"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
Jesus as quoted in Matthew 24:14
When most followers of Jesus think about the Gospel what comes to mind, I believe, is the Good News of personal salvation.
Without question, it is a vital component. But is there more to what Jesus Himself called the Gospel He preached – "the Gospel of the Kingdom"?
In Matthew 4:23, we're told: "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people."
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In Matthew 9:35, we're told: "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."
In Mark 1:14, we're told: "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God."
One of the first scriptural clues we get about this future Kingdom comes in Exodus 19:5-6, when God tells Moses: "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."
Another insight comes from someone who might seem an unlikely source of prophecy – a man named Balaam, who was not one of the children of Israel, summoned by a king who was an enemy of Israel. But God spoke to him and here is what he prophesied about this future Kingdom, in Numbers 24:6-9: "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee."
Who is that lion? It's the Lion of Judah – the future King of Kings, the One Balaam referred to as "the Star" that would come out of Jacob.
In Acts 3:18-24, Peter reminds us that all the prophets spoke of this future Kingdom to be established by Jesus.
In Acts 1:6, the very last question the disciples of the risen Jesus asked of Him before He ascended was: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"
Jesus' response was to explain to them that first the Gospel needed to be preached to the entire world – a message He had previously delivered in Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 28:19-20: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
This is the Gospel of the Kingdom, which is the key to my latest release, "The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament." The explicit details of it are found predominantly in the Hebrew Scriptures, which is why we should not be ignoring them, as too many believers do.
Jesus is coming back to establish His throne in Jerusalem and Kingdom through which He will transform the entire world into an earthly paradise, as it was originally created.
Are we sharing that Gospel today? It's a Gospel of complete restoration, peace, harmony, justice, mercy and redemption – not just personal but global. How effective might that be in our evangelistic outreach and our obedience to the Great Commission?
The "Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament" is currently available as an e-book release at Amazon and the WND Superstore. The hardcover edition is scheduled for release nationwide in September.
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