“The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” - Jesus, Mark 1:15
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” - Jesus, Matthew 3:2
The most revolutionary idea ever proclaimed is that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In Jesus Christ, precisely because Jesus is the Christ, a new, truly happy and heavenly quality of life is within reach. This new quality of life is available to anyone who will repent and place their faith in Jesus the Christ to lead them into this kingdom life with power in this life. The promise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the life of the kingdom. Jesus Christ has the power and authority to supply those who believe with every thing necessary to enter into this previously unavailable quality of life.
This is a revolutionary treatise. My intention is singular. With the clarity God grants me, I intend to articulate the means by which the believer today, in this life, can enter into this newly available quality of life. It is because of the advent of Jesus Christ, His work on the cross, His teachings and His on-going powerful work that we can live a life that was unavailable prior to Jesus’ appearance on the human scene.
The least in the kingdom is greater than the greatest prophet that lived prior to the moment that Jesus offered the kingdom (Matt. 11:11; Luke 16:16). To enter the kingdom even a little bit is a greater and more glorious life than the life of Moses. This is our faith, a faith of high expectations as a result of the advent of the Christ.
To understand the revolutionary and transformational message of the gospel, we must understand the human problem and how the gospel solves this problem. In fact, we must understand the revolutionary nature of the gospel to understand the message of the bible. The gospel message is that kingdom solves the human predicament, the problem of humanity. This, indeed, is the great news. To help us understand the human problem and it’s solution, first, we will look at God’s illustration of the human problem in Genesis 1-6 and, then, we will contrast this picture of human life with the the new testament picture of a new humanity living in light of the presence of the kingdom as seen in Acts 2 and Acts 4. Genesis presents the proverbial point A, the starting point where all humanity prior to Christ lives out human existence, and Acts 2 & 4 presents the proverbial “Point B”, the kingdom community immersed in the teachings and presence of Jesus Christ. It is only after we see these two points, the beginning of the journey and the end of the journey that we can begin to unfold, principle by principle and practice by practice, the process that takes us, the people of Jesus Christ, in this kingdom quality of life.
Next: The Human Problem: Understanding Genesis 1-6
No comments:
Post a Comment