Tag Archives: good news

Jesus And The Kingdom Of God

Christian Life, , ,

JESUS AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Jesus spoke repeatedly of the arrival of God’s kingdom, both present and future as “good news”. What did He mean by “good news”? What was the good news He announced by His coming? When the Romans arrived on the scene in the already-occupied-by-Greece land of Israel, for the Jews it was bad news. The presence of the Roman authorities was not only an affront to their sovereignty as a nation and their freedom as a people, but it also brought with it many forms of suffering.

They could never forget that they were an occupied nation. The Romans were everywhere, waiting to clamp down on them and quell any signs of rebellion. The people were subjected to severe taxation which left many of them impoverished and resentful of their overlords and those of their own people who worked for them. What’s more, their religious hierarchy were in cahoots with Rome, benefitting handsomely from applying whatever pressure was necessary to keep the peace.

Jesus’s announcement of good news might have sent His disciples’ pulses racing but for one thing – He made no attempt to deal with the Romans. In fact He practised and taught the opposite; He healed people indiscriminately, in response to their faith and not according to their race; He taught His disciples to love their enemies, and to submit to their overlords. That did not sit well with the religious zealots who were more than eager to get rid of the Romans by whatever means it took.

So, if the good news was not about ridding Israel of Roman occupation and re-establishing the glory of the Davidic kingdom, what was it about? To understand His message, we must go back to the Old Testament. Isaiah prophesied of a day that was to come when Jerusalem would be restored after the devastation of captivity. He offered good news to the people of Zion.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say in Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. (Isa. 52:7-8)

“Your God reigns!” That was the good news but what did it mean and when would this happen? God would finally dealt with their core problem – sin – and deliver them once for all from the ravages of sin through His Suffering Servant. Isaiah graphically described, in fifteen verses (Isa 52:13- 53: 12) the nature of this deliverance – the sacrifice of the innocent for the guilty so that the guilty may be forgiven and be reconciled to God.

Inherent in Jesus’s message of good news was the restoration of God’s authority over His people when their sin was atoned for and removed once for all. This was not about Rome. This was about an occupation far more sinister and far-reaching than Rome’s. Their hearts were occupied by a usurper whose power over them had to be destroyed by exposing his deception and breaking his hold over them so that they could return to the God who had called them into a covenant with Him.

Jesus announced that the time had come for this to be accomplished. God was at hand to establish His reign in their hearts once again. Through them, He would extend it into every corner of society and every part of the globe until Jesus returns to dispose of the devil and establish His eternal kingdom on earth.

Adam and Eve sold out to the deceiver who aspired to usurp God’s place as Lord! Over the millennia, the devil has done everything in his power to own and keep this title by enslaving the human race through the sin, sorrow and suffering that came with their disobedience. The good news Jesus brought was truly “good news”. God said, “Enough is enough! Satan has had his day and now the time for deliverance has come.”

God’s reign is intended to restore righteousness and justice in the earth where evil reigns and destroys. When Jesus is acknowledged as Lord by every person who has ever lived and every angelic being, good or evil, Satan and all evil will finally be disposed of to the place where he belongs. All creation will know that Jesus is Lord and not the devil or any of the false gods he has hidden behind from the beginning of time.

The new era of the kingdom of God was ushered in when Jesus came, which He demonstrated by His words and works. The kingdom of God is among us now, but not yet in its fullness. It will only come fully when Jesus returns to reign over His redeemed people and a renewed and restored earth.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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It’s Still Good News!

Bible Study, , , ,

IT’S STILL GOOD NEWS!

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ He said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ (Mark 1:14-15).

Mark was specific about the timing of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. There was no clash or competition between John and Jesus. John’s ministry was short and sharp. He had a job to do and he did it well. He was to introduce the Messiah and then get out of the way so as not to interfere with the greater work of Jesus. He would not to be a part of it. Jesus did not make him His first disciple. John was a prophet and his job was to declare the word of God.

God saw to it, through circumstances, that John was permanently removed and taken out of sight. John had given King Herod a very blunt message: “You are an adulterer!” and Herod was not impressed.  He had shacked up with his brother Philip’s wife. Whether he was actually married to her or not is not clear but, for argument’s sake let’s assume that he had married her.

