Monday, July 23, 2012

Have You Met Lydia?


There is an old song that goes, “Lydia, oh Lydia! Say, have you met Lydia? Lydia the Tattooed Lady.” Okay, so post this is not about that Lydia. It’s about Lydia the “Seller of Purple.”
Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. (Acts 16:14)
Paul and associates, concluding from a dream Paul had that the Spirit of God was leading them to minister the gospel in Macedonia, came to Philippi and settled there for a little while. On the Sabbath, as was his habit, Paul and team went to speak with the Jews about Jesus, whom God had anointed to be King.

However, there was no synagogue at Philippi. Apparently there were not enough Jewish men to form one (Jewish law required a minyan, a quorum of ten Jewish males). But there was a group of Jewish woman who regularly met to pray, at a place outside the city and down by the riverside. So Paul went and spoke with them about King Jesus.

One woman was very prominent in that gathering, a well-to-do woman named Lydia. She was from Thyatira, which was in the region called Lydia (in what is now western Turkey), in Asia Minor. She was a “seller of purple.” The Greek word for this is a technical term that referred to a guild that produced and sold richly dyed cloths. They were, shall we say, “comfortable.”

Another thing we should note about her is that, although she was praying Jewish prayers with the Jewish women, she herself was not Jewish. Luke says she “worshipped God,” which was a way of saying that she was a proselyte. Though a Gentile, she revered the God of Israel. So here she was with the others, and she heard the good news Paul was preaching about Messiah.

In his letter to the believers at Rome, Paul said that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). And that is what happened here. The word of God came and opened Lydia’s heart to embrace the message of Jesus the Messiah. God initiated, she responded and the grace of God bore its fruit in her life.
And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us. (Acts 16:15)
She turned to the Lord, believed and was baptized, which is the pattern we find consistently throughout the book of Acts. It was the natural progression, and Luke speaks of it in passing: “when she and her household were baptized.” Oh, and not only was Lydia herself baptized but so were those of her household who were with her that day. Her faith became a source of influence for them and they believed also and were baptized. Church tradition says that Lydia was baptized by Silas, with assistance from a deacon on the team (see the image at top).

Lydia was so grateful, she invited Paul and his associates to come and stay at her home, “if you judge me to be faithful to the Lord.” The sense of “if” here is “since. Having baptized her, it was obvious that they did indeed consider her faith in the Lord to be real. So they went and enjoyed the hospitality of her house — she simply would not take no for an answer!

There is one more thing that is significant about this encounter. Remember that Paul had originally intended to go to Asia Minor with the gospel, until he was redirected by the Holy Spirit to come to Macedonia instead. And now here at Philippi, in Macedonia, the first one to come to the Lord was a woman from Asia Minor. She is regarded in Church history as the first convert to Christianity in Europe.

Focus Questions
  1. How was the grace of God evident in Lydia’s life?
  2. How do you suppose God opened her heart to consider the message about Messiah?
  3. How was faith evident in Lydia’s life?




There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Dynamics of the Kingdom of God


Christians often speak of the kingdom of God as something that we bring in or advance in the world. But the New Testament uses different language to speak of the dynamics of the kingdom. First, it is God’s kingdom. It comes from and belongs to Him. It comes into the world as a matter of God’s grace and the initiative is always His. Our part is to respond to it in faith. Let’s examine some of the dynamics.
  • The kingdom of God has come. Mark tells us that Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God: “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). In saying, “The time is fulfilled,” He was announcing that the wait was over. “The kingdom of God is at hand,” means that it has now come into the world. The proper response is to turn to God and believe the good news about His kingdom, and God’s Anointed King, Jesus.
  • We seek the kingdom of God. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). The Greek word for “seek” does not speak of a casual activity but of an intense and focused one. The kingdom of God has come and we are to make it our priority in everything. In one of His parables, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45-46). Seeking the kingdom of God is about our purpose and priority.
  • The kingdom of God is anticipated yet unexpected. Jesus said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28). The idea of the Greek word phthano is that what was previously anticipated has now come. Ironically, though, for those who are unprepared for it, the kingdom comes suddenly and unexpectedly. So the J. B. Phillips translation puts it this way: “But if I am expelling devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has swept over you unawares!” On the other hand, there are some who, though they do not expect the kingdom, are ready to receive it. In another of His parables, Jesus said, “the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). The man was not looking for it, but coming upon it, he recognized its value and gave everything for it.
  • The kingdom of God is given to us. Jesus said, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). It is an inheritance we receive from the Father. When Jesus returns to judge the nations, He will say to those at His right hand, who received His brothers and sisters and the message of the gospel, “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).
  • We receive the kingdom of God. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). The Greek word for “receiving” is paralambano, from para, what is near, and lambano, to take hold. Receiving the kingdom means taking it unto ourselves. It is not passive but active. The kingdom is given to us, but we respond to it by taking hold of it.
  • The kingdom of God is forcefully advancing. Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12 NIV). There is a parallel passage in Luke: “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached [Greek, euaggelizo, ‘gospeled’], and everyone is pressing into it” (Luke 16:16). The kingdom of God continues to press into the world, and those ready to receive the good news about it are pressing into it.
  • We proclaim the kingdom. The end of the book of Acts finds Paul under house arrest in Rome, but still continuing his ministry there. “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him” (Acts 28:30-31). The word for “preach” here means to announce or proclaim. In the Great Commission, Jesus announced that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth. Then He sent out His disciples to announce the good news to all the world and make disciples of all nations.
The kingdom of God has come into the world because of God’s grace and initiative. It is His kingdom but is given to us as an inheritance. The nature of the kingdom is that it starts small, like a seed, but increases until it pervades everything. Our part is to believe the good news of the kingdom and turn to the King, to take hold of the kingdom, seek the rule and reign of God in everything and proclaim it wherever we go.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Defining the Gospel of the Kingdom


Someone asked me what “the gospel of the kingdom of God” is. Here is a brief answer.

