Gospel

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

John 10:10

Many of you might have heard this verse in relation to material wealth and maybe for protection. That is a really small part of the verse and does not do it justice at all. This verse stands as one of my life verses along with Romans 8:32 and Psalm 91:10. It is a verse that I heard first as a child of about 9 years old and it just never left me. I have pondered for years what abundant life really meant because I refused to accept it was just about material things.

Jesus could not have come all the way just for us to have money, after all, even unbelievers have material things. I now understand what that verse is really about and I can tell you, money is way down the list. Let’s dig in and learn:

The word ‘abundantly’ used in this verse is the same used in the verse, Ephesians 3:20 and it means superabundant, superior in quality, excessive, over and above, more than is necessary.

This means that there is no limit to what we can get from God according to His promises. It means we have far more in Him than we could ever need or even think of asking.

The word ‘life’ used here is Zoe, the life of God! This word is used in several other places in the Bible, let’s look at some for better understanding:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” John 3:16

“For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,” John 5:26

The life of God is the eternal life Jesus came to give us.

The life that God Himself carries.

The same life Jesus had on His inside while on earth as a human being.

The life that is never-ending and eternal.

Abundant life is simply a life without limitations.

For me, this blew my mind! I have the same life Jesus had and I even have it excessively and abundantly without any limits. It makes me want to break out in tongues. Powerful!

Receiving this life at salvation is the most amazing thing to happen to a person.

For too long, we have focused on the human kind of life we have. We have focused on the actions we take rather than who we have been made to be at salvation. Instead of focusing on a relationship with the Giver of the life for us to shine brighter, we have focused on our acts/behaviour to the exclusion of Him.

Let us look at some truths about abundant life:

• Darkness cannot overcome it – This life is what is referred to in John 1:4-5 as the light of men, that darkness cannot overcome. That light is the life of God in us that the devil and the world cannot overcome.
• Eternal life starts on this earth – The Bible used this life in all the places eternal life is mentioned. The life of God is evident in our lives from this earth and we are carriers of eternal life even in our mortal bodies. As Jesus is, so are we in this world. John 17:2-3. Romans 8:10. John 5:24. 1 John 4:17
• Found only in Jesus – Jesus is not an option of many, He is the only source of the life of God. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. Another verse that explains this is John 5:26
• It is a gift – We only get this life as a gift from God. You do not deserve it and neither can you earn it. Romans 6:23

The next question is, why then do we have so many limited and subpar lives among born-again Christians? Let us look at it from the Bible in the following stages:

First, it is established that we were dead in our sins and Jesus gave us life for it.

“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)” Romans 5:17

Secondly, the life of Jesus can be made manifest in our human body.

“always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-11

Thirdly, we are to walk in the light of this life. Light is for direction and it shows us the way. We walk in light to see and do everything we need to do.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4

We have missed it clearly as most of us stop at the first point. We have only exchanged the death of our sins for God’s life and left it at that, this life is not manifested in our flesh and neither do we walk by the light of that life.

This is because we do not have the knowledge of this light. Many of us do not know the depth of God’s promises for us and you really cannot act on what you don’t know.

I resigned from a job once and did not realise that I still had unpaid tax refund. I lived my life in complete ignorance of that until a day I received a bank notification of a credit into my account. While balancing the books, I was paid my entitlement. Did I know about it? No. Did that make me any less entitled to the money? No, I was still fully entitled to it. I could not plan my life with the money either because I had no idea what was available to me. This is how a lot of us believers live our lives, without knowledge of the provisions available to us in Christ.

We would study more next week on this topic and find out what is available for us as carriers of God’s life on this earth!

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Jesus came preaching the Gospel.

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”” Mark 1:14-15

The gospel in this verse came from the Greek Word ‘euaggelion’ that means:

Good tidings – Glad tidings of salvation, proclamation of the Grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ.

What is the gospel according to the Bible?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Romans 1:16

The gospel is the power of God made available to everyone. This power is ‘dunamis’ the miraculous power of God. The same power given in Acts 1:8 and mentioned in Acts 4:33, 6:8

What did the gospel entail?

This gospel of the power of God, what does it do?

““The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”” Luke 4:18-19

1. Gospel to the poor: The poor are those reduced to begging, destitute of wealth and influence, lacking in anything.
2. Healing: To cure and to make whole. This verses specifically refers to healing of sicknesses of the heart and mind. That has to do with our understanding, character and our emotions.
3. Deliverance/Freedom/Liberty: release from bondage and also forgiveness/pardon for our sins like it was never committed.
4. Sight restoration: For the physically and mentally blind.
5. Liberty for the oppressed: Those that have been shattered and oppressed
6. Preach the acceptable year: Publicly proclaim the year of acceptance of everyone

What gives access to the benefits of the gospel of Christ?

