What is the gospel of Jesus

galaxy7

I am confused at what really is the gospel of Jesus. Does anyone here still believe in a paradise on earth?

dustyb

1 corinthians 15:1-25 is the christian gospel that should be being preached (note that its not what JW's preach)

herk

Galaxy7,

I hope this explanation is helpful:

God placed Adam and Eve on earth. He never mentioned that he planned to take them to heaven someday. Their destiny would be changed only if they disobeyed God by eating of the forbidden tree. God has a purpose for the earth. He desires that it be inhabited. More than that, he will transform this planet so that "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9) The ancient prophets never spoke about going to heaven. Instead, they said that someday in the future there will be peace among animals. (Isaiah 11:6-9), peace among nations (Isaiah 2:4), and peace on earth. (Isaiah 9:7; Psalm 72:7) Sickness and sorrow will vanish. (Isaiah 35:5, 6) There will be no more deserts, and there will be good crops all the time. (Isaiah 35:1-7; 55:13; Amos 9:13, 14) The prophets also spoke of a kingdom that God would establish for ruling the wonderful world to come on earth. The prophet Daniel foretold concerning the king: "His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13, 14) Several prophets said this future king would be a descendant of David. (2 Samuel 7:12-16; 1 Chronicles 17:7-14; Psalm 89:3, 4, 27-37; 132:11, 12; Isaiah 9:6, 7; 11:1-12; Jeremiah 23:5, 6; 33:15-26) The main message that John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles preached was "the gospel of the kingdom." (Matthew 3:2; 4:23; 9:35; Luke 4:43; Luke 8:1; Acts 20:25; 28:31) The apostle Matthew called it "the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 5:3, 10, 19, 20; etc.) The apostle Paul called it a "heavenly kingdom." (2 Timothy 4:18) Matthew and Paul were not saying that the kingdom would exist in heaven. The other gospel writers use another expression for "the kingdom of heaven." They call it "the kingdom of God." (Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43; John 3:3; etc.) This simply means that the source of the kingdom is God in heaven. Jesus and his associates preached about the same kingdom that the prophets foretold. In fact, their gospel was the same gospel preached by those prophets. The apostle Paul said that "we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers" and that God "announced the gospel in advance to Abraham" (Acts 13:32; Galatians 3:8) He wrote that as an apostle he had been "set apart for the gospel of God--the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures." (Romans 1:1, 2) When standing before King Agrippa, he said in his defense: "And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me." (Acts 26:6, 7) And he said to believing and unbelieving Jews in Rome: "For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain." (Acts 28:20) The hope of Israel was not life in heaven. If they remained faithful to God, the promise given to them was that they would be resurrected to life on earth in the kingdom of David's great descendant, the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham. Jesus is that Messianic Seed of Abraham and David. His kingdom will be on earth, not in heaven. This is made very clear in the following Bible verses:

Isaiah 9:6, 7: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: ... Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom." (David's throne and kingdom were on earth, not in heaven.)
Daniel 2:35, 44: "The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. ... 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 for ever."
Matthew 19:28: "Jesus replied, 'Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel.'" (It is the earth that will undergo a "re-creation," not heaven. It is here that creation has been damaged by sin. It is here where God's will needs to be done as it has always been done in heaven.)
Matthew 25:31, 32: "When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats." (Jesus will arrive on earth. Here is where he will "take his place on his glorious throne." Good and bad people of "all the nations" are surely not going to be taken to heaven to be separated by Christ. That is something he will do when he gathers them together here on earth.)
Luke 1:32,33: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
Luke 19:11-27: "While he had their attention, and because they were getting close to Jerusalem by this time and expectation was building that God's kingdom would appear any minute, he told this story: 'There was once a man descended from a royal house who needed to make a long trip back to headquarters to get authorization for his rule and then return. But first he called ten servants together, gave them each a sum of money, and instructed them, "Operate with this until I return." ... When he came back bringing the authorization of his rule, he called those ten servants to whom he had given the money to find out how they had done.'" (Jesus was describing his own 'coming back' to the earth with "the authorization of his rule.")
Luke 22:28-30: "However, you are the ones that have stuck with me in my trials; and I make a covenant with you, just as my Father has made a covenant with me, for a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel." (Eating and drinking are earthly activities, not heavenly ones. And there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that the Jews will be taken to heaven in order to be judged or ruled.)
Acts 1:3, 6, 7: "After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. When they were together for the last time they asked, 'Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?' He told them, 'You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business.'" (After teaching the apostles for 40 days about the kingdom, their understanding was clearly that the kingdom would be upon the earth.)
Acts 3:19-24: "Now it's time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely, Jesus. For the time being he must remain out of sight in heaven until everything is restored to order again just the way God, through the preaching of his holy prophets of old, said it would be. ... All the prophets from Samuel on down said the same thing, said most emphatically that these days would come."
Acts 17:31: "Because he has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has furneished a guarantee to all men in that he has resurrected him from the dead."
Romans 8:21: "The creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God." (The creation needing to be set free from corruption is upon earth, not in heaven.)
2 Thessalonians 1:7, 10: "The revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels ... at the time he comes to be glorified in connection with is holy ones and to be regarded in that day with wonder in connection with all those who exercised faith."
2 Timothy 4:1: "Christ Jesus--who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom."
Hebrews 1:6: "But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: "And let all God's angels do obeisance to him."
Hebrews 2:5: "For it is not to angels that he has subjected the inhabited earth to come,"
Revelation 5:10: "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
Revelation 11:15: "The kingdom of the world is now the Kingdom of our God and his Messiah! He will rule forever and ever!"

