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The Gospel of the Kingdom

by Jon von Ernst
8/23/2023 / Bible Studies

Have you ever realized that there is more to this world you live in then what you can see, touch, taste, smell or hear? Beyond the material world that we are continually aware of by use of our five senses, there is a spiritual world, a world just as real as this material one.

In this spiritual world that surrounds us, there are many beings, many creatures busy at work, just as we are in our material world. But what are these creatures so busy doing? Just as in our material world, many of them are involved in a battle, a spiritual warfare. This war started long before our material world was even created, and it continues today, all around us. In fact, we, you and I, are what this spiritual war is all about.

Before the earth was even formed, God, who is spirit, created angels, spiritual beings, to serve Him (Job 1:6, 38:4-7). One of the highest of these angels was made by God to be “full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty” (Ezekiel 28:12-13, KJV). He was given a position of honor, ministering on “the holy mountain of God” (Ezekiel 28:14, KJV).

However, lifted up with pride, this angel rebelled against God, saying in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14). God, speaking in the book of Ezekiel, says of him, “You sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God . . . Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground” (Ezekiel 28:16-17).

In his attempt to establish his own kingdom and set himself up as God, this angel led many of the other angels away with him (Revelation 12:9). This angel, who goes by many names, (e.g. Satan, Lucifer, the devil), has ever since been at war, he and his angels that followed him, against God and His angels that continued to serve Him. This is the spiritual warfare. What does this spiritual war have to do with us?

When God created man, He placed him in the garden of Eden, a garden full of many kinds of trees. In the midst of this garden, God caused two very special trees to grow, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God commanded the man saying that he could freely eat of any tree in the garden, except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was giving man the opportunity to choose whether or not he would obey God and live under his authority, or rebel as Satan had (Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17).

Satan then came to the garden, in the form of a serpent, spoke to the woman, deceived her and caused her to eat of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then she gave the fruit to the man, and he chose to rebel against God and join his wife in sin by eating of the forbidden fruit. In God's righteous judgment on man's sin, God blocked the way to the tree of life that man could not eat of it and live forever. God sent man out of the garden and blocked the way to eternal life and the kingdom of God. Satan had apparently gained a great victory in this first battle for the soul of man (Genesis 3:1-6, 22-24).

According to the Bible, all of mankind has fallen into the snare of the devil, Satan, and has been taken captive by him at his will. 2 Timothy 2:24-26 says, “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death” (KJV). Therefore, all men must die. We are all held in bondage to Satan by the power of sin and death in our lives. The whole world lies in the evil one, under his power, in bondage to him, forced to do his will. 1 John 5:19 declares that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” What a hopeless situation!

It seemed God’s one chance to free mankind from Satan’s deadly grasp was to send his only Son into the world. However, God was not surprised by this situation. This was, in fact, God’s plan before the foundation of the earth. The only surprise was that Satan was unaware of God’s plan.

The Son was the exact expression of God, the very essence of His being. God, who is spirit, sent the Son into this material world that we live in, in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the form of a man (Philippians 2:6-8). He trusted His Son to live a life in this sinful world, yet without sin and in complete obedience to Him (Hebrews 4:15). While we were without hope in this world, God sent His Son to deliver us from Satan’s power (Romans 5:6; Ephesians 2:12).

Satan, however, being unaware of God’s plan, thought that now, with the only Son of God in a body of flesh, all he had to do was kill the Son, and he would finally win the battle by destroying the Son of God, God’s king, Jesus (Matthew 21:37-38). With the Son dead, everything would belong to Satan, and all of the world would worship him.

So Satan had Jesus, the Son of God, put to death on a cross. However, what the enemy meant for evil, God worked for good. Satan did not understand the wisdom of God, for if he had understood it, he would not have crucified Jesus. 1 Corinthians 2:8 says, “We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery . . . the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

By His death on the cross, Jesus broke the power of death, the master weapon of Satan’s kingdom, because death was not able to hold Him (Acts 2:24). By His resurrection from the dead, Jesus defeated the enemy, making an open display of him, triumphing over him in it (Colossians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Hebrews 2:14-15 speaks of Jesus’ victory over Satan saying, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

This is good news! Jesus has won the victory! By the power of His resurrection, He has set us free! By believing that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing Jesus as Lord, anyone can enter into His kingdom and enjoy all its riches, all of its promises and all of its blessings for life in this world and for life in the coming age.

God’s righteous judgment of man’s sin had blocked the way to the tree of life and the entrance into the kingdom of God. However, God, by His great love for mankind, provided us with a way back to Himself. This way is Jesus Christ the Lord. Romans 5:8-11 tells us, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

Jesus said in John14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus is the only way back to God. He is the only way anyone can enter the kingdom of God. Jesus is the only way to receive eternal life, because He is the life. God, in His great love for us has provided a way, the only way, back to Himself by faith in Jesus, by complete submission to Him as Lord. God does not want any to perish, but for all to come to repentance, turning back from their sinful ways and returning to Him by faith in Jesus (2 Peter 3:9).

