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First the Kingdom, part 29, Joy to the World!

Romans 14:17:

…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

NASU

Every year in December the story is told in many parts of the world about the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem 2 thousand years ago. This story has been identified with many inspirational songs, stories and traditions in both secular and religious settings. I believe it draws on some of the deepest longings in our hearts and touches us on more levels than we realize.

Just as in the days of Joseph and Mary, the world goes on around us as always, and yet there are those who will take the time out to reflect on the promise of this Child who would be known as the Savior of the world. For at least a few weeks out of the year people begin to believe in kindness and mercy again. Gifts are sent to underpriviledged children and adults and the grace of Christ can be seen in ordinary human beings.

Also, just as in the days of Joseph and Mary, the message of hope in this story faces opposion. While the rulers in Jerusalem tried to put the Christ child to death, forces today are at work to divert our attention to the hatred and violence that continues to this day. In 1863 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this in his poem, “Christmas Bells,”

And in despair I bowed my head;

 “There is no peace on earth,” I said;

“For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Sometimes we feel like Longfellow and we must fight to resist despair. For me, the best defense against such despair is the Word of God. I am learning to never take for granted the Christmas Story simply because it is told every year out of tradition. I need to hear it again and again! I need to remember the powerful promise that has gripped humanity since it was first given!

Most of us have heard about the shepherds who were nearby when Jesus was born, and the angel said unto them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people!” (Luke 2:10).

Anyone who has lived as long as some of us have realized that the “all people” to whom this good news was given must include more than a few undeserving folks. If we are honest with ourselves, we would admit that we are among those undeserving ones. But does that change the message? Jesus would later say that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance! This is the Good News, that God cares about us all!

The older translations have left us with this wonderful and powerful statement after the shepherds were told about the child:

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:13-14 KJV)

By the end of the poem Longfellow re-affirmed his hope to see peace on earth, good will to men. I believe if we take these verses to heart, along will all of the other passages relating to the Gospel of the Kingdom, we can stand stronger in our faith, and can live in His Joy today!

Growing up in my early years I heard and sang songs in church about the joy of living in Christ. And yet it wasn’t until I was about 21 years old that I fully understood and experienced this joy. For some time I had been struggling to make a living and take care of my family when my wife left me and my son and moved to another state. It was this crisis that brought me to a level of humility and sorrow for my sins and a level of submission to Christ that I had not known before.

The morning after crying out to God for forgiveness was like the first day of a new life! Every thing seemed brand new to me. I felt a new kind of joy that churned up from deep within and burst forth almost uncontrollably. Most people I talked to could not understand me, but when I remembered the believers at my mom’s church,[...]

We are happy to present to our friends this original song by our good friends, Larry and Dana Berry, and Larry Hakala, entitled, “Night to Day.”

Words by Dana Berry, music and arrangement by Larry Hakala. Lead vocal is by Dana Berry, backup by Larry Berry, with Larry Hakala on vocals, guitars, and keyboards, Dan Beaty on bass and drums. Mixed and mastered by Dan Beaty at Higher Ground Studio in Columbus, Ohio

Merry Christmas Everyone!

First the Kingdom part 28, Peace On Earth!

Romans 14:17:

“for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

NASU

In our last message we were reminded that our great Lord and Savior has wonderful plans for His creation. Even now He is bringing forth the fruit of his good will in the earth as His Kingdom reign. We are encouraged in the fact that every wrong will some day be made right, but also because those of us who know and love Him can bear witness to His righteousness now — as we live and walk in the Holy Spirit!

The Kingdom of God is also a realm of peace. The peace of God is a marvelous thing to experience. Peter the apostle of Christ wrote of a peace that surpasses all understanding. This peace is real, powerful and transformative. I cannot overemphasize this or exagerate its value! In the Bible, in history and even in this present and fearful time, many have overcome and even joyfully endured great hardship because of this deep abiding peace from God.

Peace can be defined in many ways. Often we relate peace with quietness and tranquility. Sometimes we find peace in accepting situations that are beyond our control. Two countries might find an end of the war that has gone on between them, and define that as peace. All these situations describe certain kinds of peace, but the Kingdom of God deals with the real essence of peace itself. When we enter the Kingdom of Heaven we come into contact with the source of peace Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the Prince of Peace!

