"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20)
Today an estimated 41,000 people died [i] from starvation and malnutrition. Tomorrow another 41,000 will die. And the deaths continue, day after day. This week there are over a million more people living on the earth than there were last week.[ii] Next week there will be a million more. And so the population grows, week after week. This year the world spent over 500 billion dollars [iii] for military arms. Next year it will spend more. And violence continues.
The earth under the rule of Man is filled with problems that he is unable to solve. All facets of order are breaking down. judgment is perverted, inequities abound, and ‘violence fills the land.’ [iv]
Where is the ‘good news” (gospel) [v] promised by the Bible? Will these present evils ever end? Many times the Bible speaks of ‘the good news of the kingdom of God.’ What is this good news?
The Bible has promised us that at the proper time God will send His son, Jesus Christ, back to the earth [vi] as its King. [vii] ‘God’s King’ ruling over ‘God’s Earth,’ will issue forth ‘God’s Laws,’ [viii] concerning all ‘God’s Creation.’ This Kingdom will be God’s Kingdom, “The Kingdom of God.” [ix] The Kingdom will encompass the entire earth, [x] and Jerusalem will be the Capital City of the World. [xi] From here Christ will issue forth God’s Laws which all the nations of the earth will be required to obey. [xii] They will be ‘right’ laws, and when in effect will produce ‘righteousness’ in the earth. [xiii] The present human governments that rule the earth will be required to submit themselves to the laws of God. Those that reject this command will be destroyed.12 This means for example, that the United States, if not destroyed, will no longer be permitted to follow its own laws (the Constitution, etc.), but rather will be required to follow the laws of God, which Jesus Christ will proclaim from Jerusalem. So too will it be with every nation on the earth. God’s Laws must be followed in God’s Kingdom! With God’s Kingdom in the earth, the Lord’s Prayer will be fulfilled, “thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth” (Mat. 6:10).
This is the gospel message. It is the good news that God will intervene in the present evil human governments, and establish His Kingdom upon the earth in their stead. Then mankind will give glory to God in the highest, and on earth there will be peace, and good will toward men (Luke 2:14). There will be judgment and justice in the earth.12 All wars will cease. [xiv] Food will abound for all the peoples of the earth. [xv] There will be one common worship and religion; all men will properly worship the God of Heaven. [xvi] The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:9).
But what does this gospel message mean to us? God tells us that we must believe this good news about His coming Kingdom and then be baptized. [xvii] After baptism we must walk in newness of life, being obedient to God, as He has shown us through His Word, the Bible. [xviii] These three things, belief, baptism, and obedience, are necessary if we are to be saved from death and admitted into God’s future Kingdom. God has given us the invitation; let us wisely accept.
If you would like more detailed information concerning this subject, please go to: www.TheChristadelphianEcclesia.org
 :
[i] 41,000 Die Daily.
Herald American, April 25, 1981, p.A12.
[ii] Over a Million a Week.
The World Almanac, 1985, p. 501.
[iii] 500 billion dollars in arms.
Richard Strout, The Christian Science Monitor, The $500 billion arms bill, p,23, Sept. 12, (1980).
[iv] Violence in the earth.
Gen. 6:10-11, “And Noah begat three sons…the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Luke 17:26, “And as it was in the days of Noe (Noah), so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Mat. 24:37, “As the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the son of man be.”
[v] Gospel.
This is from the Greek word ‘euaggelion,’ and signifies “good news.” See for example Young’s or Strong’s Concordance. Gal. 3:8,16,&29, “God…preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying IN THEE SHALL ALL NATIONS BE BLESSED…16) Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made… and to thy seed, which is Christ…29) And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Note: Here God himself defines the gospel. “God…preached before the gospel to Abraham (concerning both Abraham and Christ), SAYING in thee shall all nations be blessed.” The gospel then is the good news that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham and Christ.
This was the good news that Christ proclaimed in Mark 1:14, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.”
[vi] Christ will return to the earth.
Acts 1:11, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” II Tim. 4:1, “Jesus Christ…who shall judge the quick and the dead AT HIS APPEARING and his kingdom.” Jesus said in John 14:3, “I will come again.”
[vii] Jesus Christ will be the King.
Psa. 2:6, “Yet have I set my KING upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art MY SON; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen (nations – RSV) for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” John 18:37, “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a King then? Jesus answered,…To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world.”
[viii] God’s laws in the earth.
Mic. 4:2-3, “The LAW shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off.” Isa. 42:1&4, “Behold my servant,…shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles (RSV – nations)…4) He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his LAW.” Zec. 9:9-10, (RSV) “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!…Lo your king comes to you…and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Isa. 60:12, “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.”
[ix] God’s Kingdom.
When Christ returns, mankind will have its kings reigning over them. Dan. 2:44, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Psa. 22:27-28, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations.”
We pray for this when we say the Lord’s Prayer. Mat. 6:9-10, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
[x] God’s kingdom will encompass the whole earth.
Psa. 22:27-28. “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the governor among the nations. Psa. 72:1&8, “Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son…8) He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” Zec. 14:9&16, “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one…16) And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”
[xi] Jerusalem will be the capital city of the world.
Isa. 2:2&3, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established…For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Psa. 48:2, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” Mat. 5:35, “Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.” Mic. 4:1&8, “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that…8) the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.”
[xii] All Nations must obey God’s laws.
Zec. 9:9-10, “Rejoice greatly, O dayghter of Zion!… Lo your king comes to you… and he shall COMMAND peace to the nations.” Zec. 14:16-18, “Every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King… And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem…upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen (RSV – nations) that come not up.” Isa. 60:12, “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.” Rev. 19:9&15, “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb…15) And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.”
[xiii] There will be righteousness and justice in the earth.
Isa. 32:1, 16-17, (RSV), “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice…16) Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever.” Psa. 72:1-4, & 12, “Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor…12) For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.” Jer. 23:5, (RSV), “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
[xiv] Wars will cease.
Zec. 9:9-10, (RSV), “Your king…shall command peace to the nations.” Isa. 32:17, (RSV), “And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.” Mic. 4:1&3, “But in the last days…he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
[xv] Food will abound.
Psa. 67:4&6, “Thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon the earth…then shall the earth yield her increase.” Amos 9:13, “The plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed.” Eze. 36:29, “I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you; I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field.” Isa. 35:1 “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”
[xvi] There will be one true religion.
Isa. 2:3, “Many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”
Jer. 31:34, (RSV), “No longer shall each man teach his neighbor and teach his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.”
[xvii] Believe the gospel and be baptized.
Mark 16:15-16, “Preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Acts 8:12, “But when they believed Phillip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized.”
[xviii] After baptism we must be obedient to God’s commands, walking in newness of life.
Rev. 22:14 “Blessed are they that DO HIS COMMANDMENTS, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Romans chapter 6 shows that in baptism we have symbolically died to the “old man of the flesh,” and have risen from the waters of baptism to walk in “newness of life” to God. Rom. 6:6 tells us that at baptism “our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin,” but rather we must “walk in newness of life” (verse 4), and “live unto God” (verse 10). I Cor. 6:9-10 shows that in addition to “believing,” we must also cease from ungodliness. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (See also Gal. 5:19-21 & Eph. 5:3-5). Mat. 7:20 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he the DOETH the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Jam. 2:17 “Faith if it hath not works is dead, being alone…19) Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest will; the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead. 21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22) Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?… 26) For us the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” I Jo. 2:3-4 “And hereby we do know that we know him, IF we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”