To see what the gospel of the kingdom of God is, let’s look where the Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus came preaching it (Mark 1:14). We find it in the very next verse, where Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). The promises of God and the expectations of the prophets in the Old Testament were all about the coming age of God’s kingdom. When Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled,” He was announcing that the wait is over. When He said, “The kingdom of God is at hand,” He was saying that it was now coming into the world.

The kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God. It is the will of God being done earth as it is in heaven, just as Jesus taught us to pray (Matthew 6:10). Jesus preached and taught about the kingdom, what it is about, what it looks like, and He even manifested the kingdom itself through healing diseases, expelling demons and through the other miracles He performed — they revealed the power of God and the kingdom of God.

The end result of the kingdom will be that all things in heaven and on earth will be gathered together into one in Jesus, God’s anointed King (Ephesians 1:10). And all things in heaven and on earth will be reconciled to God by King Jesus, having made peace through the blood of the Cross (Colossians 1:20).

We are not yet at that point, and the kingdom has not yet come in all its fullness. That will not happen until King Jesus returns. But it has already begun. We are presently living in between the times of the beginning of the kingdom and its complete fulfillment. As the apostle John said, “The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

Now, within the good news of the kingdom of God, God has provided a plan of salvation by which we can enter into the kingdom and have eternal life (which is the life of the age to come, that is, the life of the kingdom of God). We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, God's Anointed King. We enter into the kingdom of God by being “born again” through faith in King Jesus (John 3:3). But the plan of salvation is only part of the gospel. The gospel is bigger than whether you and I go to heaven when we die, it is as big as the kingdom of God. Eternal life is not just about the age to come, it is about this life as well, because the age to come, the age of God's kingdom, has already broken through into this present age.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

A Dream of Macedonia


Today I am beginning new series, a study through the book of Philippians, Paul’s letters to Jesus believers at Philippi. But first, a little back story.

Open up just about any Bible to the back pages and you will find a section of maps, usually in full color plates. Almost always, you will find one titled something about “Paul’s Missionary Journeys.” Look in the upper left section of that map and there is Italy. To the right you will find Macedonia, and below that, Greece. A little further right, you will see the regions of Galatia and Phyrgia.

Phrygia and Galatia are where the apostle Paul and his mission team had been ministering, about AD 50, and they desired to go on into the western region of Asia Minor. But the Holy Spirit would not let them. So they skirted around to the west until they came to Mysia, to the north. They had thought to cross eastward from there over to Bithynia, but again, the Holy Spirit stopped them. So they continued westward to Troas.

At Troas, Paul had a dream, a vision in the night. In this vision, he saw a man of Macedonia who begged him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” That settled the matter for Paul and his ministry associates. Since the Holy Spirit would not let them minister in Asia or Bithynia, and now Paul had this vision calling them to something that had not been on their itinerary, they concluded that the Lord was calling to them to go to Macedonia and preach the good news about King Jesus there. So they set sail from Troas to the small Greek island of Samothrace. The next day, they landed at Neapolis, and from there came to Philippi, about ten miles inland.

All of this is in Acts 16:6-12, a transitional passage of how the Lord interrupted Paul’s plans and directed his way for a very significant change of course. Some very important times of ministry lay ahead for Paul and his team at Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth and Ephesus. However, we will be focusing on what happened at Philippi.

Focus Questions
  1. How to you suppose the Holy Spirit might have kept Paul and his associates from going on to Asia and Bithynia?
  2. How did those prior actions of the Holy Spirit give greater significance to Paul’s dream?
  3. Do you think God still leads us in this way today?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Size Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Fresh and Flourishing and Full of Energy


Just saw a little thing on Facebook, perhaps you’ve seen it, too: A sign that breaks down the stages of life into three categories:

  • Teen Age: Have Time + Energy … but No Money
  • Working Age: Have Money + Energy … but No Time
  • Old Age: Have Time + Money … but No Energy
This was said in jest, of course, but even in jest it can have a powerful influence on the way one thinks. We start talking it, we start thinking it, we start believing it … and we might well end up receiving it. My mouth, my mind, my heart and my life were created for better things than that. And I have better things to confess and look forward to when I get old:
Bless the LORD, O my soul …
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
(Psalm 103:5)
My wife and I have added this to our table grace at meal times: “You satisfy our desires with good things and renew our youth like the eagle’s. (The other day, Suz asked if I had noticed that my hair is getting darker. Maybe. Sometimes it does look that way to me.)

We are both in our fifties — we call it “middle age,” because we expect to live a long time. But one day when we reach “old age” (maybe when we are about 90 or so), we are looking forward to good things because of the goodness of the LORD.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
(Psalm 92:12-15)
Instead of saying that we will have no energy when we are old, this is our confession*:
The LORD satisfies our desires with good things and renews our youth like the eagle’s. We will still bear fruit in old age. We will be fresh and flourishing in His courts, and full of energy to declare that our lives our built on Him, and He is right in all He does.



Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

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Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Priority of His Presence

Therefore do not worry, saying “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear … But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:31, 33)

Jesus spoke these words in His “Sermon on the Mount” (which I like to call “The Sermon of Heaven on Earth”). But they are reminiscent of the words spoken by Haggai the prophet to the governmental and religious leaders of Judah. Judah was the southern portion of the divided kingdom of Israel. After years of exile in Babylonian captivity, they were finally allowed to return to their homeland (though still under foreign rule).

Work on the restoration of the temple at Jerusalem began, but then stalled for about 15 years because of Persian politics. In that time, the Jews apparently were content to do without it. They had their lives to lead and personal concerns to attend to. They had gotten used to the way things were under the Babylonian system, thinking the way the Gentiles think. And the house of the LORD went neglected.