Herodias, the adulterous wife, was a vicious woman. She had her knife in for John for telling it like it was. You see, what they had done was wrong whether they were believers in God or not. God’s moral law is not only for those who acknowledge Him. He has written His law into the conscience of every human being because His word is a reflection of who He is and a requirement for everyone. Herod imprisoned John and left him to rot in prison until Herodias’ moment came to move in for the kill.

Once John was out of the way, Jesus was free to step into the gap and pick up where John left off. The transition was smooth. John had announced that the rule of God was right there. Jesus declared it too but what did the people understand by this announcement?

For four hundred years there had been no word from God. There was no prophet to interpret the historical events in which His people were caught up. Israel had become sandwiched between the territories of two of Alexander the Great’s four generals who had inherited the Greek Empire after Alexander’s untimely death. They were continually harassed by their Greek overlords. They tried to throw off the oppressors and paid for it time and again. Eventually the influence of Greek culture and customs had infiltrated God’s people.

After Greece came Rome; and the people of God had to bend low under the oppression of Roman rule. Their land was overrun by Roman occupants – soldiers who ruthlessly kept the Israelites in check. They were well and truly under the rule of a godless and ruthless government. God, to them, had abandoned them. He was just not around any more.

First John and then Jesus stepped in with the “good news” that God was back. What did they make of this? Naturally they thought that He was either going to build up an army and lead a successful revolt against Rome or, if He were really the Messiah as John had insisted, He might even supernaturally get rid of the Romans and set up God’s kingdom in Israel again, just as in the days of David and Solomon. After all, hadn’t He supernaturally wiped out the Assyrian army in one night, all 186,000 of them?

Excitement rippled through Judea and even farther afield. The people flocked around John, willing and eager to identify with him and join his movement. Then John disappeared off the scene but the man he had baptised in the Jordan whom he declared to be the Messiah, took up the refrain: “God is back. He is here to rule again. Change the way you think. Stop being pessimistic and defeated and listen to me.”

What they did not hear was that Jesus was there to get rid of Rome. Did He ever say that? But that’s what they expected Him to do. God’s kingdom to them was Israel and they believed that Jesus had come to establish Israel as the greatest nation on earth again.

How sad that the expectations we put on God which, by the way, come from what we want and not from what He has said, lead to bitter disappointment. Instead of trusting Him for what He wants, we blame Him for not answering our prayers and we turn away from Him, disillusioned and frustrated.

What if we just trusted Him, full stop instead of trusting Him for what we demand? We would untie His hands and leave Him to free us from far greater bondage than our personal “Rome”.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

Herald Of His Coming

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HERALD OF HIS COMING

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” – “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.'” And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1: 1-4).

Israel’s migration through the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land was recognised in Scripture as symbolic of their journey through life. In order to navigate the treacherous and unknown path, they had to follow the landmarks which God pointed out to them on the way. He promised to accompany them, to show them the right way and to keep them from wandering off the path, getting lost and dying without food and water. His word would light the way for them.

Their destination was Mount Zion, (tsyiown – meaning landmark) the highest point in the city of Jerusalem. God had told them that it was in Jerusalem that He would establish His name. When they were settled in the land, they were to go to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate His appointed feasts which were prophetic of the work of the promised Messiah.

There were obstacles and dangers on the way. If they wandered off the path by failing to keep His commandments, they would die but, if they realised they were lost, they were to return to the path by repenting of their disobedience and by following His instructions (Torah – His commandments) which would keep them on the path and take them to their destination.

It was this imagery which lay behind the opening words of Mark’s gospel. His announcement – “the beginning of the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, and the Son of God” would put his readers in the picture. Using Hebraic thought, he related the story of John the Baptist whose role was to call the people to repent (shuv – meaning to return to the path from which they had wandered and got lost).

Isaiah had prophesied, centuries before, that God would send a man ahead of the Messiah to prepare His way and to announce His arrival like the herald who would go before a king to alert the people that he was coming. God’s people had wandered off the path through disobedience and misunderstanding of His word. It was now time to come back so that, when Messiah came, they would learn to follow Him because He was God’s representative to bring them back to God through the forgiveness of sins and to show them the way to the Father by His perfect life.

