(Making Christ Jesus famous – ‘From a biblical standpoint, why did God give us the gospel? A king. God gave the gospel first of all because we need a king’. Matthew Bates – Why the gospel? Living the good news of king Jesus with purpose.)
You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.,
Colossians 1:5–6 (CSB):
The other name for the gospel often used in modern English is good news. Often the first four books of the New Testament of the Bible are called The Gospels. For example Mark, the second book of the New Testament is called The Gospel according to Mark or Mark’s Gospel. The first verse of Mark states in the New English Translation: (It includes the ethos and concept of the kingdom (See also this Bible project video).
The beginning of the gospel (¹) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God
Bible NET
Note 1 By the time Mark wrote, the word gospel had become a technical term referring to the preaching about Jesus Christ and God’s saving power accomplished through him for all who believe (cf. Rom 1:16). And also:
The gospel of the kingdom can be watered down when we try and put it into a sentence and it doesn’t encapsulate what it fully entails. Frank Viola on his websites and in his books (particularly Insurgence; Reclaiming the gospel of the kingdom) says that even in the Bible it is not defined in one sentence. It is stated as something like, then what follows is often a parable or some kind of word picture. For example:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers and threw the bad away. It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 13:44-50
In the book Endangered Gospel, John Nugent has these very helpful bullet points that are below, which say what the kingdom is verses what the world system or state is like. This is taken from his chapter entitled Witness to the powers:
‘The difference between the agenda of the state and that of God’s people is most evident when we contrast it with Scripture’s teaching about the kingdom.
• God’s kingdom takes precedence over all other loyalties; the state asks for allegiance and a willingness to kill and die for it.
• God’s kingdom lives by God’s wisdom; the state lives by the wisdom of the people and their rulers.
• God’s kingdom flees from and repents of immorality; the state tolerates most forms of immorality that don’t immediately hurt others.
• God’s kingdom shows equality to all people; the state discriminates against citizens of other states, especially those with significantly different political philosophies.
• God’s kingdom loves without partiality; the state favors the wealthy and influential.
• God’s kingdom unifies through diversity; the state tolerates diversity, but promotes uniformity.
• God’s kingdom forgives and reconciles at all levels; the state punishes wrongdoing decisively.
• God’s kingdom seeks peace in all circumstances; the state wages war whenever it’s politically and economically expedient.
• God’s kingdom values childlike humility; the state makes arrogant claims for itself and its agendas.
• God’s kingdom exercises leadership through service; the state lords over people.
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Romans 1:16–17 (NLT):
• God’s kingdom esteems small, unimpressive beginnings; the state seeks worldly greatness.
• God’s kingdom welcomes the undeserving and unexpected; the state considers them a problem to be dealt with and protected against.
• God’s kingdom assimilates the poor more easily than the wealthy; the state esteems the accumulation of wealth and property as one of the highest ideals.
• God’s kingdom provides generously for all needs; the state provides selectively according to expediency.
• God’s kingdom infiltrates the entire world; the state is concerned primarily with its own territory and invests elsewhere only where positive returns are foreseeable.
• God’s kingdom is guided by God’s Spirit; the state does not understand God’s Spirit and is guided by the power of the air and the spirit of disobedience (Eph 2:2).
• God’s kingdom triumphs over persecution, bondage, suffering, and death; the state perpetuates these atrocities when individuals and groups stand in its way.
• God’s kingdom raises people to eternal life; the state focuses exclusively on this life.
• God’s kingdom acknowledges God’s ownership of all life; the state claims sovereignty over human and animal life and takes it when expedient.
• God’s kingdom entails a restoration of this earth; the state exploits the earth’s resources as much as public opinion will allow.
• God’s kingdom judges all powers and personalities counter to God’s kingdom; the state is one of these powers and is destined for divine judgment’. Used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers, www.wipfandstock.com
Articles on the gospel of the kingdom
The kingdom of God; is it all about Jesus?
This page doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what the gospel is. Yet it is a taster and an addition to this website for you to start to explore what it means. I hope to put out more posts on this in future.
For more about the What, Why, When, Where, Who and How of what the gospel is listen to this podcast series by three Bible scholars, starting at Losing my religion.
A further summary of the gospel from an interview with Matthew Bates:
“The gospel is that God is in the process of restoring glory through Jesus the rescuing King, who:
- pre-existed as God the Son,
- was sent by the Father,
- took on human flesh in fulfilment of God’s promises to David,
- died for our sins in accordance with Scripture,
- was buried,
- was raised on the third day in accordance with Scripture,
- appeared to many witnesses,
- is enthroned at the right hand of God as the ruling Christ,
- has sent the Holy Spirit to his people to effect his rule, and
- will come again as final judge to rule.”
And in how to share this Matthew says:
Here’s the key: we must learn how to gospel in reverse. In Why the Gospel? I give four practical suggestions for how to gospel backwards. Here’s one: “Incorrectly ordered content: Because he offers you forgiveness, Jesus is your Saviour. Accept his salvation. Next he wants to be King of your life. Reverse it! Correctly ordered content: Jesus is the King. Accept his kingship, because through it Jesus is offering you saving rescue, including the forgiveness of your sins.”
This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:14 (CSB):