Galatians 4 does not contradict the general outline of the Scriptures regarding the coming kingdom of the Messiah. When Paul speaks in verse 26 of the "Jerusalem above which is our mother," he does not mean that the kingdom exists in heaven. He is quoting a Messianic Psalm which describes Zion (Jerusalem) as "the mother of us all." (Psalm 87:5 in the Septuagint) Often in Jewish thinking, the good things of the future are said to be stored now with God. They will be revealed on the day of the Messiah's appearance in power and glory. For example, Paul speaks of "the faith and love which spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the Gospel." (Colossians 1:5) Peter speaks of the hope of eternal life in this way: "For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see." (1 Peter 1:4, 5) Hebrews 11:16 says something similar, and it should be helpful in understanding Galatians 4:26. It says concerning God's ancient faithful servants, "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he has prepared a city for them." Those faithful people did not actually see the fulfillment of the promises with their literal eyes. With their "mind's eye" they saw a better world coming. They were no part of this world and viewed themselves as exiles on the earth. They desired a better country than the one they were living in. They desired a country of God's making. The city he has prepared for them will be realized upon their resurrection in the coming kingdom of the Messiah. In Hebrews 12:22 that city is called "heavenly Jerusalem" because it is the glorious model city that exists in the mind of God. It is nothing like any city in this present evil world. In Revelation 3:12, Jesus called it "the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God." And in Revelation 21:2, the apostle John said "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." So, the "Jerusalem above" is not an actual Jerusalem that existed in heaven when Paul used that expression. It existed then and it exists now in the mind of God. It is the Jerusalem destined to appear on earth when Jesus comes to establish his kingdom on Mount Zion. Herk

dead

: What is the gospel of Jesus

It is notable that everyone has their opinion about this subject, but no one has bothered to consider what Jesus himself said. Fascinating.

Jesus summed up the entire Jewish Law and HIS gospel with the simple statement to love your Creator and to love your fellow man. He said (in effect) all the rest of the Law pointed to those two things.

Everything that counts is summed up with those two simple admonitions. Yet, people make thousands or hundreds of religions that are formed to discuss the "fine points" of those two simple things. Most of those "fine points" involve killing or neutralizing people who disagree with those to start a religion and who don't just get the simple stuff and who just want to be a somebody who started another stupid religion.

herk

everyone has their opinion about this subject

Then why is it that most people never venture their opinion out loud? When was the last time you heard someone in your family or neighbourhood talk to you about "the gospel," unless the person was a seriously religious believer in Christ?

no one has bothered to consider what Jesus himself said. Fascinating.

What about the texts above that quote Jesus, as well as several others that could be cited? Are you telling us that you alone spend time with the teachings of Jesus and that everybody else, scholars included, have never given any thought to what he said?

Jesus summed up the entire Jewish Law and HIS gospel with the simple statement to love your Creator and to love your fellow man.

Would you mind giving us at least one verse where he said love sums up his "gospel"? Can you show us even one verse where the two words "gospel" and "love" are found together?

herk

1 corinthians 15:1-25 is the christian gospel that should be being preached

There should be no doubt about this. In fact, the entire chapter is about "the gospel of Jesus." Paul described everything in that chapter as "the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you." (Verse 1)

Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians can be divided in this way:

Verses 1-11: Christ's death and resurrection.
Verses 12-23, 26, 35-49, 52-57: The resurrection of God's people who have died and the abolishing of all death.
Verse 23: Christ's return when he comes to preside over his kingdom.
Verses 24-28: After Christ has abolished all opposing authority and power, he hands back "the kingdom" to God his Father.
Verses 29-34, 50, 58: Requirements for resurrection into the kingdom include baptism, knowledge of God, rebirth and endurance in Christian living.
Verses 50-53: Christians who are alive when Christ returns will enter "the kingdom of God" by being changed into immortal persons.

John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles all preached "the gospel of the kingdom." As shown in 1 Corinthians 15, that kingdom gospel embraces Christ's death, resurrection and kingdom, as well as what is required for entry into Christ's kingdom.

Herk

Carmel

...the kingdom is within you..Seek yee first the kingdom of God and all things will be added unto you...

There ya got it.

carmel

herk

the kingdom is within you

Jesus made that statement to the Pharisees, not to his disciples. He obviously did not mean that God's kingdom resided within the persons or hearts of his enemies. (Luke 17:20-22) Other translations suggest that the kingdom already existed among them. That was true in the sense that the king in the person of Jesus was there with them:

"God's kingdom is here with you." (Contemporary English Version)
"the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." (Darby Translation)
"the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." (English Standard Version)
"the kingdom of God is in your midst." (New American Standard Bible)

Herk

What is the gospel of Jesus

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