In the first century, a controversy arose in the early New Testament Church about whether the gospel message was supposed to be the good news OF Christ or ABOUT Christ. The answer to this question had great consequences. The majority believed that the gospel was strictly a message about Christ–about His person, His Sacrifice, His birth, His life and death as a human being; and so this is the message which millions upon millions of people have been hearing for centuries. But it is NOT the gospel message!
It seems that only God’s true Church preserved the knowledge of what the gospel is! It is not only a message ABOUT the Messenger, Jesus Christ, but it is the message OF the Messenger. It is the message that Jesus preached. It is the same good news or glad tidings which the Church is commissioned to preach today.
There is only ONE gospel (Galatians 1:6-9)–and it is mostly called the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23; 24:14; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 8:1; 9:2). It is also referred to as the gospel OF Christ (Mark 1:1; Romans 1:9, 16; compare 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8)–not just ABOUT Christ. It is also identified as the gospel OF God the Father (Romans 1:1).
God the Father is the Originator and Owner of the Gospel. He entrusted it to Christ to preach it here on earth. It is God’s and Christ’s gospel which the Church is to proclaim today. Notice, it is not called the gospel ABOUT Christ or not even ABOUT God the Father; nor is it called the gospel ABOUT the Kingdom of God. Rather, it is described as the gospel OF God; OF Christ; and OF the Kingdom of God.
The differences are wide-ranging. The gospel message is a message FROM God TO man–it is FOR man. It includes the truth about God, about Christ, and about the Kingdom of God, but it is more encompassing than that. It shows man how he can ENTER the Kingdom of God.
What IS the Kingdom of God? Most people have no idea. I would even dare to say that many in the churches of God today do not fully comprehend the tremendous meaning of the KINGDOM of God. The Kingdom of God is the Family of God. God IS a RULING Family!
The God Family–the God Kingdom–consists today, as it always did, of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. Both the Father and the Son are GOD. They ARE the Kingdom or Family of God. Converted Christians are NOT YET in the Kingdom or Family of God. They are Spirit-begotten children of God, to be BORN into the Kingdom of God at the time of Christ’s return to this earth. Then, they too will be IN the Kingdom of God–the Family of GOD. Then, they will BE God.
In order to be IN the Kingdom of God, one must BE God. Man is NOT yet in the Kingdom–he is not yet God, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. But it is man’s destiny to enter into eternal life–into the Kingdom of God; to become a member of the Kingdom or RULING Family of God.
When we preach the gospel OF the Kingdom of God, we preach the message which belongs to and originates with the KINGDOM of God–the Family of God. The everlasting or eternal gospel is the message OF God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. It is the message OF the Kingdom of God.
I wonder how many have ever fully understood this important truth. I just gave a video-recorded sermon last Sabbath, titled, “What Is the True Gospel?”. It explains this awesome knowledge in much detail. Please watch it–and if you have already done so, please do so again.
God’s true Church is commissioned to preach the gospel OF (not just about) the Kingdom or Family of God–the gospel OF God. In order to do this, we must know what it is. Do you?
