The Primary Message of Jesus Christ
Posted by Bryan
In the previous post, I asked the question, "What is the primary message Jesus Christ spoke while on earth?" Excellent answers were provided. In fact, when the question was asked of us by boss 1 at our Spiritual Focus Day on this past Thursday, my answer along the lines of "I came to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:11)"
However, he wisely encouraged us to look at how the Bible itself answers that question. So I did, and here's what I discovered:
- Matthew 6:33 -- "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you."
- Mark 1:14-15 -- After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!"
- Luke 4:43 -- But He said to them, "I must proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose."
- John 3:3 -- Jesus replied, " I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
- Acts 1:3 -- 3 After He had suffered, He also presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
All other things about which Jesus preached are only understood in the context of his primary message regarding the Kingdom of God:
- In Matthew, in the context of the "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus is basically saying, everything I've just talked about (Matthew 5:1-6:32) is important and true...BUT...seek first the Kindgom of God and these things will be added to you. Discovering and understanding the Kingdom of God is foundational to godly living and elemental to accessing eternal blessings.
- Mark -- "The time" is fulfilled. This is no announcement of Morris Day. This is the exclamation that provides insight that the culmination and apex of God's plan (for which time itself was created) regards His Kingdom. This also gives a hint that the Kingdom of God is not only an event, but about a state of existence.
- Luke -- Perhaps the most overt declaration of all. Jesus was not fractured in His thinking. All other messages that He would deliver would be held within the context of the Kingdom of God, because it was for this purpose alone that He must proclaim its good news.
- John -- In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus revealed that the Kingdom of God is the fullness of God's plan. Being born again is not the end goal. It is, however, the process by which one gets to experience the realization of God's purpose. In this, the Kingdom of God is also understood to be a real place of locational reality. More, though, this word "see" also implies a sense of perception or of experiential knowledge -- this is the encouraging promise that "being born again" is efficacious toward a first-hand experience in this locale (as compared to viewing it from afar).
- Acts -- After His death, burial, and resurrection Jesus had 40 days to pass to humanity his most important message. He appeared often, alive (proven repeatedly and creatively) and spoke only of one thing -- the Kingdom of God.
If the Kingdom of God was indeed his primary message, then it seems to make sense that those who call themselves followers of Jesus should know what He was saying.
Let's look into that together.
January 15, 2005 6:41 PM