1. Being born again “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”” John 3:3

“having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, But the word of the LORD endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.” I Peter 1:23,25

2. Faith:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”” Romans 1:16-17

The gospel revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith. Access to understanding and living in the righteousness of God is through faith. This is what we live by under the gospel. Romans 10:8-10

Which Gospel did Jesus preach? Jesus preached the Gospel of the kingdom of God.

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”” Mark 1:14-15

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” Matthew 9:35

Jesus preached the Kingdom of God/Heaven. Many of us know the Kingdom from the Lord’s prayer and have even recited it ‘Thy kingdom come’.  Do we really understand what the Kingdom of God entails?

Let’s start by studying what a Kingdom is.

Definition of a Kingdom (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

• A kingdom is a realm or region in which something is dominant, e.g, a cattle kingdom
• An area or sphere in which one holds a preeminent position. E.g; I could say that my kitchen is my own private kingdom.

So, that means a kingdom is defined by who owns and inhabits it. This tells me two quick points to note:

• The Kingdom of God is where the will of God takes pre-eminence. Jesus spoke in Mark 14:25, about not drinking of the fruit of the vine until He drinks it new in the Kingdom of God. It is worthy of note that this was at the time He was heading to die at the Cross and was having the last supper with His disciples. He was about to enter into the will of the Father at this point and the Kingdom of God He was referring to was Him obeying the will of the Father. “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” John 5:19
• When God holds the dominant position in your life and circumstances, you can say the Kingdom of God has come to your life. When you allow God take over everything and He becomes the King and final authority over your life, the Kingdom of God has come to manifestation.

Jesus lived the kingdom life with God at the centre of it all and only did the work of His Father

“Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” John 5:19

Who has dominion in your life? Whose will is topmost in your heart? 

The Kingdom of God is the culture you live by. Every kingdom operates according to the culture and dictates of that Kingdom. How you live your life and what fruits you bear let’s us know whose you are.

“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said,“The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say,‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”” Luke 17:20-21

What does the good news(gospel) of the Kingdom mean for our lives?

The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Power! We are to show people the Kingdom.

“For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” I Corinthians 4:20 (NKJV)

I love the way the New Living Translation put it,

“For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power”

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” Matthew 4:23

Jesus went around preaching the gospel and healing all kinds of diseases. He spoke the Word in power and it was always accompanied by power in action.

Which gospel do you believe today?

The gospel of Jesus accompanied with power to save, deliver and heal or the gospel with a lot of talk that does not meet the needs of those who believe it?

There is a real danger in believing a partial, incomplete or outrightly untrue gospel.

Read what Paul the Apostle had to say about perverting the truth:

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9

• Don’t believe that the good news of the powerful works of Jesus have gone with the Apostolic times.
• Don’t believe that the power of the gospel is for a future unachievable date. The Kingdom is with us.
• Don’t believe that you do not need the power of God for the fullness of the gospel and that only by good works is the gospel achieved. Our good deeds for the society is excellent but it must be accompanied by the evident power of God.
• Don’t believe a gospel that does not point you to salvation or leaves people in a spiritually stagnant state that never achieves life transformation.
• Don’t believe a self-help gospel that exists without the power of the Cross. This kind of ‘gospel’ does not address the root of sin and is politically correct. The gospel should never leave you comfortable with sin.

The distinguishing factor is the power of God. The power that would restore us to the initial dominion planned for us at the garden of Eden which was lost with the sin of Adam. The power of the gospel restores us to God’s original plan for mankind, to reign and dominate.

Let’s take a quick look at God’s original dominion plan for us:

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” Genesis 1:28

The whole earth is meant to answer to us and we are to be fruitful. The sin nature from Adam prevented this greatness. However, Jesus came with the good news of God’s plan and He paid the price for us to get it. The result is:

“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17

My challenge to you today is that you examine your beliefs and understand that only the Gospel of the Kingdom of God as stated clearly in the Word of God should prevail in your life.

Further reading: Mark 1:14-15, Mark 10:15, Luke 6:20, Luke 9:60, Luke 10:9-11, Luke 11:20, Acts 28:31, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Colossians 1:12-13, 1 Thessalonians 2:12.

If you missed the last bible study I posted, you can find it here

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