When we look at Jesus in the Gospels we do not see a mellow, complacent, easy-going, live-and-let-live guy who was okay with injustice and evil. Neither do we see a man willing to compromise in order to get along with everyone. In fact He had more than enough enemies against Him who were willing to orchestrate His death!

Once He said that He did not come to bring peace, but division! He knew the peace He would eventually bring would come with great cost. The cost of His very life!

He came to attack the very source of strife. Since Adam in the beginning fell out of harmony with his Creator, all of his children were born with this emptiness, which only God could fill. This condition of alienation affected not only our relationship with Him, but also our relationships with one another and the creation we were destined to care for and protect. In attempting fill the void we have grasped for things and fought wars over them to this day.

Take for instance the divorce rate in America. Why is it so high even among Christians? Could it be because we still crave the things which can never satisfy, and then blame the other person for our emptiness?

Has the Christian world too long made it about getting what we want from God and not about finding our total satisfaction and fullfillment in His Kingdom, His will in this earth?

For the rest of my life I will continue to urge people to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Yes we have heard wonderful preaching and teaching about how Christ loves you and me as individuals. “He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming love!” He IS my personal Savior! I would not take away from His work on the Cross for us all, and the victory He has won for me personally.

Yet there might just be a missing note in all of this. Jesus brought the Good News that the time for the Kingdom of God had come. We have traded this message for one that is all about a mansion in the sky for me when I die. That alone is supposed to sustain us and keep us on the narrow way. So we invest heavily in ways to motivate people to come to church and hear about the promises of a better existence somewhere in heaven.

This creates the kind of ground that Jesus described where the seed is not able to take root. The Seed, that is the Gospel of the Kingdom cannot flourish. When difficult times come, far too many will return to the lives they li[...]

First the Kingdom, Part 27, Righteousness, Peace and Joy

In the 14th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he proceeded to deal with the fact that believers were judging one another in areas that were not critical to their relationships with God. And yet, the fact that they were judging one another in this way was affecting their lives in the Lord, Whose primary objective is for believers to love one another. When we do not allow for minor differences in how we worship Him, we are not manifesting His love as we should.

This is the context of a favorite verse of mine in Romans 14:17:

….for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

(NASU)

Two thousand years ago Jesus made it known that the time had come for God to establish a realm on this earth where righteousness, peace and joy would be the norm. In several parables He told how this kingdom would not always be easily seen or observed, but it would be real just the same, and it would eventually prevail in the world. It began in a community of people who followed Him to the place where they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to live even as Christ Himself lived against all odds.

In the not-too-distant future, God will see to it that this entire planet is filled with “the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea!” In this time there will be no more war among nations. There will be no dictatorships, no slavery, no starvation.

While we know that God has always been soverign over His creation, this plan to reconcile us all back to harmony with Him is revealed in the Gospel of the Kingdom. Christ gathered His followers together to bear witness to and manifest what the kingdom will one day be like universally. As a servant who was commissioned by Christ Himself, Paul was passionate to see the plan of God move forward. He took great care to explain this purpose to believers and to help them live together in Kingdom life.

Oh how today we could use the passion of Paul to point us all back to the great and glorious plan of God for His people! Christ is building His church, and He will bring all things into subjection under Him, but right now He wants us to be the proof that He is indeed Lord of all!

In chapter 12, Paul pleaded with Christians to be Christ-like. He called them to offer their bodies as living sacrifices for pure worship, to allow their minds to be renewed so they could be continually transformed. They would be proof of the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.

In modern times people tend to think more in terms of “personal salvation.” It is often about what God can do for me. We know that we can have personal peace with God by knowing that our sins are forgiven. It is normal in the natural stages of childhood that we think of our own personal needs, but with maturity we learn how our needs are intertwined with the needs of others. The kingdom of God is certainly about personal righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

There is a problem, however, when communities of believers forget to move forward in their considerations of others. We might think we are being very unselfish when we devote extra time to our fellow church members, and we should to that. At the same time any fellowship can become too focussed on the good of its members only. The Gospel of the Kingdom presses us to see the bigger picture. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself!

