98: The Gospel of the Kingdom (Kingdom of God 7)

What is the gospel of the kingdom of God? It’s not about Jesus dying for your sins or going to heaven when you die. In fact, Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom is not new at all; it’s the message the prophets of old proclaimed–that one day God was going to make everything wrong with the world right and extend his reign from heaven to earth. In this lecture, you’ll see how John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the twelve, the seventy, and Philip the evangelist, and Paul the Apostle all preached about God’s coming kingdom.

This is lecture 7 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

first off, what is the gospel?

• τό εὐαγγέλιον (to evangelion): good message
• holding this message results in salvation
  • 1 Corinthians 15.1-2 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you– unless you believed in vain.
  • 2 Timothy 1.10 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,
  • Romans 1.16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
• thus, getting the gospel wrong is huge!
• since believing in the gospel results in salvation, getting the gospel right is absolutely paramount!

 

begin by looking at an interesting incident (why did Jesus rebuke peter?)

• Matthew 16.21-23 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”  23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
• Why in the world did Peter rebuke Jesus?
  • he had told him he was going to suffer and die
• Why was this so shocking to Peter? Surely he had heard Jesus preaching the gospel!
  • note v. 21: “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples…”
  • this was the first time they heard about it
  • how did they react? outrage
• if he didn’t talk about his crucifixion prior to this, what was he preaching for 16 chapters!?!?!?

 

John the Baptist preached the kingdom gospel

• Matthew 3.1-2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,  2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
• what is the “kingdom of heaven?” (same as kingdom of God)
  • heaven probably substitutes as a circumlocution for God or else it derives from Dan 2.44 “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed”
  • this OT verse may account for the two phrases (kingdom of heaven AND kingdom of God)

 

Jesus preached the kingdom as gospel

• Mark 1.14-15 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospe