expanding. Just like the kingdom of heaven is the man that sows good seeds in the same area the enemy sows the tares. The territory where seeds of good and evil are constantly sown is the heart, mind and soul. The kingdom of heaven is stumbled upon sometimes like a treasure in a field and sought by others like a merchant looking for a pearl. But in all cases it is a priceless discovery when found. The kingdom even has a life of it's own, and is neither stumbled upon or sought, but sometimes finds us like a dragnet pulled through the oceans catching all manner of mankind. 

In the end, the kingdom of God is a territory. If nothing else it is a territory within us. And once inside us, once the seed is planted, it is ever growing, every changing, and ever opening of our eyes.

Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you. (Matt 6:33) That kingdom is just how much of our heart, mind, and soul we allow for God to have His sovereign rule in. It is a battle and a violent act that allows His territory to overtake ours. It is death as the cross of Christ come to bear on the self. It is the resurrection that permanently establishes His kingdom where it once was unwelcome.

Open up your hearts and let him in.