We need to move from what is right for us only, to what is right for those outside of our circle of friends. Before and during the American civil war, there were Christians who desired righteousness, peace and joy for runaway slaves. They participated in the Underground Railroad, and helped them find physical freedom at great personal risk. They were busy proving the good, acceptable and perfect will of God as they followed the Holy Spirit’s lead!

Why is it when we are challeng[...]

The Hidden Kingdom; First the Kingdom, Part 26

Matthew 13:33:

He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened.” 

NASB

Matthew 13:44-45:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. 

NASB

Luke 8:9-10:

And His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable might be. And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, in order that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

NASB

Jesus told His disciples that the kingdom of heaven was a mystery to those who were outside of their intimate community. Many other places in the bible mention the privacy that exists between God and those who love and obey Him.

(Deuteronomy 29:29, Isaiah 25:14, Psalm 91:1, Amos 3:7).

That should be easy for us to understand. Most of us want friendship that goes deeper than a casual relationship. We want the freedom to talk openly to someone with whom we can discuss our joys, concerns, and plans.

Believe it or not, God wants that kind of fellowship with you! He wants to hear what is on your heart and mind, and He wants to share His secrets with you! He loves his entire creation and is always reaching out to all of us so that we might let go of our old, sinful ways and come into the light of His wonderful Kingdom!

It is true that he withholds some things from the outside, unbelieving world for His own reasons, but He also promises that everything will eventually be made known.

All I can say to my audience is that He is after your heart. If you hunger for this kind of fellowship with God, surrender your heart to Him. If you have already done so, open your spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear from Him of the wonders of His Kingdom!

If you are like me, it is easy for you to become distracted by the events of this world, our nation and our neighborhoods. I personally do not see as many people honoring and worshipping God as I would like. In fact, according to the news media, it looks like evil is winning on every hand. Thankfully, I can look to Jesus. I can focus upon Him and continue to run the race that is set before me.

Not only that, but I can receive revelation from His word that enables me to see His Hand at work in the world! Often the Kingdom of God is hidden from plain site, all the while it is working and affecting change all around. Jesus is no longer walking the dusty roads of Judea and sharing His secrets with His select disciples, and yet He has never stopped teaching! His voice is heard in of course the scriptures as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. His voice is also heard in His creation, all around us telling of the glory of God!

Yet one of His most important means of communication is in His people, His body, the Church!

When in fellowshp with others who love Jesus, I actually hear His Voice! Some of that fellowship comes from teachers, writers who expound upon the Bible, but much of it comes from time spent in prayer and communication with ordinary believers who all recognize their need for Him. When I am in their presence I can actually see the leaven of the Kingdom at work, slowly and gradually changing us all into the the very image of Christ!

Together we can explore that hidden treasure that each of us has found in Christ! Together we can continue to encourage one another to hold its greater value! Together we can exhort one another to let every distraction go in order to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness! Then the things that distract us, that worry us are out of the way so God can then supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory!

The important thing is for us to see Christ’s victory in this world. No matter how things look on the outside, we know[...]

Have you watched the news lately? How do you feel afterwards? It is true that bad news cannot be avoided, but at the same time feelings of depression should be resisted. Depression can be paralyzing. Discouragement can hinder creativity and progress in many ways. In the Bible, God does not promise us a trouble-free life, but he does give us the means to live in victory over discouragement.

A perfect example is found in the book of Acts, chapter 16. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned for helping a slave girl. She was being exploited by her masters while being possessed by evil spirits. When the Lord delivered her from the power of witchcraft her owners were angry at Paul and Silas because they were losing the money they made from using her.

Then a strange thing happened. At midnight Paul and Silas began singing praises to God! Afterwards there was a great earthquake, the prison doors were opened and their chains came loose. Before the night was over, the Jailor and his entire family were baptized and became followers of Jesus!

History is full of stories like this one. God can give His people supernatural joy which is absolutely greater than their circumstances! This is a result of their living in a different realm of life. There is both the fact of the peace and joy they have from the presence of the Lord and also the hope they have of that better realm of existence coming to change the world around them.