Mark wanted his readers to understand that John’s appearance and message fitted perfectly into God’s prophetic timetable. He was no upstart preacher, some crank who dressed funny and spoke funny, but His appointed herald to prepare the way for His Messiah. John’s message was a clarion call to return to the way of Yahweh – to come out of the wilderness where for centuries they had wandered around with no one to show them the right way.

They had not heard God’s voice for four hundred years after the ministry of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets. Now, at last, God began to speak again, through John, the last of the prophets of the old era. His role was to prepare the way for the Son of God who came from God not only to speak God’s word but to be God’s final word to His people. If they did not listen to Jesus, God had nothing more to say to them.

Jesus did not come from God with a new message. He came from the Father to show His people how to live the way He had instructed them from the beginning. He came to interpret God’s eternal message. He did not come to do away with torah, but to live it out in the spirit of Torah which was the revelation of God’s mercy to show us how it is done.

On the mountain with God in the wilderness, Moses had begged God to show him His glory. God revealed the meaning of His name – mercy and compassion. In the flesh Jesus became the meaning of God’s name by showing mercy and compassion to His people, culminating in His death to rescue them from the consequences of and slavery to sin.

Just as John the Baptist called his people to shuv – to return to the way of the Lord, so the Holy Spirit still calls His people today. Jesus issued one simple instruction to the twelve men who became His disciples – “Follow me,” and the instruction has not changed. The church of the Lord Jesus has, in the main, become lost in the wilderness of ignorance and sin again because its leaders and those who follow them have ignored His call and made up their own way.

A lady made a profound statement to me in conversation recently, “Without Jesus, all we have left is religion.” How true that is! Many churches have plenty of religion but no Jesus. How tragic that mere humans have usurped His place and taken His people off the path and back into the wilderness where they have become exactly what His people were when He came – harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

John’s message is as relevant today as it was then: “Repent! Return to God’s way because the good news is that Jesus is here!”

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

The Promise Of Rest

Bible Study, , ,

THE PROMISE OF REST

Therefore, since the promise of rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.

Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God said, ‘So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’

For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in these words, ‘On the seventh day God rested from all His works.’

And again in the passage above He says, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ (Heb. 4: 1-5)

What exactly is this writer on about?

He seems to be using the words ‘faith’, ‘obedience’ and ‘rest’ interchangeably. The Israelites who disobeyed Him never reached the Promised Land. They perished on the journey because they did not believe that there was ‘rest’ for them in the land of Canaan. They refused to ‘rest;’ in God’s word which would have taken them to their destination had they done what He instructed them to do.

God’s rest was a cessation of His creative work on the seventh day, not because He was tired but because His work was complete. He had done everything He had to do, and it was up to what He had created to continue by carrying out His instructions.

Israel’s journey through the wilderness is a picture, a visual aid, of our journey through life. They had left the land of slavery through the miraculous intervention of God. He destroyed the enemy and set them free from their old lives of bondage to their slave drivers to follow God’s ‘way’ to the land He had prepared for them. All they were to do was to trust Him, do what He said, and stay on His ‘way’. If they left the ‘path’ they would get lost and perish in the desert.

His word was their road map, and obedience to His instructions guaranteed that they would keep going in the right direction. He gave them ‘landmarks’ to keep them on track, teaching them how to relate to Him as their God, and to one another as members of His ‘family’, His people who were to resemble Him in the way they lived together.

The Israelites didn’t get it. When God tested them to check on their trust, they turned on Moses and they turned on Him, accusing Him of bringing them into the desert to destroy them because He hated them. What a terrible accusation in the face of God’s evident love for them! He had proposed to them at Mount Sinai, calling them into a relationship with Him as intimate as marriage and giving them the promise that He had a place for them where they could rest in His love.

Had they believed His word and trusted His motives and His power, their journey to Canaan, as tough as it was, would have been over in a matter of weeks. They would have taken possession of their very own country and settled down to live in the houses and on the bounty that was already there, prepared for them by the inhabitants they were to drive out. It would have all happened smoothly and without stress because God was with them and for them.

