Jesus went into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God

“The time is fulfilled,” he said.

“The Kingdom of God is at hand. Change how you think about this and believe the gospel.”

Matthew 1:14-15

The word gospel literally means good news. So how is it that we have boiled the good news down to the cross and our eternal salvation because of what Jesus did?

That is good news, but it is not the good news. Mark 1 says Jesus was preaching the gospel from the beginning of his ministry. Jesus says the good news is that the kingdom of God is at hand. That is the good news— the gospel. He takes this good news a bit further and tells us how to live in this fulfillment. He says to repent and believe the good news; not for salvation, but for life.

Webster defines repent like this: 1: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life 2a: to feel regret or contrition.

This quickly became distorted in my mind. Maybe I did this myself. Maybe it was learned. I don’t know. I do know, that for me, this translated into shame and a type of self-flagellation that was not intended.

The Greek root word of repent was metanoeo. This word is defined as repent, but just like the Webster definition of repent, there is another meaning: to change one’s mind; or, to change one’s mind for better.

What if we are supposed to change how we view God? To change how we view scripture? On the road to Emmaus, after Jesus death, He preached to two travelers that the entire Old Testament (which He would have called the scriptures) pointed to Him. His coming into the world brought the kingdom into the world. The good news is that Jesus is the God made Flesh; the Emmanuel; God with us. He is here!  

AND…

Jesus points to the Father (if you have seen me you have seen the Father). If this is true, we have drastically misunderstood the God of the Old Testament. Almost everyone would admit they like the God of the New Testament much more than the God of the Old. He seems nicer, kinder, less… wrathful.

What if the good news Jesus preached was that we misunderstood God— that we attributed many things to Him that were not from Him? What if Jesus was telling us we needed to change our minds about the way we perceive God?

Jesus is in the Father and the Father looks a lot like him.

Jesus came to Earth to be with us and has never left us; He is in us. He preached the good news long before he laid down his life. The good news cannot be only the death and resurrection. It must be more. Jesus proclaimed the good news of his incarnation and his life, which led to the kingdom being at hand.

God is actively redeeming all things! It does not always feel like it, and we will not see the fulfillment of this redemption until the Kingdom has fully come, but he is working with and through you to bring the kingdom into this world. YOU are the kingdom revealed. YOU are Christ revealed to the world.