Evangelists Say
World-renowned preachers are content to say, "The Gospel is the good news that, on the first Good Friday, Christ died for our sins and that He rose from the dead on that first Easter morning — and that God is willing to forgive ids our sins — and give us new life, peace and joy."
All too many .preachers — and their followers — say this is the Gospel. The "experts" are WRONG!
I do NOT take anything from the sacrifice of Christ or His resurrection Those actions by our loving Savior an most important and vital to salvation, We would have no hope whatsoever without them. Christ's willingness to die poignantly portrays the consummate GRACE and superlative COMPASSION of our ever-merciful Redeemer. He bought us back from sin and its destructiveness. His resurrection opens the way into immortality.
Nonetheless, these actions, of themselves, do not explain the ultimate purpose and plan for mankind. The Gospel is meant to, explain all of this. We can know the purpose for this uttermost expression of God's love.
God's Word makes it plain.
The shroud of mystery can be drawn back.
Let's look into it. Let's KNOW!
Let's filter out the pollution and find out just what the GOOD NEWS really is.
BAD NEWS
The news has been almost totally bad ever since man has recorded anything about himself. He leaves a record of wantonness, rebellion, war, rape, robbery.
He hotly pursues love, but love eludes him. He eagerly anticipates joy, but is enveloped by despair. He strives for peace, but another war breaks out.
He has, from time to time, managed to delude himself that at long last he has Utopia in his grasp. Tomorrow always proves him wrong. His scheme backfires. He awakens with a hangover His love proves to be a debauch, his joy an orgy, his peace only slight and temporary relief from grinding away at the rut he is making in this derelict, vicious age (or "evil world," Gal. 1:4).
It is absolutely true that we are only able to find our way out of the present system through Jesus Christ. The fad remains that we are in a SYSTEM from which we seek release. It follows that we leave this system, we will then move toward another system. What is this different system?
Christ Preached the Gospel
Note that Christ did NOT preach about His own life. He didn't preach His life — HE LIVED IT!
Preachers today all too often simply preach about the life and death — the person — of Christ and assume that is the Gospel.
The first four books of the New Testament have unwittingly been entitled the "gospels." Those books were not called by that name until long, long after the resurrection of Christ. They were not even written until some thirty years or so after His ascension. These four books are about the life of Christ. They contain His message also. Both of those themes are very important. But we must make certain that we do not create a "gospel" out of the story of Christ's life if it clouds and covers the GOSPEL message HE PREACHED. He preached ABOUT THE KINGDOM. That is the Gospel — the GOOD NEWS!
In fact and truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about a Kingdom — the Kingdom of God — and so about GOVERNMENT. A kingdom cannot exist without government. Government is an integral part of all kingdoms. So, the Gospel is the GOOD NEWS that finally —ultimately — a really GOOD government is going to be established which will free the earth and its inhabitants from evil. Christ is going to rule over that government. Satan and his evil will be "bound" for a thousand years. All mankind will finally experience goodness and peace in ACTUAL FACT! (Rev. 20:4-8; Rom. 11:32; I Cor. 15:22-24.)
Christ told people about the Kingdom before He died and was resurrected. He didn't continually talk about His life and death — He continually preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. There is a difference!
Certainly His life, death and resurrection are vitally important to our attaining salvation, the Kingdom, son-ship; but the good news for man — what the future holds — proceeds forward from those incidents. It leaps forward almost immediately some 2000 YEARS, graphically describes yet another thousand years of Christ's millennial RULE, and boldly challenges and outdistances man's imaginative perception of that same government as it will exist in eternity!
Christ did NOT preach about His own LIFE — as most ministers now do, calling this biographical resume "the gospel." He LIVED His own life as an example of proper discipline and self-government. He told men to live this same way so that they might thereby qualify for a position in the Kingdom.
Their works could not buy salvation or entrance into the Kingdom. The GRACE of God provides for sin's pardon. But men must prove their willingness to come under the good, holy, just laws which God commands. These same laws will be in effect in the Kingdom of God. The Gospel the good news — is about how man can get into that Kingdom and be with God and see His as He is (I John 3:2). The Gospel is about how man can join the God Family.
