The True Gospel

Nowhere in scripture does Yeshua say that the gospel is about Him coming to die for our sins?

 

What Did Yeshua Preach?

Many would be shocked to find out that the Bible defines the gospel differently than what they have always been told. A thorough reading shows that accepting Christ's blood in payment for our sins—as foundationally important as it is—is not the focus of the "good news" that He brought and that the apostles continued to preach. In addition to dying for our sins, Yeshua came to earth as a messenger from Yehovah the Father:

 

The good news is that Yehovah ordained Yeshua to announce the coming of His kingdom here on earth.

 

• John 8:38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your Father.”

 

• John 12:49-50 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has Himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that His commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

 

• John 14:24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my word. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Fathers who sent me.

 

• Luke 4:43 Yeshua said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of Yehovah to the

other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."

While Yeshua was categorically the most important individual ever to walk this earth, the Bible shows clearly that the gospel brought by Yeshua was not simply about Himself. Read His statements, and prove this for yourself:

 

• Matthew 9:35 Yeshua went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.…

• Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was put in prison, Yeshua 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”.

43

 

• Luke 8:1 Now it came to pass, afterward, that Yeshua went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings [gospel] of the kingdom of God.

 

• Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

 

• Matthew 24:14 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. 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.

 

The announcement of "good news"— the very best news that could be heard today—which the Father gave through Yeshua, was about His Kingdom being established on earth. What is a kingdom?

 

It is essentially a nation, with all of its citizens, land, and laws, ruled by a government. In biblical usage, a kingdom can also mean a family from a single parent grown into a nation.

 

A kingdom has four basic elements:

1. a king, supreme ruler, or governing agent;

2. territory, with its specific location and definite boundary lines;

3. subjects or citizens within that territorial jurisdiction;

4. and laws and a form of government through which the will of the ruler is exercised. If we ignore any one of these essential elements—if we ignore the message that Yeshua brought from the Father—we will have a distorted faith, one that will not bring salvation.

 

Who Will Be King?

There can be no doubt that the King of God's Kingdom will be Yeshua. Even though He did not exercise any civil authority while on earth when He returns, He will be "King of kings and Lord of lords" Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16; 17:14).

Other prophets also foretold of a coming king, not just of Israel and Judah, but also extending to the entire world. Isaiah tells us:

For unto us, a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

 

Where Will the Kingdom Be Established? A dominant falsehood that Satan has foisted on mankind is the belief that one's soul goes to heaven after death. Many people assume that the phrase Kingdom of God is synonymous with heaven, but the Bible teaches that when Yeshua returns, the Kingdom of God will be established on earth!

First, notice how the Bible completely refutes the notion of "going to heaven" after death. Peter tells the crowd on the day of Pentecost, "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day..

.. For David did not ascend into the heavens" (Acts 2:29, 34). This "man after God's own heart" is not in heaven, but still in the grave! Our Savior confirms this in

• John 3:13: "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."

 

• Ecclesiastes 9:5,10 The dead saints of the Old and New Testaments alike are sleeping in their graves, awaiting the resurrection - without consciousness.

 

• Job 14:14-15 Job describes waiting for the resurrection in this way: "If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes. You shall call, and I will answer You.

 

• Revelation 5:10, "And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth!"

 

• Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying; "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Yehovah and His Son, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

 

• Revelation 21:21. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

 …

• Revelation 21:1 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." Who Are the Kingdom's Subjects and Citizens? Even though the entire world will be ruled by Yeshua when He establishes the Kingdom on earth, not everyone on earth will be a citizen of that Kingdom. Everyone will be subject to the King of Kings, but not everyone will have entered into that spiritual Kingdom.

 

• John 3:3 Yeshua revealed this truth to Nicodemus. When Nicodemus came to Him at night, Yeshua told him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" .

 

• I Corinthians 15:50. Paul told the Corinthians "Flesh and blood [mortal humans] cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption" While we have a physical, flesh-and-blood body, we may be heirs of the Kingdom, but we cannot enter fully into the Kingdom, nor can we see it, until we become spirit—given a glorious spirit-composed body in the resurrection.

This means that, even though all of mankind will be subject to the Kingdom that Yeshua will rule on earth, they will not necessarily be a part of it.

Matthew 25:31-34 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." The Kingdom of God, then, will be ruled by Yeshua and will be inherited by those who have been glorified upon being resurrected from the dead. The resurrected saints—citizens of God's Kingdom—will rule along with

Yeshua over the remaining peoples of the earth (Daniel 7:27; II Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:26-28; 5:9-10; 20:4-6; 22:5). What are the Laws of the Kingdom?

 

• Judges 21:25. Law is simply a guide for people to follow to ensure cohesion, agreement, and peace in civil and interpersonal relationships. Without an understood standard, enforced by a sovereign ruler, everyone would act according to his own whim or desire, and nothing good or worthwhile would be produced. The Kingdom of God is no different.

 

• I Corinthians 14:33 God is not the author of confusion. His Kingdom will be peaceful and orderly because everyone who will enter into it will have voluntarily submitted himself to the law - the commandments - of God. God will not have anyone in His Kingdom who demonstrates, by the pattern of his life, that he will not obey Him.

 

• (Matthew 7:21-23; Hebrews 10:26-31). Revelation 12:17 describes the saints as those "who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Yeshua.

These two statements - loving God and loving your neighbor as oneself - encapsulate the first four and the last six commandments respectively. The commandments merely define further how to love God and love man. We love God in general by placing Him first, by not adopting physical aids in worshipping Him, by not bearing His name in vain, and by keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy. We love men, in general, by honoring our parents, not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, not lying, and not coveting.

 

• John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Fathers who sent Me."