 The Gospel of The Kingdom
The term “gospel” means good news, but what is the news of the good news? We might say that being rescued from hell and the eternal punishment deserved by our sins is the news (Romans 5:6-11). Another possibility is that the news is that we are not under God’s wrath and are now at peace with God through Jesus (Romans 5:1-5). Or even, the news could be that justice will ultimately be done either through sin punished on the cross or through God judging the unrepentant people. I suppose that I could go on with many more facets of the glories that are true in the gospel. However, maybe they are all captured under the umbrella of the good news that Jesus is King! That we belong to a greater kingdom and have a better king is amazing good news. The many different aspects of salvation and future glory that capture our imagination are in some sense the product of the dominion and jurisdiction of Jesus as King (1 Peter 5:10-11). So in this post as we look forward to Resurrection Sunday, I want to consider three aspects of this good news. Righteous The initial aspect of the good news which I want us to consider is righteousness. In the period of the Old Covenant the righteousness of God, or we could also say the righteousness that pleased God, was reflected in the law He gave to Israel. But Paul revealed to the Romans that the righteousness of God is now made known to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus is perfectly righteous and His life is righteousness on display (Romans 3:21-26). Since Jesus lived righteously through His death He causes those who He redeems to become righteous by virtue of His merited righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). So not only is it true that Jesus is Himself righteous but He also makes everyone of us who believe in Him righteous. The people of the family and kingdom of the righteous King are also righteous. But that’s not all! Jesus is also able to rule us righteously. We look at the politicians and the bureaucrats of our time and the corruption and incompetence is truly ridiculous. But Jesus is the perfect ruler who always and only gives right judgement and abundant mercy. Risen I hope that you notice that I have been referring to Jesus in the present tense. It is not just that Jesus was righteous when He walked the dusty trails of Galilee in the first century, but Jesus is that righteous one who lives today. After the Romans brutality and effectively administered unjustified capital punishment, Jesus was definitely dead. God raised Him to life proving Him the Christ, the Son of God (Acts 10:34-43)! The reason that the righteousness of Jesus matters is because He lives today and intercedes on behalf of His people (Romans 8:31-39). He is the great mediator and King over all things who provides blessings for His people. Reigning This righteous and living Lord Jesus is currently reigning at the right hand of God bringing all his enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). The prophet also told us about the present time in which we live when His government brings about a growing administration of peace for His people (Isaiah 9:6-7). The good news that everyone in the world needs to hear and believe is that Jesus is King and they should surrender their rebellion and gladly follow His righteous commands. So let us reflect on the virtuous life of Christ in the first century, the vicarious death of Christ on the cross in our place and for our sins, the the verified burial of Christ’s lifeless body, and the victorious resurrection of Jesus who is our Savior, Redeemer, Lord, and King! As we do let us commit ourselves to humble, joyful, and obedient submission to King Jesus!
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