WHAT IS THE GOSPEL OF JESUS?

INDEX FOR THIS SECTION
1. JESUS AND HIS GOSPEL; WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT RELATE TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN?
2. NEW TESTAMENT QUICK SUMMARIES OF THE GOSPEL.
3. COMPILATION OF THE GOSPEL.
4. PROPHETIC ASPECTS OF THE GOSPEL.
5. THE PURPOSES FOR JESUS FIRST COMING TO EARTH.

6. MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL

JESUS AND HIS GOSPEL

THE GOSPEL; WHAT IS IT? HOW DOES IT RELATE TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN?

INTRODUCTION

Let us start this study of the gospel with a little historical perspective. A couple of data points from first century history are taken from the book “True Story,” by James Chung. During the New Testament period, it had been over 600 years since Israel had been a truly independent nation. The Babylonians had conquered Israel (really Judah) in 606 BC and from that time forward until the time of Christ, there were a series of empires that controlled the Middle East. The Babylonians were conquered by the Persians, who were conquered by the Greeks, who were conquered by the Romans. During the New Testament times Israel was under the control of the Romans. They had to pay taxes to Rome and many aspects of their lives were controlled by the Romans. The Jews longed to be independent again. They were looking for the promised Messiah to come and free them from the bondage to Rome. They must have gotten really excited when they heard Jesus speak of a future kingdom and speak of good news.
The English word “gospel” is a translation of the Greek word meaning “good news.” This Greek word was used by the military in the first century to express victory. Caesar thought of himself as lord over his kingdom and when he conquered a region he might send out messengers to spread the gospel (good news) of his victory. When Jesus spoke of spreading the gospel the crowds could easily get the wrong impression that Jesus was proclaiming a soon coming victory over Rome, meaning that they would become an independent nation again. This ultimately led to Jesus’ crucifixion. They could have easily concluded that Jesus was the promised Messiah and that he had come to establish the prophesied “kingdom under the whole heavens” from Dan 7:27; a kingdom which would be handed over to the people of the Most High. Jesus very likely chose these words on purpose. He knew that proclaiming the “good news” of his coming victory would be misinterpreted by the Jewish leaders and the Romans to mean that he would lead a rebellion against Rome and set the Jewish people free of Rome. He knew that this would lead to his eventual crucifixion. To help us understand the real “good news” that Jesus was proclaiming we will study what the gospel that Jesus brought to earth was all about.
Meithe’s Compact Dictionary of Doctrinal Words defines the word “gospel” in the following way. The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon god-spell, a translation of the Greek evangelion, good news. The gospel is the good news of the message of salvation offered by God to all who believe in his son, Jesus, as Lord and Savior. The word also refers to the first four books of the New Testament because they recount the life and teachings of Jesus.
Let us not be satisfied with this definition until we research what the New Testament tells us about the gospel and how the word is used by Jesus and the other New Testament writers. After we do that we will try to determine whether or not we need to expand the above definition.

