The Kingdom of God Is Coming
Repent and Believe The Gospel
The Kingdom of God Is At Hand!
Are You Ready?
The Gospel of the Kingdom
Stop and listen! We have some spectacularly good news for you. Some time in the future, Jesus of Nazareth is going to become the world’s first successful super-ruler. He will totally reorganise human society, and produce the peace on earth which we all want. Under Jesus’ government, there will be no more wars,
no more famine; no more murder; no more depression;
no more poverty. God, the Creator of all things, has personally promised that a Golden Age for all humanity will come. The arrival of that era of glorious peace and prosperity will commence when Jesus returns. Since it is God that has promised, this hope is guaranteed.
What you have just been told is the heart of
the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Three Awesome Truths
01
For there is One God
Jesus said the most important commandment is ”Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all you strength”- Mark 12:29-30
02
and one Mediator between God and humanity,
the man Christ Jesus.
Jesus said ”I am a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God” - John 8:40
03
The Gospel of the Kingdom
The One God, through the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, will establish a just government and universal peace on Earth and will grant immortality to those who love Him. Until that Day, Christians are to pray: "Thy Kingdom come!"
There is no going to Heaven!
Rather, the One God, the Father, is going to send His Son , the Lord Jesus,
Back To Earth to usher in God’s Kingdom and to reign over this planet;
"to fill the earth with the knowledge of God as the waters covers the sea!"
The parable of the sower in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8 in fact gives us exactly the information we need to define the Gospel and how it must be accepted. Jesus made it very clear that acceptance of his own preaching of the Kingdom of God is the first step in salvation.
Luke 4:43 Jesus said
“I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
F.A.Q.
Find answers to commonly asked questions regarding the Bible, God, Jesus and our salvation.
What is the Bible?
In short, the Bible is the greatest book ever written!
How was it written?
Men wrote it as they were inspired and led by God’s spirit. This resulted in not a single book but rather a collection of 66 books from different writers, over a period of 1,000 years.
The first half are 39 books written before the time of Jesus of Nazareth,
known as the Old Testament. Also known as the Hebrew Bible.
The second half consist of 27 books written during and after the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, known as the New Testament.
The Scriptures are Inspired
Another name for the Bible is the Scriptures.
God inspired the Scriptures, which is why they are reliable, authoritative, and full of truth
(2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20–21; 2 Peter 3:2, Acts 1:2).
He has preserved the 66 books of the Bible that they may show us all how to become saved, how to live for God, and what to believe about God, about Jesus, and about God’s future, coming Kingdom.
Who is God?
The Bible, that is, the Scriptures, declares that God exists. God’s very creation declares that God exists (Romans 1:20).
God is the all-knowing, always present, self-existing God.
He is the Creator of the universe, and He is the Creator of all forms of life on earth
(Isaiah 44:24, Malachi 2:10).
In prayer, Jesus identified his God as:
THE ONLY TRUE GOD!
(John 17:1-3).
The word only affirms that there is no other God besides the One God, whom Jesus called,
the only true God
(See Isaiah 43:10, 44:8, 45:5, 21; 46:9, Malachi 2:10).
The Scriptures declare that:
“the LORD is our God, the LORD is One”
(Deuteronomy 6:4).
Jesus affirmed this verse to be his very own central and fundamental creed, defining it as
the “first and the greatest of all the commandments” (Mark 12:28-32).
Jesus goes on to say that we ought to love the Only True God (John 17:3)
with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:30).
Jesus identifies the Only True God as his ‘Father’; that God is both his God and the God of his disciples (John 20:17).
There is no other God besides the Father.
He alone is God and He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
(Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3, 11: 31; Ephesians 1.3, 17; Colossians 1.3; 1 Peter 1.3, Revelation 3:12).
Yahweh
God’s name appears over 6800 times in the Hebrew Bible. It is written with 4 Hebrew letters, depicted as YHWH, and commonly pronounced as Yahweh.
Yahweh Alone Is God
Yahweh alone is the one God over all (Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 6:4).
Deuteronomy 6:4:
“Hear, O Israel!
