THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

In Galatians 1:6-12, the Apostle Paul declares that there is only one true Gospel, and that anyone who preaches a different gospel is to be anathema, that is, accursed! Although many adjectives are attached to the word in the New Testament, such as "Christ's," "glorious," "everlasting," "my," "our," etc., the word "Gospel" never appears in the plural form. In addition, the definite article is used every time. It is "the" Gospel, not "a" Gospel.

The Greek word translated "Gospel" is εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion), which means "good news." In other words, when a believer shares the Gospel with someone, he is giving him the "good news" about Jesus. In four places in the New Testament, Jesus speaks of the Gospel as being "the Gospel of the Kingdom" (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Mk. 1:14). The "good news" the disciples were to proclaim was that the King had arrived. He was Israel's long-awaited Messiah; He was the King of the Jews. However, when the Jews rejected Him as their King, and He was crucified, the disciples discovered that the "good news" did not die with Him. Jesus rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and He will return someday soon to establish His Kingdom (Matt. 28:1-6; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Rev. 20:1-7).

In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel had made a serious mistake. They wanted a human king like the rest of the nations of the world. God warned them through Samuel that they were, for all practical purposes, saying that they did not want God to be their authority, and He warned them that a human king would abuse them as his subjects. It did not deter them; they insisted on having a human king. Hundreds of years later, after having been conquered by the Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Grecians, and the Romans, they still wanted to be rescued by a human king. But when a "human" King offered Himself to them, they rejected Him (Jn. 1:11). That is because Jesus did not preach the overthrow of Rome. In fact, in His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 - 7). He preached submission to authority, including to Rome.

The Jews did not consider a Suffering Messiah to be "good news," so they rejected the Gospel. They persecuted those who shared Jesus as the Christ, and that opened the door for the Gentile nations to hear the Gospel. John wrote that the Jews rejection was really "good news" for the rest of the world (Jn. 1:11-12). Paul wrote the same thing by saying that "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13). Christians are to continue proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, which is "the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16), because the crucified, buried, and risen King promised to return and rule the whole world for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-7). Even so, come Lord Jesus!

The "good news" of the Gospel message proclaims
Jesus as the "Lamb of God" (Jn. 1:29, 36) coming to die for our sins, AND
Jesus as the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5) coming to rule as King!