NEW TESTAMENT QUICK SUMMARIES OF THE GOSPEL
Following are summaries of what several New Testament scriptures tell us about the gospel and what it is and means. In his first sermon in the synagogue in Nazareth after the beginning of his ministry, as described in Luke 4:3-4, Jesus read a prophecy of his first coming from the scroll of Isaiah which foretold his gospel. Jesus read from Isa 61 starting in verse 1 and stopping in the middle of verse 2. This includes the prophecy that he would preach the gospel to the poor (in spirit; those who realize that they are lost and surrender everything to him, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Matt 5:3-10).
Paul gives us one of the best and most complete description of what the gospel is in 1 Cor 15:1-8. Here Paul says that you are saved by this gospel if you hold firmly to it. He summarizes the reason for Jesus first coming as follows:
Christ died for our sins as prophesied in the Scriptures.
He was buried and raised on the third day, again as prophesied in the Scriptures.
After he arose, Jesus appeared to the twelve disciples, over 500 brothers at the same time, to all of the apostles, to James and lastly to Paul in a supernatural way.
Paul also summarizes the gospel in Col 1:21-23 as follows: As believers, we are reconciled to God and seen as pure and blameless in his sight because of Jesus’ death for us, assuming that we continue in the faith.
If we compare the sermons of Peter in Acts 2:14-39 and Paul in Acts 13:16-41, we can easily see that they used a common outline (as directed by Jesus, and provided by the Holy Spirit), but filled it out according to their own individual personalities and styles. The common outline was something like this:
Review Jewish history using the Old Testament.
Review the Old Testament prophesies of a coming Messiah.
Review Jesus’ life, crucifixion, resurrection and the fact that hundreds had witnessed it.
Show how Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah.
Draw the conclusion that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah.
Proclaim that only through belief in Jesus and forgiveness of sins could salvation be achieved.
There are many places that the gospels record Jesus and the apostles preaching the gospel (Mark 2:2, Luke 9:2, 6). Other than Jesus Sermon on the Mount, the sermons of Peter and Paul outlined above may be the most completely recorded sermons that we have Biblical record of. If they were preaching the “gospel,” as they surely must have been, then we have an excellent outline of the composition of the gospel. Acts 9:7 says that Peter was preaching the gospel. Paul stated over and over that he was preaching the gospel (Rom 1:9, 1 Cor 9:18, 2 Cor 11:7, Gal 2:7), the good news of the victory achieved by Jesus.
The victory that Jesus achieved is described in 1 Cor 15:54-57 as a victory over death and sin, and in 1 John 5:3-5 as a victory over the world. What kingdom do we now live in, in a physical sense? Rev 11:15 describes it as “the kingdom of the world.” Satan is the king of this kingdom. We can achieve victory over Satan and his kingdom in which we now live only through belief in and following Jesus Christ.
We will continue by reviewing several other scriptures that each give some particular dimension of the “gospel.”
Acts 15:7, 11; Eph 3:7 – It is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved.
Rom 1:16 – The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Rom 1:17 – The gospel reveals a righteousness from God, that is by faith.
1 Cor 1:17 – The power of the gospel does not come from words of human wisdom, but through the power of the cross.
Gal 3:8 quoting Gen 12:3 – All nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham.
Eph 1:13, Col 1:5 – The gospel is the word of truth.
Eph 3:5 – Through the gospel all believers share together in the promise in Jesus Christ.
2 Tim 1:8-11 (2 Cor 5:5) – The gospel was God’s plan even before the beginning of time. God revealed the gospel to man through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus destroyed death and provided for eternal life.
2 Tim 2:8 – Remember, Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel.
Acts 20:24 – The realization of the gospel comes through the grace of God.
Col 1:23 – The gospel provides hope; blessed hope is the rapture of believers, Titus 2:13.
Heb 3:12-4:8 – The gospel was presented in the Old Testament to the Jews.
Matt 24:14 – The gospel is about the kingdom. In John 3:3 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Four verses later Jesus emphasizes this by saying, “You must be born again.” John 1:12-13 says that those who become believers in Jesus are both born of man and born of God. Those born of God become children of God. John 3:5-8 further explains this when it says we must be born of flesh and born of spirit. It says that spirit gives birth to spirit. Verse 8 says we are born of the Holy Spirit. We then have the Holy Spirit living within us. Recent polls reveal that only 9% of Americans claim to be born again Christians, while 85% claim to be Christian. What a shame! Jesus says “You MUST be born again.” This leads me to ask, “Is it possible that some Christians are born again but do not know it?” Whose responsibility is it to tell them?

COMPILATION OF THE GOSPEL
We will next compile and simplify what we have learned about the gospel and what it is.
The gospel, including specific details, was prophesied in the Old Testament.
Jesus fulfilled all of the details of the Old Testament prophesies, including his birthplace, his lineage (through Abraham and David), his divinity, his mission on earth, his death, his resurrection, etc.
All of the nations of earth will eventually be blessed through the gospel. The gospel is for all who accept, become believers in and put their faith in Jesus.
This gospel was God’s plan even before the creation of time. God revealed the gospel to man through his Son, Jesus Christ in both the Old and New Testaments.
The gospel was enabled by God (the Father and the Son) through his grace.
Jesus resurrection as firstfruits means that all of Jesus’ followers will also one day be resurrected to eternal life with him in heaven.
The gospel represents truth; Jesus is the Truth and the Word, the Way and the Life.
The gospel provides hope; it is the living hope, 1 Pet 1:3.
The gospel is about the kingdom.
The power of the gospel is provided by the cross; the fact that Jesus died for our sins means that all who follow him are forgiven of their sins and seen as holy and blameless by God even though they really are not.
Jesus died for our sins, was buried and then raised on the third day, all as prophesied in the Scriptures, and then appeared to the apostles and over 500 others.
We are reconciled to God and seen as pure and blameless in his sight because of Jesus’ death for us, assuming that we continue in the faith.
So we now have a compiled summary of the gospel, but as we will see next there is more to the story.

