Jesus starts His ministry with the following proclamation - (Mark 1:15 NIV) “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Matthew indicates that this was his primary message saying, (Matthew 4:23 NIV) "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people."
We are told that Jesus ended His earthly ministry teaching about the Kingdom as described in Acts 1:3 NIV: "After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."
Many of Jesus' parables begin with this phrase, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..." (Matt 13: 24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47). He was clearly working to convey an understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven to His followers, and it was evidently very important. Matthew uses the phrase Kingdom of Heaven, Mark and Luke use the phrase Kingdom of God and they are exactly the same thing.
When Jesus originally sent out the twelve He gave them this charge - Matthew 10:7-8 NIV: "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."
The twelve did exactly what they were told to do, as described by Luke 9:6 NIV: "So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere."
Jesus described prophetically how the Gospel of the Kingdom would be preached to all the world - Matthew 24:14 NIV: "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."
In a continuation of that exact same ministry, Mark ends his Gospel with the following two statements, Mark 16:15,20 NIV:
[15] "He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
[20] "Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."
Paul preached about the Kingdom, and we are told that was his primary message during his final years of ministry as related to us in the final two verses of The Acts of the Apostles - Acts 28:30-31 NIV: "For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. [31] He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ---with all boldness and without hindrance!"
Thus, we see the absolute centrality of the message of the Kingdom of God and Heaven in the Gospel. This was the foundation of the Gospel. There was a new Kingdom being proclaimed and demonstrated by Jesus, the Apostles and disciples, and it was good news. The Kingdom of God was not associated with some territory, some geography, but rather exists in His subjects, or as Jesus said, its inside you (Luke 17:21 paraphrase).
A Kingdom, is quite literally the dominion of the King, and in this case God is the King. His dominion is over all creation, and His subjects are where His Kingdom exists. The miracles, signs and wonders worked through His power are demonstrations of this dominion, and confirm the proclamation of the Kingdom (Mark 16:20). The King's dominion changes the laws under which we live, for His rule is the law of Kingdom, and His decrees have authority and power! His kingdom (government) is ever advancing (Isa 9:7), which means it is never retreating.
We are called to continue the ministry of Jesus, as members of His Body here on earth, thus, we are representatives of His Kingdom, ambassadors in our own sphere of influence. We are called to proclaim and demonstrate this Kingdom reality! Obviously without His power or His authority we can do nothing except speak empty words. Paul, understood this, and that is why he came in fear and trembling, as he writes in his letter 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NIV: "And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. [2] For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [3] I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. [4] My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, [5] so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power."
Thus, I am encouraged once again to embrace this Gospel, to proclaim this Gospel and to pray for God to demonstrate the reality of this Good News through me. The Good News is that He is our King, and His rule does extend over the lives of those who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior. I am encouraged to change my perspective about my life, for His dominion is over me!
Amen! Come Lord Jesus, demonstrate Your Kingdom reality in my life!
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