It was about a year ago when I was first presented with the question- What is the gospel message of Jesus. I answered that like most people with the gospel is our Messiah crucified and resurrected, and atonement for sins.
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel (euaggelion) of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. Matthew 4:23
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. Matthew 9:35
Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:14-15)
Our Messiah’s gospel is the Kingdom of God also known as the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of Light. When He started presenting His gospel message, He hadn’t been crucified nor resurrected. I’m not saying those didn’t become part of the testimony of Christ’s gospel.
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. 2 Tim 1:8-12
I confused the word testimony with gospel. Testimony is the evidence and witness of the person. Christ’s testimony was all that people saw him do such as heal people, cast out demons, and His death and resurrection. His testimony bore witness to the gospel of the Kingdom of heaven.
Before His death we see Him commission the apostles to go out and He says this:
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ Matthew 10:5-7
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God. and to heal the sick. Luke 9:1-2
This is a culture that takes witnessing very seriously. When these men were first sent out they had witnessed miracles, but not the death and resurrection yet. We will see that become a part of their testimony later that bares witness again to the gospel of the Kingdom of heaven.
Gospel (euangelion) means “good news.” The Hebrew equivalent of euangelion is besorah. The messenger who carries the good news is called a mevaser. Believe it or not, there are women messengers in the bible.
What is the Kingdom of God?
The phrase ‘Kingdom of God’ (also ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ or ‘Kingdom of Light’) is used more than 80 times in the New Testament. Even though that wording is not used in the Old Testament it is prevalent in their understanding of many of the Old Testament prophesies concerning redemption, deliverance, and the millennial kingdom, God’s authority and reign. The Jewish sages and Pharisees first coined that phrasing… I’ll share an example of this from the Mishnah.
Why is “Hear, O Israel” [Deut. 6:4-9] recited before “If, then, you obey the commandments” [Deut. 11:13-21] in the daily prayers? To indicate that one should accept first the kingdom of Heaven, and only afterwards the yoke of the commandments. (Mishnah, Berachot 2:2)
What they meant by this is when a person confessed, “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone,” that person came under God’s rule and authority, and thus came into the Kingdom of God (became a believer). Having accepted God’s authority over him or her, the person was able to begin keeping the commandments. Before anyone freaks out over that… Jesus spoke of the Kingdom with the same understanding:
“Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ to me will come into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
Number one factor… the Kingdom of Heaven is about doing God’s will. His will is for all to be saved, for people to be healed, to be set free. His will is about His redemptive plan to restore man back to the garden prior to the fall and tikkun olam (world repair).
The Jews knew the kingdom would be set up through Messiah, that the dead would be raised to life, and the earth would be restored to what happened before the fall of man. Please keep in mind Messiah (Mashiach) simply means “anointed one”, all Jewish priests, kings and prophets were anointed and called “Mashiach’s”. But Israel knew that there would be two Messiah’s one that was a suffering servant (ben Joseph) and another who would be King in the Davidic line (ben David). And most understood that the suffering servant would die. Many would have remembered what the prophet Daniel said about the kingdom:
“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. ” Daniel 2:44
So along comes this man, John the Baptizer who from all appearance and teachings is like Elijah and he begins telling people to repent that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. He starts preparing the way for Messiah. People begin to pay attention, after all they haven’t had a prophet for almost 400 years and could this be Elijah returning as prophesied? Then Jesus comes to be baptized by John, the heavens open and our Father speaks, John begins to point his disciples towards Jesus.
Here is Messiah to set up the Kingdom and Jesus begins to share the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, begins discipling and teaching those who had ear. Our New Testament makes it clear that He did the will of His Father in heaven and He was all about tikkun olam.
For just a moment, let’s look at the word “kingdom” because we all have our own perception of what this word means. Some think the Kingdom of God is only about heaven and eternal life. But the Kingdom is now, here on earth while you are living, and it’s in the world to come..
A kingdom is the area that a sovereigns authority/rule extends. I challenge you this week to go back through the gospels and the parables because most of what Jesus teaches is about the Kingdom of Heaven and that is part of how He is sharing the Gospel. I’m including a link here to the parables from the 1st century, Hebraic understanding because context is important.
The next way He shared it was through His testimony and true exaltation of God’s name. He walked out God’s kingdom in every fiber of his being. Yes that testimony is well worth sharing, and even how that testified to us. Please think on these things.
Becoming a Woman Warrior of God 