In my experience there have been times when my troubles were eclipsed by a sense of euphoria that lifted me above them. I have seen times when I was overcome by unexplainable, inexpressible joy. Other times were not so wonderful, but I was sustained by the tremendous hope I have in Christ. As I read the stories in the New Testament and the writings of the apostles it becomes evident to me that these believers possessed a tangible and solid sense of the presence of God which kept them, and a powerful, hope-filled vision of the future that drove them forward in their mission.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is that powerful. When we hear it proclaimed with conviction it actually raises our consciousness and enables us to see the reign of Christ in the earth today! While our minds and emotions might tell us that evil is winning, we can have a deeper conviction that defies explanation. This conviction is more than the ability to bear up and endure the dominance of evil. This is a knowing that our great God is even now at work in us and that we are moving with Him into a glorious day!

None of this hope is derived from my abilities or your abilities. While I believe God has created human beings with great potential for good, we are also created for dependence upon Him. He is our only source of hope. It should be obvious by now that we cannot make it without His help, but the good news is that His help is here to anyone who seeks for Him!

How easy it is for us to forget that He is our true source for all things. We trust in ourselves. We trust in our government. We trust in science to help us. And then when things get worse we join the doomsayers who abandon every good cause in the name of submission to the will of God and His judgment on the world. How pious it might sound when they move out of the way to watch others pay for their offenses, but is it really?

God is looking for intercessors.

Ezekiel 22:29-30:

“The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.”

ASV

As Moses stood in the gap for Israel, and pleaded to God for mercy, as Abraham even plead for Sodom and Gomorrah, Christ stood in the gap for all of humanity, He took our sins upon His pure, sinless self, crying “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Is your ho[...]

First the Kingdom part 24, The increase of the Kingdom

In my early years I remember hearing that eventually the numbers of believing Christians would be reduced world wide. Very few people would be saved like in the days of Noah when only 8 people survived. That upset me. I hated to hear it, hoping that it was not true. Back then I only heard the passages of scripture that seemed to support this dire expectation.

You can imagine the excitement I felt when I began to learn of other passages of scripture which helped to explain the plan of God more clearly! While I admit of my bias against the old negative outlook I have confidence in the positive one for several reasons. First of all, it presents Jesus Christ as the wonderful, powerful and victorious Savior who I have come to know! He is so very real to me and has been so for over 40 years! It is inconceivable to me that he could ever possibly fail in His purpose. His Word has penetrated my heart, my mind, my life so thoroughly and completely to the point that it is more real than what I can see, hear and touch with my senses!

Over the past 40 years I have found countless others who have also been so touched by our Lord Jesus, Who is Lord of us all! We are not like those who have a shared illusion. Not at all! We have a shared reality that is not only subjective and personal to us alone, but can be backed up by hard evidence as well! In spite of the many trials and failures, the Lord Jesus is still building His church, and the gates of hell have NOT prevailed against it!

Every passage that appears to be showing otherwise must be weighed and considered along with many more that glorify God, revealing His wisdom, power and love for His creation.

A well-known passage from the prophet Isaiah that is often shown on Christmas cards tells us of Christ’s incredible victory:

Isaiah 9:6-7:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.”

ASV

Here we do not have a picture of a diminishing reign, but one of unending advancement! The entire bible presents the reign of Christ as more than territorial. It is about the power of His character, His virtue, His justice and love at work in the hearts of people. His goal has never been to destroy humanity. He has gone to great lengths to restore us to sweet fellowship and communion with Him that existed in the beginning.

2 Peter 3:9:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

ASV

The message of Jesus was the Good News of the Kingdom of God. He called everyone who heard Him to repent of their sins and to believe in His Good News. When He was eventually crucified it did not at all appear to be good news. However his resurrection, His ascension to the throne in heaven and His outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon believers on the Day of Pentecost proved that the time for the reign of the heavens had finally come to mankind!

His power was not to steal, kill and to destroy but to give life. He was lifted up on the cross that He might draw all mankind unto Him! The fact is that everyone was enslaved, even the Romans who had long oppressed the people of God in Israel. Even the religious leaders who hoped to control them were in fact victims of Adam’s fallen nature. Christ died and rose again so that even they could be free!

