gospel of the kingdom
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2)
God is doing a unique work on earth today. There are seasons in which the Holy Spirit speaks to the church.
Over the course of a decade it may focus on evangelism. During others, it may be a greater awareness of the Holy Spirit. During another program, it may focus on social problems in cities.
Today, God is speaking very clearly to the church about social change. Fifteen years ago, the idea of ​​completely transforming a community through the gospel of Jesus Christ was a foreign concept. However, according to George Otis Jr., director of Sentinel Group, there are more than 500 communities that are in some form of quantitative transformation process today.
The defining characteristic of the community in which change is taking place is that the socio-economic characteristics are being positively affected. The crime rate decreases, the economy improves, and the number of Christians in the city increases, prayer increases, and city leaders become Christians. This is an expression of Deuteronomy 28:13, “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and do them carefully, you will always be on top, and never on the bottom.”
To move beyond the gospel of salvation to the gospel of the kingdom we must practice a different level of faith for our communities. Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God more than 70 times in the New Testament—far more times than he mentioned salvation. While salvation is part of the bringing of God’s kingdom on earth, it involves much more.
When the gospel of the kingdom comes into a life and a community, everything changes as a result. How does God want you to be a catalyst for bringing the full gospel of the kingdom into the lives and communities of the people you are called to impact?