The LORD [Yahweh] is our God
the LORD [Yahweh] is one!”
This was Jesus’ creed and as followers of Jesus — it must be our creed too.
Who is Jesus of Nazareth?
Jesus of Nazareth is Yahweh’s Christ, Yahweh’s Messiah, that is, Yahweh’s anointed one.
God has anointed Jesus to be:
- His Prophet
(Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Acts 3:18-26) - His High Priest
(Hebrews 2:17, 4:14, 5:10, 8:1) - His chosen king
(Luke 1:32-33; John 1:49; Psalm 2:6).
Jesus came into existence by a miracle in a young virgin by the name of Mary (Luke 1:35), therefore, Jesus is literally God’s only begotten human son (Matthew 1:20; Psalm 2:7).
Jesus did not sin by totally relying on God (Hebrews 4:15).
Yet as the Lamb of God, he took upon himself, our sins
(John 1:29, 36; Hebrews 9:14; Romans 5:6-10).
(Acts 2:32-36, Romans 10:9, Acts 5:31, Ephesians 1:20).
As followers of Christ, we must both trust in God and trust in God’s Christ (John 14:1).
Yet Christ is not “the holy God.” Rather, he is “the holy one of God”
(Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:27, 13:35).
What does the title 'Christ' mean?
Jesus of Nazareth is God’s greatest anointed one, therefore, he is the Messiah.
The word ‘Messiah’ is from the Hebrew word mashiach which literally means
“anointed one.”
In the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), prophets, priests and kings, were anointed for service to God. Jesus of Nazareth has been anointed by the spirit of God as prophet, priest and king
(Acts 10:38, Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-21, Isaiah 42:1-4, Matthew 12:17-21, Acts 4:27, Psalm 2:2).
Hence, Jesus the Messiah is God’s greatest anointed one.
In the New Testament, which was written in Greek, mashiach is translated as christos which has come down to us as the word ‘Christ’ (John 1:41, 4:25).
So, regarding the wording, Jesus Christ, Christ is not a last name, rather, it is a title.
That is, Jesus is the Christ, or better still, Jesus is the Messiah, the Messiah of God
(Luke 9:20, Luke 2:26).
God raised Jesus from the dead, highly exalted him, and made him,
both Lord and Christ (Acts 2.36).
Therefore, we call him, the Lord Jesus Christ, because God has made him,
Lord of all (Acts 10.36).
Nevertheless, when it is said that Jesus is “Lord of all”, it is understood that there is
one exception:
The one God, the Father, the One who made Jesus, Lord.
God is under no one!
Rather, the Lord Jesus Christ is under God
(1 Corinthians 15:27-28).
What is the holy spirit?
In Scripture, the holy spirit is:
- God’s spirit
- God’s power
- God’s presence and activity
The One God, the only true God, is the Father (John 17:1-3); therefore, the holy spirit is:
- the Father’s spirit
- the Father’s power
- the Father’s presence and activity
What is accomplished by the spirit of God is rightly said to have been done by God, the Father.
An awe-inspiring example of the fact that the spirit of God is the Father in action is the virginal conception of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was begotten in Mary by God’s spirit
(Matthew 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35).
To the people of Scripture, that is the one and the same as saying that God fathered this child by His own miraculous power. What has been done by God’s spirit has literally been done by the Father Himself.
God’s Omnipresence
Omnipresence means to be everywhere present. Who then is everywhere present?
David answers in Psalm 139:1-2 … 7-10
1 LORD (Yahweh), You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far away. … 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me.
It is the LORD i.e. Yahweh. David poetically describes the omnipresence of God.
God is omnipresent by His spirit in that the spirit is the literal presence of the Father Himself.
(1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 2:6, 6:18).
God can be in multiple locations all at once by virtue of His own spirit.
What is the Kingdom of God?
The Kingdom of God is the future, eternal inheritance for the followers of God and Jesus that will be established on Earth, with the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s human Son, as its ruler.
Made out of God’s love for humanity, God’s Kingdom is the final, unending chapter in God’s designs for humankind
(Matthew 25:34, Luke 12:32).