This is the good news, the gospel, of the kingdom! By His Love for us, God has opened the way for anyone, no matter who you are or what you have done, to turn back to God and to be reconciled to Him, by trusting in and submitting to Jesus as your Lord and King. Only by complete submission to God’s King can anyone enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus invites everyone saying, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

This is the gospel of the kingdom as presented in the Bible. Jesus came proclaiming this “gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:14-15). He said this “gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world . . . then the end shall come” (Matthew 24:14). After His death and resurrection, Jesus sent His disciples out to preach this gospel.

He did this, because all authority and power had been given unto Him, He had won the victory. He told His disciples “All authority has been given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:18-19). In effect, He was saying to His disciples, go and teach all nations that I have been made Lord of all.

We can see, from the first proclamation of the gospel by the apostles in Acts chapter 2, that this is exactly what they understood Jesus’ command to mean. On the day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus, Peter stood and proclaimed in Jerusalem, “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know–this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:22-23).

Peter continued saying, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear” (Acts 2:32-33). Peter concluded his message in verse 36 declaring, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.” When Peter preached the gospel of the kingdom, he clearly understood it was altogether a matter of the Lordship of Jesus the Christ, evidenced by God having raised Him from the dead.

Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:21). When God raised Jesus from the dead, not allowing his body to decay (Acts 2:27, 31), God was, by raising Him from the dead, placing His seal of approval on Jesus’ life and death. Jesus lived a holy life, a sinless life, in order that by His death, He might pay the full price for our sins. He would, thereby, become our Savior, delivering us from all our sins.

However, if God had not raised Him from the dead, His death for our sins would have been meaningless. We would still be in our sins. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” It was by raising Jesus from the dead that God was declaring to the universe that Jesus’ life and death were not only acceptable to God, but in them, He was wholly satisfied. The resurrection was God’s seal of approval. By it, God affirmed to the universe that Jesus was all He had claimed to be.

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. The Jews understood rightly that by this He was declaring himself to be God (John 10:30, 33, 36). The apostle Paul says in Romans 1:4 that Jesus Christ our Lord “was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.”

Jesus claimed to be the Christ (John 10:24-25). Peter says that, by the resurrection, God made Jesus to be both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:32, 36). That is, by raising Jesus from the dead, God confirmed that He, Jesus, was truly the Christ, the promised, anointed ruler prophesied throughout the Bible. He was the one who God said would eventually defeat Satan, the Serpent. (Genesis 3:15).

When we share the gospel of the kingdom, our message must focus on the person of Jesus, raised from the dead and made by God to be both Lord and Christ. We are to preach Jesus, and the kingdom of God just as the apostles did in the book of Acts.

In Acts 2:14-40 Peter said, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses . . . know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” In Acts 3:11-26 Peter proclaims the name of Jesus saying, “On the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know.”

In Acts 4:1-4 Peter was “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” In Acts 4:8-12 Peter declares “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” In Acts 4:33 the apostles were “giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” In Acts 5:29-32 Peter and the apostles proclaimed, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand.”

In Acts 8:12 Philip was “preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.” In Acts 10:34-46 Peter was “preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all).” In Acts 13:16-49 Paul declared, “We preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus.” In Acts 16:25-34 Paul and Silas proclaimed, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

In Acts 17:16-34 Paul declares that God has “fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” In Acts 19:1-7 Paul says, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” In Acts 28:23 Paul was “explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus.” In Acts 28:30-31 Paul was “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.”

When we preach this gospel, declaring that Jesus is Lord and that all authority has been given unto Him, those that hear this message will be challenged. If they believe our message, they will be compelled to obey by submitting to the authority of Jesus as Lord. If they do not obey the gospel, they are condemned already and the wrath of God abides on them. John 3:36 says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” He who believes has the promise of inheriting eternal life if they remain faithful and endure to the end.

Having now heard this gospel of the kingdom, you have the opportunity to decide whether you will believe it and receive Jesus as your Lord and Master, or whether you will reject this gospel, reject the Lordship of Jesus in your life, and continue to serve Satan.

If you believe in your heart that God did indeed raise Jesus from the dead, and if you then, upon believing, confess Jesus as Lord, freely, willingly submitting to Him as the supreme authority, you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). You will then be transferred, by being born again, into the kingdom of the King of kings. Colossians 1:13 says, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

The word "believe" means to be persuaded of something. It means to consider the facts, weigh the evidence, and then put your trust, your confidence in what has been proven to you to be true. Are you persuaded that God raised Jesus from the dead? Will you confess Him as Lord?

Jesus says, “Every one therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33). This word, translated as "deny" here, means "to not confess." To confess means to acknowledge. Do you acknowledge Jesus as Lord before men? If you do not acknowledge Him as Lord before men, He will not acknowledge you as His own before His Father in heaven.

Ephesians 6:11-12 says, “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Now, today, these two kingdoms are engaged in a battle. They are in a spiritual warfare. They are fighting, warring for the souls of the people living on the earth. The one kingdom is the kingdom of light, the kingdom of God, whose king is Jesus. The other kingdom is the kingdom of darkness, whose king is Satan.

The last book of the Bible reveals where each of these two kings will spend eternity. Revelation 20:10 says, “The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Revelation 21:1-4 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer. I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

"Death will exist no longer; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.” “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him” (Revelation 22:3).

Your eternal destiny will depend on your decision. It will depend on who you choose to serve, either Jesus or Satan.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light - Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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