Matthew 4:23: Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness.
What is the one message that church-goers have heard more than any other? If you said “the gospel message” you are absolutely correct. Paul tells us in his epistles that he preached on Christ and His suffering to the Jew first and then the gentile. Since we have established that the gospel is the mainstay for the Christian church, now let’s look at the results of people hearing this message time and time again.
When I ask someone who knows they are born again if they have any doubts about where they will spend eternity, generally I discover they are certain that heaven will be their destination. We can even take this a step further. Christians are very emphatic when it comes to their faith in Christ that He is the way to heaven. If you should try to argue with a truly born again Christian about their faith in Christ and where their soul will go when they die, you might discover they are very dogmatic and unyielding. We can attribute this tenacity to the continual preaching of the gospel to the saints.
The very moment a person accepts Jesus and receives the Holy Spirit into their heart, they can be assured their destination is heaven. How can Christians be so certain of that belief? When God gives a person His Spirit, there is a peace that will comfort their heart, and they will know they are truly forgiven.
A person may be born again because of the preaching of the Gospel, but is that all they will need in order to live a victorious life? Look back at the verse that was used for today’s word. Jesus preached the message “of the kingdom” to those who once followed John the Baptist. The gospel of the kingdom teaches us to walk in our new identity and spiritual authority by walking in the spirit and not the flesh.
Now let’s take what we’ve discussed and put it into perspective. When a Christian is challenged by Satan about their salvation or eternal destination, he is met with resistance and a fight. However, when a Christian who doesn’t know who they are in Christ (the kingdom message) is challenged with a fiery trial or God requires them to trust Him through a difficult situation, generally the stance of the average believer is not as strong against the doubt and unbelief that arises. Why is this?
We have heard the gospel repeatedly, but the gospel of the kingdom which turns converts into disciples who are strong in the Lord has not been widely taught. This leaves converts struggling to know God in that context. We know the God of salvation, but we don’t all know the God of the kingdom message. In chapter 11, Daniel tells us: only those who know THEIR GOD shall be strong and do great exploits. Once we become born again, we must not live on salvation messages alone, but on the message of the kingdom of God that teaches us about God… after the salvation experience.
Isn’t it amazing that we can trust an invisible God with our eternal security and think nothing about it, and then turn around and not trust Him to supply our earthly needs this week? As Christians, we must advance in our understanding of God so that we might learn how to be strong when Satan rages against us as believers.
Hebrews 6:1-3: So let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start all over again with the importance of turning away from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
—submitted by Asa Dockery, US