His strategy was simple. He would gather unto Himself the humble and teachable. He would then empower them to spread the Good News through their [...]

First the Kingdom Part 23: Kingdom Power

There was a man sent from God whose name is John. In fact his mission was determined before he was born. He was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mothers womb. Instead of following in his fathers path as a priest of the levitical order, he would be the prophet to herald the coming of the Messiah of Israel.

The people who heard his message were called to repent of their sins because the Kingdom of God was near. Then they followed him into the Jordan River to be ceremonially cleansed as a part of their repentance. He would not permit his disciples to put their faith in him. He said another would come after he had baptized them in the water. John did not even feel worthy to take off the shoes of this one to wash His feet. He told them this this one would baptize them in the Holy Spirit and fire.

When Jesus came to be baptized by his cousin John, John refused. He would rather be baptized by Jesus. But Jesus insisted. When Jesus came up out of the water the heavens opened unto Him, a voice then came saying, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” Then the Holy Spirit came and landed upon Him like a dove. From that time on, Jesus began demonstrating the power of God, the power of the Kingdom through the working of healings, miracles and delivering people from demon possession.

Both John and Jesus placed strong emphasis on Holy, godly living. They both respected the law of Moses which stood at the heart of the nation of Israel but they were also quick to point out that there was a wrong and a right way to observe the law. As other prophets of Israel they scolded the people who outwardly kept the law, while their hearts were far from loving the God Who graciously saved them from slavery.

Neither John nor Jesus left the people with heavy moral demands and no hope for fulfilling them. John told of the Holy Spirit and fire to come, and Jesus proved what the Holy Spirit could do to heal the minds, hearts and bodies of those who cried out to God for help. We must keep in mind that all of this is consistent with the history of Israel. Abraham and Sarah by faith received the miracle of a child in their old age, Jacob encountered God at Bethel and later received His blessing. Joseph had the help of the Spirit to interpret dreams for Pharaoh, and Moses was empowered by God to work miracles before Pharaoh and Israel. After that judges like Samson were empowered by the Holy Spirit with special abilities to serve the nation. David was anointed by the Spirit of God and was blessed to lead the armies and the nation. Solomon received supernatural wisdom, and prophets like Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Daniel served the people as the Holy Spirit spoke the Word of God through them.

It has always been this principle, God resists the proud, but give grace unto the humble.

If this message accomplishes anything at all, I hope and pray that you will be encouraged to humble yourselves before Him. It does not matter how successful you are in this life or if you were raised in a Christian home and never strayed from the faith. We all need to be humble before God. There is often a serious lack of supernatural ability in Christians to overcome temptations, fears, addictions, bad attitudes etc. Could the reason for this be that we have failed to received the fullness of this baptism, this gift that God through Christ has offered us? Could it be that we have been too proud to admit our need?

In John 3:3-5 Jesus said that we must be born of the water and the Spirit to enter into the Kingdom of God. I doubt that anyone reading this or hearing this podcast would argue that anyone could come to Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit. If any change of heart ever comes we know it had to come from the intervention of God and His grace. I certainly hope that you do not credit yourself with becoming a new creation, or a better person!

Is the New Birth the one and only[...]

First the Kingdom 22b, the One Gospel continued

In the last message we discussed the question of the Gospel of the Kingdom vs the Gospel of Grace. For time’s sake, some details were left for this installment. This time I hope you all will bear with me, as I try to explain things very carefully. Many years ago I was taught that we were living in a time known as the dispensation of grace, and that the dispensation of the Kingdom of God was coming in the future. However, after reading the Bible for myself I began to question this teaching. First I began reading the Gospel according to Matthew, which is first in the order of books in the New Testament. I discovered that in Matthew, as well as the other 3 gospels that the Kingdom of God was definitely present at the first coming of Jesus! While He also fortold of future events relating to the Kingdom, there can be no doubt that He claimed the promised time had come.