But the temple of God was never about a building, it was about a presence — the Presence. It was God’s dwelling place among His people, His home on earth. It was the place they knew they could always find Him. To be content without the temple was to be content without the presence of God in their lives.
So God spoke to His people by Haggai the prophet: “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” (Haggai 1:4). He challenged them to take a good long look at themselves and the shape they were in: “Consider your ways.”
You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.
(Haggai 1:6)
In neglecting God, they were ignoring the source of their provision and prosperity, their sustenance and security. God challenged them again to take a hard look at themselves and then to do something about it. “Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified” (vv. 7-8).

This was on the first day of the sixth month. By the twenty-fourth day of the month, work on the house of the LORD resumed. Three months later, the word of the LORD came to them again:
Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid — consider it: Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you. (Haggai 2:18-19)
This was not the day things began to change for them — that happened three months earlier, when they decided to make the glory of God their priority. But this was the day the change was confirmed and began to manifest: “From this day I will bless you.”

On this same day, God spoke once more, this time with powerful prophetic force that signaled the time of full and final deliverance for His people.
I will shake heaven and earth.
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;
I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms.
I will overthrow the chariots
And those who ride in them;
The horses and their riders shall come down.
(Haggai 2:21-22)
By the time of Jesus, they were still waiting for this prophecy to be fulfilled, for the kingdom of God to be established on the earth. It is hard for me to imagine that Jesus did not have the word of the LORD through Haggai in mind when He spoke these words in His sermon on the mount:
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:25-33)
The way of the world is to worry about how we will eat, what we will wear, where we will live. It is the mindset of Babylonian captivity. It is a system that is passing away because the kingdom of God has come into the world, in fulfillment of the ancient prophecy.

Our job now is to seek His kingdom (that is, His rule and reign) and His righteousness (that is, His way of doing and setting things right) — the priority of His presence and glory in everything we do. When that becomes our focus we will not have to worry about anything else; God will take care of us. Keep your eyes on King Jesus and follow Him.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The Word by Which We Understand All Words

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
The Greek word for “word” is logos. It speaks of meaning and purpose, of logic and reason. The Logos John speaks about is a Person who presents the wisdom of God and is, indeed, God. This Word is identified as the one who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He is Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the Father.

This Word is further identified as the Creator: “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). When we read in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” it is speaking of the Word, of Jesus. He is the Creator.

John the Baptist gives this testimony concerning Jesus: “For He who God has sent speaks the words of God” (John 3:34). The Word is God and therefore speaks the word of God. Indeed, Jesus is the Word by which we understand all the words of God. John begins his account of the Gospel with the same words that begin the Old Testament, connecting the gospel of Jesus the Messiah with God’s original purpose.

Not only Genesis, but all the Old Testament scriptures speak of Jesus, as He told the Jewish leaders. “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me ... If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:39, 46).

After His resurrection, Jesus spoke with the Emmaus disciples: “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). These were not merely the merely the particular messianic prophecies scattered throughout, but the whole trajectory and thrust of the Old Testament pointed to the fulfillment of all God’s promises and purposes found in the Messiah, Jesus.

The words of Scripture are ultimately about Jesus. All their meaning is centered on Him and apart from Him we cannot understand their fullness. In Him we have the complete and ultimate revelation of God.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power … (Hebrews 1:1-3)
Jesus is not only the Word by which we understand the words of God, He is the Word by which we understand all other words. For the world itself comes forth from the Word of God. “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Heaven and earth were created by the Word, Jesus, and all things are sustained by Him. The reality of the physical realm as well as the spiritual find their meaning and purpose in Him and cannot be fully understood apart from Him.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Life of the Resurrection


Eternal life is the life of the age to come. Yesterday we saw that the age to come is the age of the kingdom of God, and eternal life is the life of the kingdom. But there is also another way to speak about the age to come, something else that is an important part of it: The age to come is the age of the resurrection of the righteous. This was the Jewish expectation. It is spoken of in Daniel 12:2, of the time when “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life [zoen aionion in the Septuagint], some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

When Lazarus died, Jesus said to his sister Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” She was expressing the Jewish hope about the age to come. Taking up that point of expectation, Jesus responded with a startling revelation about Himself: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:23-26).

Jesus Himself is the resurrection life of the age to come, and all who believe in Him shall live. But this life does not begin sometime in the future — it begins now. Jesus said,
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (John 5:24-25)
“The hour is coming and now is,” He said, when those who hear His voice will live. This is resurrection life at work even in this present time. Even so, there is also another resurrection coming, the resurrection of the body. Jesus went on to say,
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (John 5:28-29)
We can hear the echo of Daniel 12:2, that some will wake to everlasting life and others to everlasting contempt. However, that hour, the hour for the resurrection of the body from the grave, is coming but is not yet here. Even so, resurrection life, the life of the age to come, is already at work in us. Paul said, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

In his letter to the believers at Ephesus, Paul prayed that they might know “what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 1:19-20). Paul went on to say that God has “made us alive together with Christ … and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-6). This is not future promise but present reality. It is resurrection life now, the age to come breaking into this present age. In Ephesians 3, Paul wrote that God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” The “power that works in us” in Ephesians 3:20 is the same power mentioned in Ephesians 1:19, the power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Indeed, this resurrection life that we have now (and the coming resurrection of the body) is the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus Himself. He is called the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18). Because He lives, we live, partaking of His life. Paul spoke of the “mystery” of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). This is the reality Paul himself confessed, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith I the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

This is eternal life, the life of the resurrection. It is the life of the risen Jesus and belongs to all those who belong to Him. It begins now and lasts forever.

