Preach the Gospel!

The mission of the Church is to proclaim the Good News of God’s Kingdom and Salvation to all Nations until the moment Jesus returns – Matthew 24:14.

Jesus charged his followers with announcing his message to all nations. He summarized it as the “Good News of the Kingdom of God.” Through him and his Assembly, the rule of God will be established but in unexpected and paradoxical ways. He will establish his sovereignty over the Earth and subdue the “Last Enemy, Death,” by the time of his appearance. His disciples must proclaim his Gospel to the “uttermost parts of the Earth” until the last moment!

His Gospel is about the salvation now available to all men and women through Jesus, and announcing his sovereignty over all things and the new political reality, the Kingdom of God. It is not about reforming existing social institutions or political systems. Every competing ideology or religious message of the existing world order amounts to “perishing meat.” Only his Gospel and Kingdom will endure.

[Atlas - Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash]

All men are invited to accept his offer of life and salvation while the door remains open. The day will come when it will be too late. All men who refuse his gracious gift will find their names excluded from the “Book of Life.”

A complete reorientation of life is necessary. Commitment to Jesus and his Kingdom must be absolute. Nothing is more important than responding to his call to believe the “Good News,” take up the cross, and follow him “wherever he leads.”

Through his Death and Resurrection, Jesus defeated his enemies, including Satan, death, the “powers and principalities,” and sin. His resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost signaled the start of the “Last Days” during which he reigns from the “right hand of God.” He must do so until “he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death” - (Psalm 2:2-8, 110:1, 1 Corinthians 15:25).

Sin and death may continue for a time. However, the decisive victory was achieved on the Roman Cross, and the activity of the Spirit among the saints is irrefutable evidence of this new reality.

The defeat of Satan was achieved through his death and validated when God raised Jesus from the dead. Since then, he has been putting down the “powers and principalities” that oppose him and oppress his people - (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Hebrews 1:5-14, Revelation 1:4-6).

Jesus now calls his Church to proclaim the “Gospel of the Kingdom to all nations” until the day he arrives from Heaven. His followers must herald his victory and sovereignty throughout the Earth, providing every man and woman with the opportunity to repent and receive life and salvation through the “faith of Jesus Christ”:

• “Go and teach all nations…to observe all things whatever I have commanded you. Behold, I am with you even to the end of the age.”

We are his “witnesses” commissioned by him to call all men to enter his Kingdom, and to preach “repentance and the remission of sins in his name among all the nations.”

Before he ascended to Heaven, Jesus commanded his disciples to wait until “they received power after the Holy Spirit came upon them.” They would then be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth” - (Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 24:45-48, Acts 1:7-9, 3:19-21).

This mission must continue until the “end” when he arrives at his ‘Parousia’. His followers are to announce his salvation and help others prepare for life in the coming age, teaching them to be his disciples. Sin and death may persist in this life, but death will not have the final word.

THE MISSION

None of this means we are to disengage from the world. Far from it! But we are called to minister to humanity by preaching the Gospel and living cruciform lives of service to others, thereby bearing witness to His Kingdom. Without his salvation, the world would remain forever in darkness and without hope.

Before his death, the disciples asked what the “sign” of the “coming of the Son of Man” would be. He answered by warning that no one except God alone knows the hour, day, “season,” “seasons” or “times” of his return - (also, Mark 13:30-33, Acts 1:6-9).

The one factor that will determine “when” he will return is the completion of the mission by the Church to preach the Gospel to every nation - “This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth for a testimony for all nations, and then shall the end come” - (Matthew 24:14, 24:36, Acts 1:6-8).

Finishing the task is the “sign” of the “end.” It is not optional but pivotal to the consummation of all things, the redemption of humanity, and creation itself.

Based on the logic of his words, the fact that the “end” has not arrived is indisputable evidence that the mission remains incomplete. He will not return until his message has reached the furthest corners of the Earth - “As a testimony.” Therefore, all who wait anxiously for his “arrival” must, above all else, preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God to one and all.

If you truly wish to see our Lord appear “on the clouds of heaven,” preach the Gospel! If not, remain silent and keep the word of salvation from the ears of men and women.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Hope of the Nations - (The Good News of Jesus Christ and his victory over death offers hope, life, and salvation and life to men and women of every nation)

• The Blessing of Abraham - (The Gift of the Spirit is one of God’s covenant promises and his ways of blessing all Nations in Abraham’s Seed)

• Shepherding Kings and Nations - (The nations and the Kings of the Earth are found in the City of New Jerusalem because of the redeeming work of the Lamb)