Churchianity does NOT understand this. Those who only prattle about the life, death and resurrection of Christ — essential, gracious and all-important as those facts are — find themselves sucked dry of the life-giving Gospel power. Left only sweet sanctimoniousness, bereft of spiritual practicality, withered and shrunken from the peace which the life of Christ foretells. Without the goal about which Christ spoke, man is left to eternally pluck his harp as he vapidly gazes into the unblinking eye of a god who has flung him into sterile endlessness.
Every kingdom must have four parts: 1) a king; 2) territory; 3) inhabitants or subjects; and 4) laws. If any one of these essentials is missing, the kingdom simply cannot be.
Christ explains that entrance into the Kingdom is of utmost importance. We are directly told it must be our primary goal (Matt. 6:33).
The King Has Been Appointed
On the night that Jesus was born, an angel came saying, "I bring you good tidings [remember the meaning of the word "gospel") of great joy . . . for unto you is born . . . a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10, 11). Note too, that "Lord" means: one who owns or possesses, one who controls, sovereign, prince, chief. Most definitely Christ is KING.
The angel was repeating what had been in the Scriptures for centuries. Isaiah 9:6 says that this child would have GOVERNMENT on His shoulders! He is responsible for governing! Verse 7 goes on to say that this established government would go on forever.
Subjects and Territory
The "kings [mere men) of the earth" will be subject to Christ the SUPREME KING (Rev. 1:5). The government of God will be "over the NATIONS" of this earth (Rev. 2:26). Revelation 5:10 makes thin more emphatic when it says this government will ". . . REIGN ON THE EARTH."
Laws
We have already seen in Isaiah 9:7 that "judgment" and "justice" are to exist eternally. These governmental elements demand LAW. Paul understood "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." He knew ". . . that the law is spiritual . . ." and so everlasting (Rom. 7:12, 14). Without law there would be anarchy, which is absence of law. But the Kingdom is an orderly operation governed by the Law of God. Paul also tells us that the good news, glad tidings, Gospel must be "OBEYED" (Rom. 10:15-16.) It is law that defines what is obedience in every instance. I Peter 4:17 reemphasizes that fact that the Gospel is a legal message demanding obedience.
Age-Old Rebellion
The good news is that God will reassert His rule upon rebellious mankind (Isa. 52:7).
Satan started the insanity of rebellion and anarchy (Ezek. 28:14-15). God has permitted him to hold sway over the earth until finally Christ returns as King to unseat the devil.
Satan has foisted off his illegal, rebellious ways on all mankind. He began by inveigling Eve and Adam into forsaking the commands — the theocratic government under which they were to live — of the Eternal God.
God issued COMMANDS — LAWS — and expected obedience (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:17). These first people rebelled, and all mankind has followed in their lawlessness.
Israel, too, defected from God (I Sam. 8:5-7). They rejected God just as has the whole world. Satan has deceived them all (Rev. 12:9). ALL have broken the Law and fallen short of the glory which God wants for men (Rom. 3:23).
Restoration of God's Government
The Old Testament prophets knew that the Eternal was going to return His good government to this earth (Zech. 14:9). The government of God — the Kingdom of God — will relieve the horrible distress which mankind suffers. Acts 3:19-21 pointedly tells us that the return of Christ will result in a refreshing time when all things will be restored. The prophets have told us about the loss of God's government on earth. They looked forward to the return of the Messiah — the Ruler. The Kingdom will be set up. It will rule over all kings and nations.
Daniel 7:14 speaks of the Christ finally setting up His Kingdom: "And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a KINGDOM, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." How WONDERFUL!
Unpolluted Gospel
We've washed the polluted Gospel in God's Word.
How simple to understand.
How MARVELOUS the plan and purpose of God.
How certain to SATISFY the needs of man.
Perfectly administered government attained!
The quest of the ages at last completed.
The earth and all its inhabitants will finally be scoured clean and purged of all pollutants — because of the true Gospel! Absolute PEACE will result. LOVE, in all its exquisite magnificence available to everyone through GOOD GOVERNMENT!
There will be no more WAR with all its attendant anguish and suffering (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:1-4).
Here is the crystal-clear, clean, pure Gospel of the Kingdom which Christ Himself preached. Don't allow anyone ever again to fool you now that the Word of God has washed the Gospel spotless and sparkling just for you.