According to Mark 16:15 we are supposed to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. When there is an opportunity to travel abroad and participate in Missions work we must remember that preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is most important because that is what’s going to meet the needs of the people. In Mark 1:14 you will see that Jesus did just that. After looking at Jesus’ ministry I noticed that He would go from city to city preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. I believe that if we understood the importance of not just preaching the Gospel, but rather preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God then we will be more effective in the Mission field.In Luke 4:43 (Amp) Jesus says that “I MUST preach the (Gospel) of the Kingdom of God to the other cities [and towns] also, for I was sent for this [purpose]. We know also in Luke 4:18 He said “the Spirit of the lord is upon me to preach the Gospel. The Word tells us that Jesus is our example and the way that Jesus carried himself in the world so should we. It is now up to us to take the gospel beyond the four walls of the church to every corner of the earth.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry He spoke about the Kingdom of God. He explained it to Nicodemus in John 3:3 (Amp); He said that “unless a person is born-again (anew, from above) he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, or experience the kingdom of God” The first step to operating in the Kingdom of God is to first accept Christ in your life. In Colossians 1:13 He says that God has translated us into the Kingdom of God, and in Luke 17:2 1 Jesus says “. . .for behold the kingdom of God is within you”. After a person gets born again, translation into the kingdom takes place and it is at that point that the Kingdom of God is within.
One more important aspect of operating in the Kingdom of God is loving the Lord with all your heart, your entire mind and all your might, and you must love your neighbor as your-self. In Matthew 19:19-21 the rich young ruler discovered that he was missing one component that pre-vented him from entering into the Kingdom of God. From his youth he said he had kept the commandments. After Jesus told him to sell what he owned and come and follow him, the one thing he lacked was exposed, and that was loving the Lord with all his heart, his mind and his might. He had loved his neighbor as himself because he said he did not commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, nor defraud and he honored his father and mother, and surely all of that, was an expression of him loving his neighbor as himself.
In this recording, the rich young ruler was not being given a money test, but rather a love test. Jesus was saying to him, except you love God more than anything you posses, then you can’t enter into the Kingdom of God.
Now you might be asking yourself, well, what is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God? Let’s start with what we do know. We know that the word Gospel means “The Good News”. Now let’s see what the Kingdom of God means and how it operates. Let’s first look at the word Kingdom. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Kingdom as: the realm in which God’s will is fulfilled; the realm or reign in which something or someone dominates. Thus, the Kingdom of God is the realm in which God will fulfill His Word, and it is the area which at anytime God’s authority and rule is acknowledged in the earth. Therefore, wherever you acknowledge God’s authority in your life; that is the area in your life in which He can now rule.
In Luke 4:18-19, it makes more sense now that you under-stand what the Kingdom of God is. Jesus said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” When Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God all He was doing was proclaiming that He had authority and rule over every situation and circumstance, whether it’s poverty, healing, abuse, wrongdoings, or lack in any area of your life. In Luke 4:19 in the Message translation it says; “to announce, this is God’s year to act.” 2006 has already been declared as the “Year of Fulfillment” This is the year in which God’s promises are going to be realized and brought to completion.
This is the mindset we must have while out on assignment. Our responsibility is to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. By proclaiming the Gospel we are telling all who hear the Good News, that God wants to rule and reign in every area of our lives, that He loves us and as a testament of that love He sent his only begotten Son to die for our sins. That is what’s going to change people’s lives. When they know that God loves them, their sins can be forgiven and He is waiting to rule and take authority over everything in their life that does not represent what the Word promises, then they will be excited to become born again.
People in the world are looking for answers and they are looking for change. They search for these things in different ways. For some it is through relationships, or the accumulation of money, for others, it can be through drugs and alcohol. We as Ambassadors of Christ must go, and like Jesus, meet the needs of the people. And when we go into the mission field preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom like us, they must be brought to the understanding that Jesus is sufficient to fulfill every need in every area of their lives.