The entire globe will be handed to Jesus the Christ as his permanent inheritance because he is God’s chosen king,
the Son of God (Psalm 2:6-8).
All true believers of every age will inherit the Kingdom, seeing that they are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ
(Romans 8:17, Hebrews 11:39-40).
Of a truth,
the meek, the gentle and the righteous shall inherit the earth
(Psalm 37:11, 29; Matthew 5:5).
The second coming of Christ is the event in which the one God will send the Lord Jesus back to earth, whereby his co-heirs will rule and reign over the nations with him
(Acts 1:11, 3:20-21; Revelation 5:9-10, 3:21).
What must I do to be saved?
-
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptised (Acts 16:31-33).
- But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptised (Acts 8:12).
The above are two examples from many others in the New Testament, of how someone ought to respond when hearing about the Gospel of the Kingdom and the name (the person) of Jesus Christ.
To be saved, everyone must believe the message regarding God’s Coming Kingdom and believe on the truth regarding who Jesus the Christ is.
Jesus the Christ is the original and finest exponent of the message (Gospel) of salvation.
Hebrews 2:3 declares:
“Salvation was first proclaimed
by the Lord [Jesus]”.
What then, was the Lord Jesus’ opening statement?
“Repent and believe the Gospel
(the Good News, the Message)
about the Kingdom of God”
(Mark 1:15).
Jesus came to save everyone from their sins in order to saved them for God’s Kingdom.
This is why Jesus was compelled to preach “The Kingdom of God.”
Luke 4:43 is Jesus’ purpose statement:
But he said to them,
“I must preach the kingdom of God
to the other cities also,
because for this purpose I have been sent.”
The mission of Jesus was and is and will continue to be (through his followers) the announcing of the Gospel of salvation about the Kingdom.
Jesus came into Galilee
preaching God’s Gospel:
“ The Kingdom of God is near.
Repent and believe the Gospel”
(Mark 1:14-15).
The remainder of the New Testament is an extension of this public preaching given by Jesus, and this message regarding the Kingdom of God will remain relevant until the end of this present evil age, when Jesus returns.
“Repent and believe.”
The word “repent” means “to rethink, to change one’s mind.” To repent and believe the Gospel, therefore, is to have a complete reorientation in a new direction, with a newfound belief in the Kingdom of God and in Jesus the bearer of that Gospel or Good News about the Kingdom.
The parable of the sower was used by Jesus to demonstrate that someone must understand and believe the message of the Kingdom of God to be saved
(Mark 4:13-20; Matthew 13:18-23; Luke 8:11-15).
Everyone must grasp the Kingdom Message, turn from their sins (Repent) and be baptised (have their sins wash away – Acts 22:16, 1 Peter 3:21), so that they can be saved.
The person who hears the message of the Kingdom and believes it, is typified by the good ground in the parable of sower.
Matthew 13:23
“But he who received seed
on the good ground is
he who hears the word
and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and produces:
some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty.”
Salvation then hinges not only on believing that Jesus died for our sins and rose, but firstly on believing in the Gospel of God concerning the Kingdom of God, that is, the New World Government to be established in a renewed earth when Jesus returns; and how to prepare now for that great coming event.
Jesus promised no one “heaven,”
but rather entrance in the future
into the Kingdom of God on earth.
Unless someone receives the Good News of the Kingdom like a child, is converted, and be born again (be baptised), they will not enter the Kingdom and be saved
(Mark 4:11-14; Matthew 18:3; Mark 10:15;
Luke 18:17; John 3:3,5; Luke 8:12; Matthew 13:19).
The opening two examples show:
- The Philippian jailer being thus converted, both he and his entire household, straightaway, without delay, were all baptised.
- The people of Samaria who believed Philip’s preaching regarding the Kingdom of God and the person of Jesus the Christ, repented and were baptised, both men and women.
Believe, therefore, the Gospel of the Kingdom and the truth of who Jesus is; repent, turn from your sins, be baptised, reorient your life and serve the One God and His Christ.