Friday, June 29, 2012

The Life of the Age to Come

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. (John 6:47)
Jesus says that those who believe in Him have everlasting, or eternal, life. Eternal life is not just about quantity of life, it’s about the quality of that life. That is, eternal life is not just life that lasts a really, really long time (eternity, in fact). It is the life of the age to come. That is it’s quality — it is not the life that comes from the present age (which is passing away) but the life of the coming one.

The Greek has it as zoen aionion. Zoe speaks of life. Aionion comes from aion, which speaks of an age (like eon). Eternal life is the life that is of the age. Which age? The age to come, which is the age of God’s kingdom, the Messianic age, the age of the resurrection.

In the Gospels, the life of the age to come is associated with the kingdom of God. For example, in Mark 9, Jesus speaks of entering life (verses 43 and 45). In the same section and under the same paradigm, He speaks of entering the kingdom of God (verse 47). In context, it is clear that both phrases refer to the same thing.

In Mark 10, we have the story of the rich young man who came to Jesus and asked, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (v. 17). Jesus dealt with the young man, telling him, “Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (v. 21). The young man went away in sorrow, because he had many possessions and was unwilling to give them up. Jesus then said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God” (v. 23). He said the same basic thing again in verse 24 and once more in verse 25. All three times, He spoke of it as the “kingdom of God. The rich young man asked about eternal life; Jesus answered his question, but in terms of the kingdom of God.

The disciples were stunned by this, and Peter started in, “See, we have left all and followed You” (v. 28). Jesus cut him short and said,
Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life.
Eternal life — just what the rich young man came seeking. It is the life of the age to come, the life of the kingdom of God.

In John 3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). And again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (v. 5). Being born again speaks of a new life, indeed, of a new quality of life. It has to do with the kingdom of God, and with the Spirit of God. When we come down to verse 15, Jesus refers to Himself as the “Son of Man” (a Messianic reference) and of how He must be “lifted up” (a reference to the cross), “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Then in verse 16, we have that famous passage: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (“Eternal life” and “everlasting life” are the same words in the Greek.) Again we see that eternal life is the life of the kingdom of God.

Though it is the life of the age to come, it is the present possession of all who belong to King Jesus the Messiah. Notice that in John 6:47, Jesus says that whoever believes in Him has (present tense) eternal life. It has already begun because the kingdom of God has come into the world. Jesus announced it at the beginning of His ministry: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus is Himself the king — that is the significance of the His, Messiah (literally, “Anointed One”). It means that Jesus is the one God has anointed to be king over His kingdom.

The kingdom of God has come into the world and has been growing ever since. Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12, NIV). The apostle John wrote, “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

We live between the times — the time of God’s kingdom coming into the world (through Jesus the Messiah) and the time it will be revealed in all its fullness (when King Jesus comes again). We enter into that kingdom by the new birth, being “born again” by the Spirit of God, through faith in King Jesus. This is eternal life, the life of God’s kingdom age, the age to come which has already begun for us in King Jesus.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Activating Your Faith


You can tell a lot about a person’s faith by listening to their words, especially when they are under pressure. A lot of Christians, when difficult situations arise or they experience some sort of need or lack, will start speaking out of worry or fear instead of out of faith. For example, they will worry and complain about the high cost of gas or rising food prices. They speak out their fear instead of saying about it what the Word of God says: My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Jesus said, “Do not worry, saying ...” (and we usually do worry by speaking it out) “but seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:31-33). Instead of giving voice to our worries, fears and doubts, we should give voice to our faith — to what the Word has to say.

So, for example, when I see gas prices go up (thankfully, they are coming down some, at least for now), instead of letting worry have a word, I say, “My God shall supply all my need, all the gas I need and all the money I need to pay for it.” “God takes care of me in every way.” “I seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things are added unto me.” Sometimes my faith gets so stirred up I start hooting and hollering about how good God is to me. What happened? Instead of speaking in agreement with worry, I was speaking in agreement with the promises of God and His Word.

That’s what I call “activating” your faith — putting it into gear, speaking it out, and by it, putting pressure on whatever is out of alignment with the Word of God and His promises.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The Center of the Gospel


The center of the gospel is not my personal salvation. The center is Jesus. Mark begins his account of the gospel this way: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Notice that it does not say, “The gospel of Jesus the Savior,” but “The gospel of Jesus Christ.”

“Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. It is the Greek form for the Hebrew “Messiah,” which means “Anointed.” So, the gospel relates back to the promises God made in the Old Testament about Messiah. Those promises pertained to God’s “Anointed,” that is, the one God anointed as King. So the center of the gospel is Jesus as God’s Anointed King.

A king implies a kingdom, which is also what God promised OT Israel — God would come and set things right in Israel and would rule over all the nations of the world. In Mark 1:14, Jesus came “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.” The content of that preaching is found in verse 15: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.”

That is the primary thrust of the gospel — the announcement that God’s kingdom has come into the world, and that Jesus is God’s Anointed King. Now, within that is what we might call the “plan of salvation” (and which is often mistaken for the whole of the gospel). The question of personal salvation is, “How do I participate in God’s new kingdom that has come into the world?”

To answer that, look at John 3. Of course, John 3:16 is one of the most famous verses about personal salvation. But let’s take a look at the context to see how personal salvation fits in. In John 3:3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And again in John 3:5, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Notice that Jesus speaks of salvation in terms of the kingdom of God — how one sees it, how one enters into it — how one becomes a part of it. The primary thrust of the gospel is about the coming of the kingdom of God, through the coming of Jesus, God’s anointed King. But within that is the matter of personal salvation, how we enter into God’s kingdom.

Now look at John 3:16 in view of verses 3 through 5 and following. The word for “everlasting” or “eternal” is the Greek word aionios, from the word aion, which means “age” or “eon.” It is a reference to the “age to come.” In the Jewish context of Jesus and Nicodemus, this would be understood as the Messianic age, the age of God’s kingdom, which would set everything right in the world and would never end. “Eternal life,” then, is the life of God’s kingdom age.