From cross-references I learned that the hope of the Kingdom was firmly planted in the hearts and minds of God’s people by the words of the prophets in ancient times. Often highly symbolic language was used by the prophets, but the Holy Spirit always enabled at least some to know they had reason for great hopes of a future in God. At the heart of this hopeful future is the promised Messiah of Israel. The glory of His ministry can be summed up in this passage from Isaiah 9:6-7:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

KJV

Also among the prophecies of Isaiah there is the picture of the suffering servant, who would give his life as a ransom for all. He would be the Lamb that all previous sacrificial lambs represented in the history of God’s people. His blood would atone for the sins of the world. He would be sacrificed and buried, and yet He would live to see His children, the fruit of His intercession for us all! (Isaiah 53). Today we can see this was referring to the resurrection of Christ.

At the time of His first coming, the people were not looking for the suffering servant. Instead of hoping for freedom from their own sins, they wanted freedom from the tyranny of Rome. This Jesus did not bring, so He was crucified, with both the consent of Rome and many Jews. After His resurrection, His disciples began to see the plan more clearly, and were able to help others see that freedom and forgiveness of sin was the greater need.

They did not however give up on the hope of the Kingdom of God. They continued to proclaim the Kingdom, and saw great progress in their preaching. The book of the Acts of the Apostles covers the advance of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the great center of the western world, Rome. However, several generations would live through times of persecution. The Christian Faith would not even be legal until 300 years after Christ. But when we look at the phenomenal growth of the faith during those hard times, we might see how understanding the present reality of the Kingdom of God and the future hope to see it prevail in the world had a part in that growth.

In fact when Christianity became dominant in that part of the world, its leaders and historians had no difficulty in seeing the hand of God in it. They could easily see the parables of Jesus being fullfilled, and that the Kingdom of God had won at least in part. Since that time there have been many seasons of decline and renewal, until a sort of permanent pessimism began to set in.

That is where the idea of separating the dispensation of grace and the dispensation of the Kingdom comes in. It appeared to some tha[...]

First the Kingdom Part 22, Only One Gospel?

The word “gospel” has come to mean many things today. Anyone who has a new idea or a supposedly better way of doing things is often seen as presenting his or her gospel. In the time that the New Testament of the Bible was written, there was one word commonly used to convey that a wonderful event had come or was coming. It was the Greek word “euangélion,” which means “a message of good news.” From this we get our English word “evangelist,” who is a messenger of good news, and the word “evangelical,” which usually describes those who promote the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Since the old English word for good news, “Gospel” was used in the early English bible translations it has found a permanent place in our language to this day.

In the New Testament the word is used exclusively in connection with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Paul the apostle of Christ left no doubt about his confidence in The Gospel:

In Romans 1:16-17, he writes:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

NASB

Elsewhere in his letter to the Corinthians he clearly states the content of the gospel he had been proclaiming:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4:

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…

NASB

Right here is the heart of Evangelical Christianity. Around the world there are people and churches with differing beliefs, but this one message either unifies or divides them. The one living and vital group of people who know the Christ of the Bible, know that He came to save sinners by laying down His life for them, and by taking it up again to prove His Lordship.

But what of the Good News of the Kingdom of God? Is the Gospel that Jesus preached a different one than the one Paul proclaimed? There are those who would say yes. Some believe that the Gospel of the Kingdom was rejected, and that the Kingdom was postponed for over 2,000 years. They teach that it was necessary for the Gospel of Grace to intervene until a time in the future. At this future time, they look for the world to be judged in 7 years of great suffering and sorrow known as the Great Tribulation. After that Christ will come and establish His reign in the earth, which He had intended to do at His first coming.

To be fair, I believe this is a sincere attempt to reconcile both the Old and New Testament prophecies that seem to conflict with one another. Even the disciples of Jesus had questions about prophecies concerning Israel which had not yet come to pass. Jesus told them it was not for them to know then, but He did give them what they needed to know for that time.

He told them that they would receive power after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, and that they would bear witness of Him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samariah and to the ends of the world. (Acts 1:6-8)

At this time I would like to propose a simpler solution to the problem of fulfilled and unfulfilled prophecy. But before I do that we need to look at another statement of Paul’s upon which everything else pivots. In Gal 1:8-9 he writes:

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a [...]