Revelation: The Gospel of the Kingdom of God

Revelation: Justification by Faith

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God

The Gospel, or the good news, has from the beginning been seen as the message that Jesus is the King with a Kingdom that He has established and is bringing to earth. This Kingdom is heavenly and will destroy every other kingdom.
This was the core of Jesus’ preaching:

Matthew 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Jesus Himself is this King who came. He is the Son of God who, without doubt, deserves the entire inheritance.
But He would earn this as a human being. In this way, He could let us share in it as our representative.
He took away our guilt as the priest-king, in order to disarm the prince of this world and bring us redemption.

Colossians 1:12
Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Satan’s kingdom was defeated, and we were ransomed. This is the good news of a King who became man in order to, as a man, reign over us and redeem us from the power of darkness.
This Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. At present, it is mainly visible at a spiritual level, and our weapons are also spiritual, against spiritual powers:

Luke 17:21
Nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you.

2 Corinthians 10:4
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Jesus, with all right, received this Kingdom by redeeming us.
This is described in great detail in Revelation 5.
The scroll was a testimony against us with a curse upon our disobedience. At the same time, receiving this scroll is closely connected to kingship, especially when we think of the throne of God in Revelation 4.
But no one could open it. No one could do anything about our sins, and no one could triumph over these powers.
John understood the weight of this:

Revelation 5:4
So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.

But there was a Lion who had conquered.

Revelation 5:5
But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Words like victory, Lion, Judah, and David naturally point us to His kingship, which strengthens our understanding of the scroll.
But this Lion is also described as the Lamb that was slain.
Jesus has achieved the victory. He is worthy to receive all honor and to be our King.
But it came at the cost of His death:

Revelation 5:9
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
and to open its seals;
for You were slain,
and have redeemed us to God by Your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 and have made us kings and priests to our God;
and we shall reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
12 saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom,
and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

The Lion is also the Lamb, and we are allowed to share in the blessings He deserves.
In Jesus’ greatest victory, He was as humble as a Lamb on the cross.
In His deepest humiliation, He was as triumphant and powerful as a Lion.
This is the paradox of His Kingdom. The first will be last, and the last will be first. But Jesus became the last so that He could be the first.
Now Colossians takes on a whole new perspective:

Colossians 2:13
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
(note the emphasis on forgiveness and victory in connection with this scroll)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding Merit: The relationship between good works and eternal life (part II)

[Written by Darius777] (This blog will be the second of a three-part series on merit, understanding the relationship between good works and eternal life) As mentioned previously, the section of merit and the types of justice will appear to introduce the subject treated in every blog. In our previous article, we explored the Protestant view on good works ( and as I have argued the biblical one ), the possibility of keeping God's law, also concerning the necessity of good works to salvation, and whether and to what extent eternal life belongs to grace and at the same time is a reward given to our works. Since this is a topic often treated superficially today by both Catholics and Protestants, in these blogs I will attempt at the best of my ability to accurately and charitably portray the various positions of both sides for the glory of Christ and a better appreciation of His gospel. It is necessary for an adequate understanding of the topic discussed here and in the next blog that th...
Read more

Understanding Merit: The relationship between good works and eternal life (part I)

[Written by Darius777] (This blog will be the first of a three-part series on merit, understanding the relationship between good works and eternal life) There are many reasons why I have strongly desired to touch upon this topic, but most importantly that all the glory of our salvation be ascribed to Christ, to His grace and that the distinction between law and gospel may be diligently preserved. It is my aim to introduce the topic with a brief description of the idea of merit, types of justice (which will appear for reclarification in every blog) and then begin our discussion of the topic in this first blog with the nature of the covenant of works established by God with Adam, and our current condition under the covenant of grace. We shall explore some questions related to the necessity and possibility of doing truly good works, and whether they are necessary for salvation. After that, we shall explore in what sense we can affirm rightly with Scripture that eternal life is rewarded to...
Read more

Revelation: A Remnant

 Revelation: Justification by Faith A Remnant Revelation 2:24 "But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden." The word “rest” is also used to refer to a remnant . The same word is used in these verses: Revelation 11:13 "And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven." Revelation 3:2 "Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God." The idea of a remnant is also used by Paul in connection with the nation of Israel. There was a kind of presumption in Israel that salvation was only for Israel, and that if you were a Jew, you could be confident in a kind of guaranteed salvation. However, Paul speaks a...
Read more