God’s kingdom age has already broken into the world and, although we still await the fullness of it, we can become part of it now. Through faith in Jesus, God’s anointed King, we can receive now the life of the age to come, the life of God’s eternal kingdom reign.

So, the good news of the gospel is not primarily the announcement that Jesus is Savior, and that we can all know that we are going to heaven when we die. That is a result of the gospel. Primarily, the gospel is the announcement of the good news that the kingdom of God has come into the world, that Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, is both God and King. The good news for us personally is that we participate in God’s kingdom and the life of the coming age (which has already broken into the world) through faith in God’s Anointed King, Jesus.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

All Authority in Heaven and on Earth


Today is Ascension Sunday. We celebrate the day King Jesus the Messiah ascended to His throne at the right hand of the Father, where He now rules and reigns with all authority in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18-20
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Mark 16:14-20
Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Luke 24:46-53
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
Acts 1:4-11
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
1 Corinthians 15:20-25
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
(Now this, “He ascended” — what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
Ephesians 4:7-16
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Gospel of the King in John


The Gospel According to John does not use the noun “gospel” (Greek, euaggelion, evangel) as in Matthew and Mark, or the verb for “preaching the gospel” (Greek, euaggelizo, evangelize, “gospeling”), but it is about the gospel all the same.

John uses the word “kingdom” only five times. Two of these are found, significantly, in Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus, which we will look at in just a moment. The other three are found in just one verse, John 18:36, which we will also see in a minute. However, John does use the word “king” quite a bit, as do the other Gospel writers, and all in reference to Jesus. Also, like the other Gospel writers, he frequently uses the word “Christ,” which means “Messiah,” or more literally “Anointed One,” and which refers to the one God has anointed to be King (see Psalm 2). And, as in the other Gospels, He is called “Son of God,” the implications of which, also in view of Psalm 2, identify Him as King.

All three —“Christ,” “Son of God” and “King” — establish the identity of Jesus as King in the Gospel of John and, indeed, in all four Gospels. We find these three in the first chapter of John and they all attest to Jesus as King.
  • From John the Evangelist’s exposition on Jesus as the Word: “For the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (v. 18).
  • From the testimony of John the Baptist concerning Jesus: “And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God” (v. 34).
  • Andrew’s testimony to His brother Simon Peter after encountering Jesus: “We have found the Messiah” (v. 41).
  • Nathanael’s exclamation to Jesus: “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel” (v. 49).
Let’s look at Jesus’ famous encounter with Nicodemus, who came to him late one night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2).

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” A few verses later, He reiterated, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 6).

The language of being “born again” has everything to do with seeing and entering the kingdom of God. The language about being born of water and the Spirit goes back to Ezekiel 36:24-28, which looked forward to the time of God’s Anointed King coming to establish His kingdom on earth. (For more on this meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus, see my four-part series: 1. Nicodemus and the Gospel of the Kingdom, 2. The Promised Kingdom, 3. Water, Spirit and the Kingdom of God, 4. Believing the King.)

Now, let’s look for a moment at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which all four Gospel writers record. All four understand it in terms of the kingdom of God and its King. Matthew sees it as fulfillment of Zechariah’s messianic prophecy: “Behold, Your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matthew 21:5, quoting Zechariah 9:9).

The people shouted loud Hosannas, a word which comes from the first part of Psalm 118:25 (Hebrew, Hoshia na!, “Save now!”). Psalm 118 is a messianic psalm about the stone rejected by the builders but who has become the chief cornerstone, and about Israel’s day of deliverance and victory over the nations.

The Gospel writers draw out different elements of praise that were brought along with those Hosannas. Mark shows the people saying, “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord” (Mark 11:10). Luke records them saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD” (Luke 19:38). And John recalls, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! The King of Israel!” (John 12:13). John also quotes Zechariah in connection with it: “Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt” (John 12:15).

All four Gospel writers also deal with Jesus’ dialogue with Pilate. John’s treatment, though sparse, is the most extensive:
Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:33-37)

Pilate then had Jesus scourged and, at the insistence of the chief priests and Jewish leaders, had Him crucified. Then we read:
Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”

Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:19-22)
The crowd on Palm Sunday, the chief priests and Jewish leaders, and Pilate all recognized that Jesus claimed to be the King over Israel. The Jewish crowd received His claim and celebrated Him. The chief priests and the mob they instigated denied His claim. Pilate accepted His claim, though he clearly did not understand the deep significance of it.

Throughout the Gospel According to John we also see the identity of Jesus as Christ (Messiah) recognized and affirmed.
  • John the Baptist identified Him as Christ (John 1:20-30; 3:28).
  • Andrew told his brother, Simon Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41).
  • The Samaritan woman at the well testified, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29).
  • Many of her fellow Samaritans agreed, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).
  • Simon Peter and the disciples affirmed it: “Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:69).
  • Many Jews agreed. “And many of the people believed in Him, and said, ‘When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” (John 7:31). And again, “Others said, ‘This is the Christ’” (John 7:41).
  • Jesus understood Himself to be the Messiah. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
  • John wrote his Gospel account so we might believe that Jesus is the Messiah: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
The significance of Messiah, as found for example in Psalm2, is that He is the one anointed by God to be King. Likewise, the identity of Jesus as the Son of God, seen in some of the examples above as well as other places in John, also shows Him to be King, because the one God anointed to be King, in Psalm 2, is His own Son.

The Gospel of John, then, is the good news about God’s Anointed King.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Gospeling the Kingdom in Luke

While Mark speaks of the gospel itself (euaggelion, the evangel), Luke speaks of the act of preaching the gospel (euaggelizo, evangelizing).

