War, weapons of mass destruction, inspectors, terrorism, the build up of troops, young men and women leaving their homes and families to go to the Middle East, air strikes, ground forces, war strategy, civilian casualties, tears, death, mourning, pain. The assault of the above in newspapers, radio, and TV is a daily occurrence. It will only get worse. Add to this the economy, the stock market, plant closings, dishonest CEOs and accounting practices, broken families, disease. We need some good news and we need it badly. The truth of the matter is that man will never solve his problems. However there is, in the big picture, good news! Our real hope, our only hope, lies in the future Kingdom of God, and the rule of Jesus Christ!

There are those who do not believe in God, or Jesus, or the scriptures. They are convinced that this life is all there is, that this is as good, or as bad as it gets. Some think the good news is that after you die you’ll be reincarnated in another life form, either as a different person, or possibly even an animal. The most popular idea is that at death, you don’t really die. If you’ve been a good person, you go to heaven to be with God, and live with him in eternal bliss. If you’ve been a bad person, you live forever in the fiery torments of a burning hell. There are other ideas as well, but which ideas are really taught in the scriptures.

You see, it’s to the scriptures we must go for answers. They are the authority for truth, the inspired word of God himself. In this article we’ll discover the basics of the gospel, the good news Jesus himself came preaching. It really is good news, something to anticipate, our hope.

There’s much preaching today concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and rightly so. There are those who would say that this is the summary of the gospel, but that is not an accurate statement. Jesus had a three and a half year ministry prior to his death. During that time he and his disciples were busy preaching the gospel, but his message was something other than his death, burial, and resurrection. Consider Luke 18:31-34. Toward the end of his ministry, "Jesus took the twelve aside and told them, ‘we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.’ The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about." After three years of preaching, they still didn’t know anything about the death, burial, and resurrection. Evidently the gospel included something else of great importance.

Mark opens his gospel account, in 1:1, saying, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." In the next few verses we read about John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, and his temptation. Then we read how Jesus began his public ministry in verses 14 and 15, "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.’" As one reads this, the good news of God, the Kingdom of God, and the gospel, are synonymous. They are one and the same. The gospel Jesus preached throughout his ministry was the good news of the Kingdom of God. In fact, this was his favorite topic.

Jesus’ command in Mark 1:15, to repent and believe the gospel, is actually the first command in his ministry. The good news of the kingdom was the focal point throughout his ministry. Wouldn’t it make sense that we should learn and believe all we can about this Kingdom of God that Jesus came preaching? In last month’s article we showed in the scriptures that the preaching about the kingdom was one of the very purposes for which Jesus was born. Jesus clarified this to be his purpose in Luke 4:43, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."

Jesus’ focus on the kingdom was actually a continuation of the Old Testament kingdom message. It was to Abraham that God had promised as many offspring as the dust of the earth. He further promised the land of Israel to those offspring, as their possession, forever. (Genesis 12,13) It was to King David that God promised a descendant who would sit and reign on his throne, over the land and over the offspring of Abraham forever. God had even explained this descendant of David would also be God’s own Son. (II Samuel 7) It was through the prophet Daniel that God confirmed that this future kingdom would include all the earth, that it would never be destroyed. (Daniel 2)

Revelation 21 describes what the Kingdom of God will be like. The Apostle John records his vision of the beginning of the perfect Kingdom of God. These events will take place a little more than a thousand years after the return of Jesus to earth. Read the entire chapter. Heaven and earth will be made new. The holy city, New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven, from God. God himself will come down out of heaven to dwell with men, to be our God. We will be his people. There will be no more tears, death, mourning, crying, or pain. The wicked will be destroyed in the lake of fire. We’ll drink from the water of life and we’ll be called sons and daughters of God. Peace will cover all the earth. This is the ultimate good news!

Join us Sunday as Pastor John shares more about the good news of the Kingdom of God. Call for more information, and to sign up for our free Bible study course.