| April 10, 2001 |
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With the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Kingdom was no longer hidden in types and shadows. The Kingdom was now present.
Central to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ was the Kingdom of God, and he demonstrated the presence of the Kingdom through both word and deed. What we usually refer to just as the gospel, Jesus called “
the good news of the kingdom.” “
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23). “
But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28). Note from the verses that Jesus’ proclamation of the good news about the Kingdom was accompanied by a power presentation. The power presentations served to substantiate his preaching of the good news that the Kingdom had arrived, and the preaching served to interpret the power presentations, revealing them to be visual evidence that the Kingdom was in their midst. This method of making the good news of the Kingdom known was not to be restricted to Jesus only, but it also served as a model for his disciples: “
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2). Later, the Lord also sent seventy of his followers to the cities of Israel in advance of his coming (Luke 10:1). Their mission was to heal the sick and to proclaim that the Kingdom of God had arrived (Luke 10:9). In those cities where they faced rejection, they were to announce, “
Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near” (Luke 10:11). Only after the gospel of the Kingdom had gone to the whole world through both proclamation and power would the next step in the coming of God’s Kingdom commence:
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).
Our Lord’s method of evangelism was included in the Great Commission he gave to his disciples, and interestingly every denomination models its missionary mandate upon that Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). The disciples of Christ were in turn to make disciples and to teach them to carry on the good news of the Kingdom in the same manner they had been taught—through both preaching and a demonstration of God’s power.
Tags: approach, Biblical, central, god, kingdom, part, scriptures, theme, theology
Category: Biblical Studies, Spring 2001
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