The Gospel of Luke begins with a statement about fulfillment: “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us …” (Luke 1:1). The gospel is the fulfillment of what God promised Israel in the Old Testament. Concerning the birth of John the Baptist, the angel Gabriel spoke to Zechariah and said,
He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,” and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:17-18)
There is fulfillment here concerning what was prophesied at the very end of the book of Malachi, about Elijah coming to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. There is also fulfillment here of passages such as Isaiah 40, about “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the LORD’” (v. 3). This fulfillment is about the gospel, as we can see in what the angel said next:
And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings [euaggelizo].” (Luke 1:19)
Likewise, the birth of Jesus is gospel fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel. The same angel that appeared to Zechariah also came to Mary and said,
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:30-33)
As we saw in Matthew and Mark, so we find also in Luke the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise to David about an heir who would reign on his throne forever. There is also an echo of the promise of Messiah in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder … Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.”

Mary, in her praise song to the Lord, recognizes the fulfillment that God was now bringing about. “He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever” (Luke 1:54-55). The promise God made to Abraham, to David and to Israel all find fulfillment in the birth of Jesus. The is the good news of the gospel.

Zechariah also, in his praise song to the Lord after the birth of John, sees the fulfillment of God’s great promise to His people:
Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. (Luke 1:68-75)
Here again, the promises to Abraham, David and Israel find fulfillment in the gospel. So, when Jesus is born, the angels come to announce the good news to shepherds nearby:
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings [euaggelizo] of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)
When Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple to present Him before the Lord, old Simeon observes and sings, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). Once again, we see that the good news of Jesus’ birth brings fulfillment to God’s promise to Israel. There is also indication here that this good news is not just for Israel but also for the Gentiles (the nations). This echoes Old Testament promises such as Isaiah 60:3, “The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

In Luke 3, John the Baptist begins his ministry as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘prepare the way of the Lord” (v. 4). Luke comments about John’s gospel ministry: “And with many other exhortations he preached [euaggelizo]to the people" (Luke 3:18).

When Jesus came to the synagogue at Nazareth, He preached the promise God made in Isaiah:
And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel [euaggelizo] to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:17-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2)
Then Jesus sat down to teach and declared, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Though He was not well received at Nazareth, He went down to Capernaum, where He astonished many with the authority of His teaching. After healing many diseases and expelling many demons, He said, “I must preach [euaggelizo]the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” Here we see that His gospel was explicitly about the kingdom of God, and is what He preached in the synagogues throughout Galilee (Luke 4:43-44). “Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings [euaggelizo] of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him” (Luke 8:1).

Not only were the twelve disciples with Jesus as He gospeled the kingdom but He also sent them out to do the same. “He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:2). The word for “preach” here is not euaggelizo but kerusso, to herald or proclaim. However, the content is the same, the kingdom of God. A few verses later, we see that the disciples were actually evangelizing: “So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel [euaggelizo] and healing everywhere” (Luke 9:6). Jesus’ ministry of preaching and teaching and healing was always about the kingdom of God.
And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. (Luke 9:10-11)
To one who wished to become a disciple but first wanted to wait until he could rebury his father’s bones, Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60). The word for “preach” here is not euaggelizo, but a related one, diaggelizo, which means to announce the message thoroughly and everywhere.

When Jesus sent the seventy disciples out as laborers into His harvest, the message was the kingdom: “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10:8-9).

The Pharisees supposedly valued the law and the prophets, but they did not recognize the fulfillment of what was promised in them, so they derided Jesus. But Jesus answered, “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached [euaggelizo], and everyone is pressing into it” (Luke 16:16).

The message of the kingdom of God is pervasive throughout the Gospel According to Luke. There are at least 43 explicit references to it from beginning to end. These include (in addition to the ones we have already seen):
  • For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. (Luke 7:28)
  • To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. (Luke 8:10)
  • But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Luke 11:20)
  • But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. (Luke 12:31)
  • Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
  • They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. (Luke 13:29)
  • The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20-21)
  • Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life. (Luke 18:29-30)
  • And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22:29:30)
There are also references to the kingdom that are similar to what we have seen in Matthew and in Mark. The preaching of the gospel that we find in the Gospel According to Luke is about the fulfillment of God’s promises in the Old Testament, which are summed up in the kingdom of God.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Gospel of the Kingdom in Mark

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1)

There are four Gospels in the New Testament, but only one gospel. The books that are commonly called “Gospels” (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are each about the one gospel. That is why they have traditionally been called “The Gospel According to [Matthew, Mark, Luke, John].” These books do not merely contain snippets of the gospel, but everything in them is about the gospel.

Matthew began his telling of the gospel with, “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the Son of Abraham, the Son of David” (Matthew 1:1), marking Jesus’ connection to the promise God made to Abraham to bless the whole world, and the promise to King David about the messianic descendent who would reign on his throne forever.

Mark begins his telling of the gospel very directly, as is his style throughout, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Then he moves quickly through the identification of John the Baptist and what his role was, the baptism of Jesus by John, and the temptation in the wilderness. Then on to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry:
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)
The gospel Jesus preached was about the kingdom of God. The content was the announcement that the time was fulfilled and the kingdom of God was now at hand. In verse 1, we see “the gospel of Jesus Christ,” and in verses 14-15, “the gospel of the kingdom of God.” These are not two different gospels. Rather, the gospel is the announcement of the good news that the kingdom of God has come and that Jesus the Messiah is the King. The response that is called for is to repent and believe that good news. Repentance is a change of mind that brings a change of direction. In this case, repentance is turning toward the kingdom of God and its King.

