Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5; Mark 1:1, 14-15; 16:15; Matt. 4:17; 24:14; 28:18-19
Ⅰ
The gospel includes all the truths in the Bible; thus, the entire Bible is the gospel of God—Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5:
A
The truth is the gospel, and the light of the truth is the light of the gospel; the unique commission of the church today is to preach the gospel, the content of which is the truth—Mark 1:1, 14-15; 16:15; John 8:12, 32; 1 Tim. 2:4.
B
The gospel is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament; the gospel is the fulfillment of the promises, prophecies, and types and is also the removal of the law; this is a full definition of the gospel—Mark 1:1, 14; Gen. 3:15, 21.
Ⅱ
The four Gospels reveal different aspects of the gospel:
A
In Matthew the goal of the gospel of the kingdom is to bring people into God to make them citizens of the kingdom of the heavens—28:19; 24:14; Rom. 14:17; Gal. 5:21.
B
In Mark the preaching of the gospel is to bring part of the old creation into the new creation—16:15-16; Rom. 8:20-21; Gal. 6:15.
C
In Luke we have the gospel of forgiveness to bring redeemed people back to the God-ordained blessing—24:46-48; 1:77-79; 2:30-32; Eph. 1:3, 7; Gal. 3:14.
D
In John we have the eternal life that we may bear fruit for the building up of the Body of Christ, which is Christ's increase—20:31; 15:16; Rom. 8:10, 6, 11; 12:4-5; Gal. 3:28; 4:19; 6:10, 16.
Ⅲ
It is crucial for us to see that the gospel is the gospel of the kingdom of God—Mark 1:14-15; Matt. 4:17; 24:14; 28:18-19:
A
The kingdom of God is a divine sphere for God to work out His plan; it is a realm where God can exercise His authority to accomplish what He intends—Mark 1:15; John 3:3, 5; Matt. 12:28; Rev. 11:15:
１
The kingdom of God is the ruling, the reigning, of God with all its blessing and enjoyment—Mark 1:15; Col. 1:13.
２
The kingdom is the realm for God to exercise His authority so that He may express His glory—Matt. 6:10, 13.
B
The fundamental problem in the universe is rebellion against the authority of God; when man fell, he rebelled against God, put God's authority aside, denied God's authority, and rejected God's rule—Isa. 14:12-14; Gen. 3:6, 11; Rom. 5:12; 1 John 3:4.
C
Through the gospel of the kingdom, God brings people under the ruling of the heavenly authority so that they may become His kingdom, those who are ruled by His authority—Matt. 24:14; Rev. 1:5-6.
D
The New Testament preaches the gospel in the way of the kingdom; because the kingdom of God is the real gospel, to know the gospel requires that we know the kingdom—Mark 1:14-15; Acts 8:12.
E
The gospel is for the kingdom, and the gospel is proclaimed so that rebellious sinners might be saved, qualified, and equipped to enter into the kingdom of God—Mark 1:14-15; Matt. 4:17; Acts 8:12:
１
The gospel of life, the gospel of grace, and the gospel of salvation are all for the kingdom; the kingdom is the center, the hub—John 3:16; Acts 20:24; 4:12.
２
The gospel of the kingdom brings people not only into God's salvation but also into the kingdom; the emphasis of the gospel of the kingdom is on the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord—Matt. 24:14.
３
The gospel of the kingdom brings the believers into the realm of the divine ruling so that they may participate in the blessings of the divine life in the divine kingdom—1 Thes. 2:12.
F
In Matthew the goal of the gospel of the kingdom is to set up the kingdom of the heavens by putting people into the Triune God, making them citizens of the kingdom of the heavens—28:19; Rom. 14:17.
G
God commands everyone to repent for the kingdom—Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Acts 17:30:
１
To repent means that originally we were rebellious and against God, but now we turn back to the Lord in submission—Matt. 3:2; 4:17.
２
To repent is to have a change of mind issuing in regret, to have a turn in purpose—Luke 3:3, 8; 5:32; 17:3; Acts 17:30-31.
３
Unless we repent—that is, have a change of concept—we cannot enter into the kingdom—Mark 1:15; Matt. 3:2; 4:17.
Ⅳ
The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age—24:14:
A
The gospel of the kingdom must be brought to the whole inhabited earth through the churches in the Lord's recovery—v. 14; 1 Thes. 1:8.
B
Because all authority has been given to the resurrected Christ, He sent His disciples to disciple all the nations; they go with His authority—Matt. 28:18-19:
１
To disciple the nations is to make the heathen the kingdom people for the establishing of His kingdom, which is the church, even today, on the earth—1 Thes. 1:9; 2:12; Rev. 1:5-6, 9; 5:9-10.
２
The intrinsic purpose of our preaching the gospel is to bring the people of the nations into the Triune God in order to make them the citizens of the kingdom of the heavens—Matt. 24:14; 28:18-19.
３
According to Matthew, being baptized into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is for the constituting of the kingdom of the heavens—v. 19.
４
God's heavenly kingdom can be constituted only with people who have been immersed into the union with the Triune God and who have been established and built up with the Triune God, who has been wrought into them—Rom. 6:3-4; 14:17; Gal. 3:26-27; 4:19; 5:21; Eph. 3:14-19; 5:5.