What an amazing picture of our journey through life! God has already done everything to rescue us from our enemy, the devil, through the intervention of His Son. He has given us His instructions for navigating the journey of life. He has revealed His love and faithfulness to us by the miracle of new life in Jesus. He has forgiven our sin, reinstated us as His sons and daughters, promised us everything we need for the journey and, best of all, given us His presence in us by His Holy Spirit.

All we have to do now is to rest in what He has done and what He has said, do what He tells us and trust In His love and power to take us home. Every test is not, as the Israelites accused Him, His way of destroying us. It is His intention to reveal His glory by showing us His love through His power. He calls for trust, not complaint, and obedience, not resistance.

Faith, obedience, rest! This is the way home. The alternative is unthinkable – get lost and die in the wilderness, never entering His rest and never seeing the Promised Land.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

The Gospel Of God’s Grace

Bible Study, , ,

THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S GRACE

“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world – just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphrus, our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” Colossians 1:6b-8.

How did the gospel of God’s grace get to be what it is today in so many places across the world? What happened that the gospel became “God wants you rich” or “God wants you to walk in divine health” or even “receive Jesus as your personal Saviour so that you can go to heaven when you die”?

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that there should not be rich Christians or healthy believers or that we don’t go to be with Jesus when we die. But is this what our faith is all about? What is the heart of the good news that Jesus came from heaven to bring and to demonstrate? He called it “the good news of the kingdom of God”, and it’s nothing new.

God’s people had forgotten who was in charge. They gave themselves to idols and reaped the fruit of it – messed-up lives and conflict all around them. Isaiah had to remind them of the truth:

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'” Isaiah 52:7.

The good news is that God is still in charge – even though it may not seem like it. People everywhere are trying to find out who rules this planet, or who rules their country or their city or their family. What a relief, when we discover that God is still here, that He has not abdicated or gone somewhere else, and that His plans are still on track! The ones who believe that He is working everything out according to His will are learning to relax and allow Him to steer the ship.

Although Jesus came to die for our sins, He did much more than that while He walked among men. He came to reveal the Father, to take us to the Father and to reconcile the whole disjointed universe to Himself so that He can restore everything to its former glory and purpose. God did not abandon His plan in despair when Adam derailed it. It was already on His agenda to provide a solution from before the beginning of creation.

Paul described the good news as “the gospel of God’s grace”. Before He ever revealed Himself to humans, He was unknown and unknowable. He is so “other” than His created universe that it would take supernatural revelation for humans to recognise Him in the world around us and in our spirits. On top of that, because we have inherited Adam’s nature, our minds are in rebellion against Him and darkened in our understanding.

God sent Jesus to be a mirror image of Himself so that we could actually see Him in a person of flesh and blood. For what purpose? To know and experience a part of His nature that is unknowable outside of our imperfect humanity – His grace. How can we know God’s grace unless we need it? How could Paul experience grace unless he felt his weakness? In his desperate prayer to be free from his persecutors, God assured him:

“…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.

It was good news that God was in charge. It was a relief to know that He was still ruling His world. He was still giving people the power to live among ungodly people in ways that reflected Him when they chose to turn away from trying to run their own lives. This good news was spreading like wildfire across the world and Paul was elated. It had reached the people in Colossae and they had embraced it. It was changing their lives and their community.

The good news is not about heaven by and by. It’s about heaven coming to earth here and now because God’s in charge. It’s about loving instead of hating; it’s about  forgiving instead of getting even; it’s about sharing instead of grabbing; it’s about doing life together as God’s children in God’s family; it’s about cleaning up our messy lives, burying our differences and living in peace and safety with one another because we can.

It’s about showing the world what life can look like when we let God rule us. It’s about bringing heaven to earth now in preparation for the day when Jesus returns to take charge here forever. He will restore everything, throw out and destroy everything and everyone that disrupts including the devil and his minions, forever.

No, He will not abandon the earth. He will make everything new just as He said He would and we can be part of it if we get involved now.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.