As we saw in Matthew, so we find in Mark: Jesus preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God in numerous parables and sayings (Mark 4:11, 26, 30; 9:1, 47). In Mark 10:14-15, for example, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” His message was not just that the kingdom of God was at hand but that one must “receive” it, that is, to take hold of it, as if by hand (Greek, dechomai). We must take hold of it as a little child, in full dependence and trust.

A few verses later, Jesus encountered a rich, young ruler who came seeking “eternal life.” Jesus told him, “Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me” (v. 21). But it turned out that the young man valued his possessions more than the kingdom of God, so he went away.

Seeing this, Jesus said to the disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (v. 23), and “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (vv. 24-25).

The disciples were astonished and asked each other, “Who then can be saved?” (v. 26). Jesus answered, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible” (v. 27).

Then Peter said, “See, we have left all and followed You” (v. 28). It sounds like a statement but he was really asking a question, looking for some assurance: Is there a place for me in the kingdom of God?
So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)
Notice that throughout this dialogue, the theme has been the kingdom of God. So when Jesus speaks of “My sake and the gospel’s,” it is about the good news of the kingdom, of which Jesus Himself is King. Eternal life, which is what the rich, young ruler came seeking, is also about the kingdom. The kingdom of God has to do both with the time that is now (“now in this time) and also with “the age to come.” Indeed, it is the life of “the age to come” breaking into this present time.

In Mark 11, we read about the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Many people came and spread out their clothes and palm branches on the road before Him and shouted, “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (v. 10). This is the same kingdom Jesus gospeled about in Mark 1:14-15, because He is the one who fulfills the covenant promise God made to David.

To the scribe who responded well to Jesus’ word about the Great Commandment (see Mark 12:29-31), He answered, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (v. 34).

In Mark’s account of the Olivet Discourse (Mark 13:1-37), Jesus said “And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations” (Mark 13:10). There is no other gospel that has been presented in Mark except the gospel of the kingdom. It is not just for Israel but also for the nations of the world.

In Mark 15, Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews. Jesus answered that this was so. In this chapter, He is referred to as King of the Jews five times (Mark 15:2, 9, 12, 18,26), the final time being a reference to the inscription over Jesus’ head as He hung on the cross.

When Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross and being prepared for burial, we read of Joseph or Arimathea, and another reference to the kingdom:
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. (Mark 15:43)
After the resurrection but before He ascended to heaven, Jesus gave the disciples the Great Commission:
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. (Mark 16:15-20)
As Jesus ascended to His throne at the right hand of the Father, the place of ruling and reigning, what gospel would He send the disciples out to preach to the nations except the one He Himself came preaching — the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

The Gospel of the Kingdom in Matthew


The “gospel of the kingdom” is very prominent in the Gospel of Matthew. John the Baptist came preaching about it, saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2). He identified himself, in Matthew 3:3, as the forerunner prophesied in Isaiah 40, a passage that speaks of Messiah, God’s Anointed King, in gospel terms: “bring good tidings” (found twice in Isaiah 40:9, the Greek word used in the Septuagint is euaggelizo; see Gospeling in the Old Testament).

Jesus also, after His baptism and the temptation in the wilderness, began His ministry preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:17). Matthew records, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23). The Sermon on the Mount gives us the substance of that preaching. It is the announcement that the kingdom was at hand and what it means to participate in it.
  • The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) are bookended by the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven … Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
  • The passage on the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17-20) is in reference to the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (vv. 19-20).
  • In “The Lord’s Prayer,” Jesus teaches us how to pray: “You kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom of God is the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven. “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. Amen.”
  • In regard to the daily necessities of life, Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
  • There is a warning about false prophets, with the conclusion, “Not everyone ho says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:15-21).
This sermon was not a one-off. Everywhere Jesus went, He preached about the kingdom of God: “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35).

When John the Baptist sought reassurance about whether Jesus was the Messiah, God’s Anointed King, Jesus sent back the answer, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:4-5). The gospel He preached to the poor was surely the same one He had been preaching all along, the “gospel of the kingdom.”

Then, concerning John, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:11-12).

Jesus not only preached the gospel of the kingdom, He demonstrated it as well. He said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28).

The parables Jesus taught were about the kingdom of God. When the disciples asked why He taught the people in parables, Jesus answered, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:11). That is why He said to the people, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (v. 9). Those who had ears to hear His parables would understand the mysteries of the kingdom. Jesus explained the parable of the sower with these words: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom …” (Matthew 13:19). Many of Jesus parables are expressly about the kingdom, using His customary formula, “The kingdom of heaven is like …” (Matthew 13:24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47).

Jesus concluded the parables in Matthew 13 and said to the disciples, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a household who brings out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:52). He instructed His disciples concerning the kingdom of heaven because that is what He was training them to preach and teach.

In Matthew 18, the disciples asked Jesus, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus set a little child before them and answered, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4). In Matthew 19:14, Jesus reiterates, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

In the next chapters are additional parables explicitly about the kingdom, again beginning with introductory words, “The kingdom of heaven is like …” (Matthew 18:23; 20:1; 22:1).

In Matthew 24, which contains what is known as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus addresses the disciple’s questions about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, the sign of His coming and the end of the age. In His answer, He said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (v. 14). The gospel Jesus preached and taught to the disciples was not just for Israel but for all the nations of the world.

In Matthew 25, after two more parables explicitly about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus spoke of when the Son of Man gathers together the nations for judgment. He will separate them like a shepherd separates sheep from goats, with the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Jesus, who has throughout the Gospel of Matthew identified Himself as the Son of Man, now refers to Himself as the King: “Then the King will say to those on His right hand …” (v. 34), “And the King will answer and say to them …” (v. 40).

