The first written account of Jesus’ ministerial proclamations is found in Mark 1:14,15: “… Jesus came into Galilee preaching THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, saying: ‘The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL (good news about the kingdom).'” Notice that upon announcing that the Kingdom of God was at hand, He immediately followed with the command to REPENT. Repent of what? Sin. What is sin? The transgression of God’s Law (1 Jn. 3:4). This was followed by another command: TO BELIEGE THE GOSPEL. Why? Because the Gospel tells us to OBEY THE LAW. It does no good to repent if one continues to break the Law. By His statement, Jesus, makes it clear that LAW BREAKERS WILL HAVE NO PART IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Acts 3:19-21 reveals that the writers of the Old Testament preached and wrote about the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God: “Repent and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out (justification) so that the times of refreshing can come from the presence of the Lord. God will send Jesus Christ Whom (in Old Testament times) was preached unto you.” The writer goes on to say that the Messiah would come to bring about the RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS, “… which the Lord had proclaimed in speech and writing through ALL OF HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.”

Obviously, in order to determine what the kingdom message was (and is) we will first turn to the writings of two of the Old Testament prophets. Recall that “the Scripture (the Word–Jesus–Jn. 1:1-4.14) preached the Gospel unto Abraham” two generations before there was an Israelite (Gal. 3:8). This means that God’s message to man was preached to those in ancient times as it is today. Read Hebrews 4:2). This Biblical Truth is a hard sell to modern day believers because Satan has persuaded them that the Old Testament was done away with–“NAILED TO THE CROSS.” This in spite of Paul’s statement in First Corinthians 10:11: “Now all these things (God’s dealings with and Words to the ancient Israelites) … were recorded for our instruction who are living at the end of the age.” Jesus Himself said that He had not come to earth to destroy either the Law or the writings of the prophets (Mat. 5:17). Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would come to earth to magnify the Law and make it honorable (Isa. 42:21). Throughout all of the Old Testament we can find no prophecy concerning the death of the Law. What was nailed to the cross was the law of Moses, also called the book of the law and its animal sacrifices, etc. At the Last Supper Jesus announced the death of that law and its physical rituals. From that time onward, His blood and body would serve as the one and only sacrifice for man’s sins. Read The Message of the Cross. Key word–Message.

In prayer to the Father, Jesus said: “… Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done ON EARTH as it is (was at that time) in heaven” (Mat. 6:10). On trial for His life, Jesus noted that His kingdom was “… not of this world,” meaning not on earth at that time. The Greek word for “world” is “aion,” meaning age. His kingdom would come to earth during the world’s final age which the Book of Revelation tells us will take place immediately following the 3 1/2 year Great Tribulation period. He said in Matthew 24:29,30: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days … shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven …and they (everyone on earth) will see the Son of man COMING IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN with great power and glory.” The entire world will see the arrival of God’s Messiah to establish His earthly Kingdom. We will now examine a few Old Testament statements to learn what they had to say about the coming of the Kingdom of God to earth.

The Prophet Isaiah had much to say concerning the coming Kingdom that will exist following Christ’s return. The following are a few examples. “And it shall come to pass in the LAST DAYS (of this age) that the mountain (nation) of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains (large nations) and shall be exalted above the hills (smaller nations) and ALL NATIONS (on earth) shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob (Israel), and He (God) WILL teach us His ways, and we WILL walk in His paths” (obey Him), for out of Zion will go forth THE LAW and the WORD OF THE LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge MANY NATIONS and shall REBUKE MANY PEOPLE, and they shall BEAT THEIR SWORDS INTO PLOW SHARES AND THEIR SPEARS INTO PRUNINGHOOKS, AND NATIION SHALL NOT LIFT UP SWORD AGAINST NATION, NEITHER SHALL THEY LEARN WAR ANYMORE (Isa. 2:2-5). We know that the prophet was referring to an earthly kingdom, for there is no mention of war, swords, plowshares grape farming, etc. in heaven. The Lord, through him, is describing a world in which everyone on earth will all know who God is and will be given the opportunity to learn His ways and obey them, as the above passage attests.

When Jesus comes to establish His earthly kingdom He will remove Satan’s deceptions from the earth. For the first time He will open the way for understanding God’s ways and will offer salvation to the masses. Read The Three Resurrections. Key word–Three. This posting involves the second resurrection. “And He (Jesus) will DESTROY the covering that had been cast over ALL PEOPLE and the veil that is spread over ALL NATIONS. And the Lord shall wipe away the tears from ALL FACES ….” (Isa. 25:7,8). “… for when thy judgments are IN (ALL OF) THE EARTH, THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD WILL (THEN) LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS” as they will be taught by God’s saints (Isa. 26:9). In verses 18,24 he adds: “They that ERRED IN SPIRIT shall (then) come to UNDERSTANDING and … LEARN (GOD’S) DOCTRINE.” Many other passages of Scripture reveal that the earth will be covered with people who, either during or after the Great Tribulation, will have come to the Lord, learned His ways and received eternal life on a new earth and under a new heaven. Resurrection number two refers to those people who will be taught God’s ways by His Very Elect saints who obeyed Him during their earthly lives and will rise to meet Him during the first resurrection. With Him they will descend to earth where He will establish a kingdom that will bring absolute righteousness and justice to the whole human race. What a wonderful future awaits those who obey the Lord until their deaths or until Christ’s arrival, whichever comes first.

Billions of people have been born, lived their lives and died without ever hearing “the name by which we must be saved.” For them, there is a time coming when they too will hear the glorious Gospel and have the opportunity to embrace it and its Author. God is no respecter of persons. All will be given a chance to spend eternity on an earth ruled by the Lord. L.J.