To miss the main thing is to miss everything. And it is amazing how many have missed this main thing. If you don't know the message, then you don't really know the Man.
"To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3).
Those with only the most basic knowledge of the Bible have heard of the resurrection of Jesus. But, if you ask many active church members what the main message of Jesus was, you can expect a blank stare. Few seem to understand that that it was this topic that He concentrated His last forty days on earth on: the kingdom of God. A question raised by His disciples gives at least some insight into what this message was: "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1.6) The kingdom has something to do with a restoration plan for the nation of Israel, but it involves more, according to Jesus:
"It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1.7-8)
The kingdom is about God's great restoration plan for planet earth, but it is also about empowered witness. His people, enabled by God's Holy Spirit, would radically impact the lives of people worldwide with the life-changing kingdom message. As Jesus had previously said, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24.14)
The mission of the people of God is to give witness to a resurrected Christ, and to proclaim the kingdom restoration plan (see also Acts 3.20-21). The energy for our mission is both the empowering Holy Spirit, and the anticipated return of Christ: "Men of Galilee,why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." (Acts 1.11)
It is our mission to live and proclaim a risen and returning Christ, whose mission and message is and was the kingdom of God. This message about Christ and the kingdom constitutes the gospel (Acts 8.12; 28.23,31). Anything else, or less, is not truly the gospel (good news).
This very brief summary of the message and mission of Jesus - the gospel - has far more power and potential than you and I can realize. We are entrusted with living and proclaiming it, and our Father will produce results from and through it than will exceed anything we can imagine. So, I challenge you to become a lifelong student of the Man and the message, faithfully living and sharing this amazing gospel that turned the first century world upside down. It just might do the same thing to our world today.
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2013
"To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3).
Those with only the most basic knowledge of the Bible have heard of the resurrection of Jesus. But, if you ask many active church members what the main message of Jesus was, you can expect a blank stare. Few seem to understand that that it was this topic that He concentrated His last forty days on earth on: the kingdom of God. A question raised by His disciples gives at least some insight into what this message was: "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1.6) The kingdom has something to do with a restoration plan for the nation of Israel, but it involves more, according to Jesus:
"It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1.7-8)
The kingdom is about God's great restoration plan for planet earth, but it is also about empowered witness. His people, enabled by God's Holy Spirit, would radically impact the lives of people worldwide with the life-changing kingdom message. As Jesus had previously said, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24.14)
The mission of the people of God is to give witness to a resurrected Christ, and to proclaim the kingdom restoration plan (see also Acts 3.20-21). The energy for our mission is both the empowering Holy Spirit, and the anticipated return of Christ: "Men of Galilee,why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." (Acts 1.11)
It is our mission to live and proclaim a risen and returning Christ, whose mission and message is and was the kingdom of God. This message about Christ and the kingdom constitutes the gospel (Acts 8.12; 28.23,31). Anything else, or less, is not truly the gospel (good news).
This very brief summary of the message and mission of Jesus - the gospel - has far more power and potential than you and I can realize. We are entrusted with living and proclaiming it, and our Father will produce results from and through it than will exceed anything we can imagine. So, I challenge you to become a lifelong student of the Man and the message, faithfully living and sharing this amazing gospel that turned the first century world upside down. It just might do the same thing to our world today.
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2013
posted by steve @ 8:47 AM
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