At the end of Matthew, after the cross and the resurrection, but before He ascended to heaven, Jesus came to the disciples and announced: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). This is the language of kingdom dominion, with both heaven and earth as His domain. In other words, the kingdom of God was now active on earth, with Jesus as King over all. Then Jesus commissioned His disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The word “therefore” connects verses 19-20 to what Jesus said in verse 18. The kingdom of God was now active in the world, and King Jesus was ascending to His throne at the right hand of the Father. Now the disciples were to take the news to all the world, to make disciples of all the nations and teach them everything Jesus taught. Throughout the book of Matthew, everything Jesus did and taught and preached was all about the gospel, and the gospel was all about the kingdom of God.

For more about the kingdom in Matthew’s Gospel, see The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth: Keys to the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Matthew.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Gospeling in the Old Testament


What does gospeling — the preaching of the gospel — look like in the Old Testament? The Greek word for “gospel” is euaggelion (Strong’s Greek #2098) which means “good news.” Associated with it is the word euaggelizo (Strong’s Greek #2097), from which we get the word “evangelize,” which means to “announce good news.” I call it “gospeling.” In the Septuagint, (or LXX , the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) we find the word euaggelizo a number of times.
  • It is used to announce the defeat of an enemy (1 Samuel 31:9; 2 Samuel 4:10; 2 Samuel 18:19-31).
  • It is used to announce the anointing of a new king: “Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound. Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, ‘Why is the city in such a noisy uproar?’ While he was still speaking, there came Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest. And Adonijah said to him, ‘Come in, for you are a prominent man, and bring good news.’ Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, ‘No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king’” (1 Kings 1:39-43).
  • It is used to proclaim God’s righteousness, His faithful acts in delivering His people: “I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation” (Psalm 40:9-10 ESV).
  • It is used to proclaim a great victory. In Psalm 68, which extols the victory of Yahweh over the enemies of His people, we read, “The LORD gave the word; great was the company of those who proclaimed it” (v. 11).
  • In Psalm 96, it is used to speak of God’s saving acts for His people and to declare His glory to the nations: “Sing to the LORD, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples” (Psalm 96:2-3; see Exploring the Gospel ~ Psalm 96).
  • Isaiah 40, a Messianic passage, speaks of the coming of the LORD to shepherd His people and rule over their enemies: “O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’” (v. 9).
  • In Isaiah 52, another Messianic passage, it is used to announce the peace (shalom, wholeness) and salvation that comes from God, and to proclaim His reign: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (v. 7).
  • In Isaiah 60, still in Messianic mode, it is used of all the nations coming to proclaim the praises of Yahweh. “A multitude of camels will cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the LORD” (v. 6 NASB).
  • In Isaiah 61, is it used in regard to the anointing of the Messiah (“Anointed One”). “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” The whole chapter speaks of God’s Anointed King coming to set everything right in the world. It is this entire passage that Jesus indicated when He quoted the first verses and then declared, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:17-21).
  • In Jeremiah 20:12, euaggelizo is used to announce the birth of a child.
  • In Joel 2:32, it relates back to the promise in Isaiah 40:9, about good news coming out of Zion and Jerusalem. “And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved: for in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall the saved one be as the Lord has said, and they that have glad tidings preached to them, whom the Lord has called” (Brenton’s English Septuagint).
  • In Nahum 1:15, it speaks of the deliverance of God’s people from their enemies. “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off.” (A similar word, apaggelizo, is here translated “proclaims.”)
The use of euaggelizo in the Septuagint is significant because the Septuagint was the Bible for the early Church. Also, the New Testament writers, whenever they quote from the Old Testament, most often do so by way of the Septuagint. So the early Church was conversant with what euaggelizo and euaggelion conveyed.

The gospeling we find in the New Testament fits very well with the gospeling we find in the Old Testament. All its categories find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah. He is the One whose birth was announced when angels brought “good tidings” (euaggelizo) to the shepherds in the field (Luke 2:10-11). He is the King whose kingdom the gospel proclaims (e.g., Mark 1:14-15). He is God’s Anointed King who fulfills the gospel in Isaiah 61. He is the Good Shepherd who gives His people peace (John 10:11, John 14:27). He has destroyed the works of the devil (1 John 3:18) and disarmed the “principalities and powers” (Colossians 2:15). Not only has He won the victory over the enemy, but through Him we also are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).

Like the old Gospel song said, “Ain’t that good news!”

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Now Faith is Reality

Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 HCSB)

The NKJV has this as, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The substance of a thing is it’s underlying reality. The interesting thing about the Greek word, hypostasis, which speaks of the underlying state, is that it was sometimes used to refer to a title deed. A title deed signifies possession. So, for example, if you have the title deed to a piece of land, you legally possess the land itself.

Hope is about what we have not yet seen, or what has not yet come into manifestation. But just because we have not yet seen a thing does not mean that there is no reality to it. For example, I may inherit a piece of land that I have never visited before, but that does not make it any less real. And if I possess the title deed, not having yet seen the land does not make it any less mine. The title deed is the proof that that land belongs to me.

What I want to focus on today, though, is the time factor. Hope is about the future, about what I fully expect to see even though it has not yet come about. That is the nature of hope. Paul said, “hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:24-25).

Hope is future, but faith is now. The author of Hebrews does not use the word “now” as a simple connective, like “so,” “and” or “but.” Rather, he is showing the relationship between the faith we have now and what we expect to see in the future.

These things concern the promises of God, which is the only biblical basis for faith. If God had never promised anything, we would have no reason for expectation. But because God has made certain promises to us, and since He does not lie, we can believe Him and expect to receive from Him everything He promised.

Faith is about believing the promises of God. By faith, we take possession of those promises, even though we have not yet seen them come to pass. Indeed, faith is the reality, the evidence, the proof, that we will see them come to pass. The faith we have now is the reality that connects us to what we expect to see. Faith and hope each do their part until we have seen the full manifestation. And in between is patience.