PROPHETIC ASPECTS OF THE GOSPEL
The fact that the gospel was prophesied in the Old Testament was apparently very important to the presentation of the gospel. Mark 1:1 begins “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet, etc…” Mark’s first detail about the gospel was that it was prophesied in the Old Testament. Paul mentioned this twice in his summary of the gospel in 1 Cor 15 which was summarized above. At the very beginning of Romans Paul says in verses 1-2, “Paul, set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son.” This was also hi-lighted in Peter’s and Paul’s sermons recorded in Acts as shown above. The fact that it was prophesied is mentioned in several other places dealing with the gospel as well. One key reason for this was that the Jews honored and believed the Old Testament. The fact that Jesus fulfilled all of these prophesies in a perfect way was used by the New Testament apostles to try to convince Jews to believe in Jesus.
It seems that there are two prophetic aspects to the gospel. One concerns the first coming and the other the second coming of Jesus. The first coming prophecies were all fulfilled in Jesus first coming to earth and included in the gospel sermons and summaries of Paul and Peter as we studied above. The second coming prophecies in the gospel had a very mysterious aspect to them and dealt with Jesus future coming to set up a kingdom on earth. This was referred to as the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God.
Both Jesus’ first and second coming purposes in coming to earth were announced prophetically in Isa 61:1-3. Jesus clarified which parts of this prophecy applied to his first coming during his first sermon in the synagogue in Nazareth after the start of his earthly ministry. This is recorded in Luke 4:16-21. He read the first verse and half of the second verse, stopping at a comma, and proclaimed to those in attendance, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” I will summarize what Jesus said were his purposes in coming to earth in his first coming (the words from Isa 61 followed by the words from Luke 4):
God had anointed him to preach the good news (yes, the gospel was prophesied in the Old Testament) to the poor.
He was sent to bind up the brokenhearted; to proclaim recovery of sight for the blind.
He was sent to proclaim freedom for the captives; to release the oppressed. This was accomplished through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Those held captive through the power of sin were released, declared perfect through Jesus’ sacrifice and allowed to go directly to heaven when they died.
He was sent to proclaim release from darkness for the prisoners; freedom for the prisoners. This was fulfilled between Jesus death and resurrection when he went to Hades and took those being held there in Abraham’s Bosom to heaven; this was made possible because Jesus had died for their sins and they could now be seen by God as holy and righteous in his eyes, as perfect and fit to be in his presence in heaven.
He was sent to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This was fulfilled as Jesus proclaimed and preached the coming kingdom of heaven.
The remainder of Isa 61:2-3 speaks of the purposes for Jesus’ second coming and include the day of God’s vengeance on his enemies, comfort for those who grieve in Israel, rewards for his followers, resurrected bodies for the dead saints, etc.

PURPOSES FOR JESUS FIRST COMING TO EARTH
For completeness, I will list several other reasons that are given in the Bible for Jesus’ first coming (each scripture is specific in saying this):
John 1:11 – he came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Isa 53:4-6, 11-12 – to take up our infirmities, carry our sorrows, be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, heal us with his wounds, die for our sins, be resurrected to life, to justify and make intercession to God for us.
John 3:14-16, 12:27, Heb 2:9 – to die on a cross and be resurrected so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Matt 1:21, 1 Tim 1:15 – to save us from our sins.
Heb 2:17 – to become a merciful and faithful high priest unto God so that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Rom 8:3 – to be a sin offering.
John 18:37 – to testify to the truth.
Mark 1:38, Luke 4:43 – to preach the gospel in the villages.
Luke 19:10, John 12:47 – to seek and save the lost; to save the world.
John 9:39 – so that his final judgment can be fair; he will make clear the requirements for eternal life. The blind will see and those who see (Pharisees) will become blind.
John 10:10 – so that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
Rom 15:8, 11:11, Gal 3:14 – to become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy.
Gal 4:4 – to redeem those under law, that we might receive the rights of sons.
Gal 3:14 – so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Heb 2:14-15, 1 John 3:7-8 – to destroy the work of the one who holds the power of death – Satan – and free us from the fear of death.
Heb 2:17 – to become like his brothers in every way; to walk a mile in our shoes.
John 12:46 – to be a light, so that no one who believes should stay in darkness.
Matt 5:17 – not to abolish the law and prophets, but to fulfill them.
Matt 9:13 – not to call the righteous, but sinners.
Matt 10:34 – not to bring peace, but a sword.
Matt 20:28 – not to be served, but to serve.
John 6:38 – not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me.
John 12:47 – not to judge the world, but to save it.

THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL
We will now explore the rest of the story. We will explore the mysterious way that the second coming prophecies are included in the gospel. There are several mysteries spoken of in the New Testament including the mystery of God’s will, the mystery of God, the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of the church as the bride of Christ, the mystery of the blinding of the Jews, the mystery of all nations, including Israel, becoming believers in Jesus, the mystery of :Christ in you,” and the mystery of the rapture. A close analysis of all of these mysteries reveals that they are all in some way or another associated with the end times, with the bride of Christ, how to become a part of the bride, and with details of things that will take place as Jesus becomes King of kings and Lord of lords.
Rev 10:7 tells us when the mystery of God’s will be fulfilled. “But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” We know when this is; just before the Second Coming of Jesus, when Jesus returns in power and glory. This is amplified in Rev 11:15 in the description of the seventh trumpet judgment. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” This ushers in the 1000 year millennium, which Jesus discussed over and over in his kingdom parables, and which he referred to as the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of God. Another aspect of this mystery is given in Rom 2:16, which says the gospel declares that “God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ.”
The gospel has a mysterious aspect to it. Many of the mysteries are hidden in the kingdom parables in Matthew. One of these hidden aspects is that the literal physical kingdom will not be fulfilled until the Second Coming of Jesus. That ushers in the time of which the Bible says the following, among many other things;
A judgment presided over by Jesus will precede the 1000 year millennium. It is called the sheep-goat judgment.
Jesus will reside on earth for 1000 years as king of Kings and lord of Lords. He will also be the priest. His residence will be in Israel.
The first will be last and the last will be first.
Anything that we ask in Jesus name will be done for us.
The righteous will inherit the earth, be comforted, be filled, be shown mercy, be called sons of God, and finally actually see God.
The saints will judge and reign with Jesus.
The Jews will finally live in the whole of the land promised to them. Israel will be a special blessing to the world.
The earth will be a literal paradise, people will live for hundreds of years, there will be continuous peace, the climate will be wonderful, wild animals and insects will no longer harm humans or each other, diseases will be under control, and best of all Jesus will be living on earth with man.
This time is repeatedly spoken of by Jesus as the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God, and it represents the mystery aspect of the gospel. Jesus spoke of and preached about this over and over. However he did so in mysterious language through the use of parables. In Matthew 13 Jesus told the assembled disciples that the secrets of this mysterious kingdom of heaven would be revealed to them but not to others. Matt 13:34 says that Jesus did not say anything to the crowds that gathered to hear his teachings without using parables. The crowds were spellbound even though they did not understand much of what he was saying.
Jesus revealed several of the secrets of the future kingdom in the kingdom parables including the following:
there will be a future kingdom on earth in which Jesus will be the king
it will be a long time before Jesus returns to set up the kingdom
what the kingdom will be like
who gets into the kingdom
who is excluded from the kingdom
The kingdom of heaven represents a mysterious aspect of the gospel. The fact that Jesus nearly always used this in his teachings is revealed in several scriptures. We will summarize a few of these.
Col 1:12-13 says that the Father has qualified us to share in the future inheritance of the saints in the “kingdom of light,” the kingdom of the son. He has rescued us from an eternity in the kingdom of darkness. The Father has qualified us through Jesus, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
Luke 9:2 says that Jesus sent out the disciples to preach the kingdom of God. Verse 6 says that they set out and went from village to village preaching the gospel.
Mark 1:15 says “the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news” (the gospel).
Matt 24:14 says that the gospel will be preached throughout the whole world and then the end will come. The fulfillment of this is presented in Rev 14:6-7 when it says that just before the Second Coming an angel will proclaim the eternal gospel to those who live on the earth – every nation, tribe, language and people.

CONCLUSION
From all that we have studied it seems immensely clear that the future physical aspect of the kingdom of heaven represents the mysterious part of the gospel. It is clearly intended to be thought of as a part of the gospel but not the whole of the gospel. When the gospel was preached it included a prophetic message, that those who follow Jesus will have a great future reward in that they will reign with Jesus in a future 1000 year millennium on a paradise like earth. Jesus described this kingdom in very difficult to understand symbology in his parables. When we present the gospel today we almost always leave that part of it out. That is a tragedy. The gospel also has much more to it and that part of the message was presented quite clearly by Paul, Peter, John and the other New Testament writers.
The spiritual aspect of the kingdom of heaven was also presented over and over by Jesus in his parables. This was also a mystery to those he was speaking to. This aspect of the kingdom would be made possible by Jesus death and resurrection and would begin when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. From that time on believers would have God living within them and would become a part of the kingdom of heaven even while they were living on earth.. It would be in a spiritual sense, within them, as God’s Spirit and their spirit resided together within their bodies. This can also be thought of as prophetic, because Jesus was foretelling it before it came to pass.If we again take a look at Meithe’s definition of the gospel that we quoted in the introduction we will see that it is a well boiled down version of what we have found across the New Testament. The exception is that his definition does not mention or include the prophetic and mysterious aspects of the gospel. That seems to be a common oversight. If we want to know the details we must dig them up for ourselves. I believe that God wants and expects us to do that.