Did the gospels just simply tell us the story of the life and death of Jesus Christ the leads to our salvation or was there deeper information Jesus had for us? What do you think the main theme or purpose of Jesus's teachings was while He was on earth with us?
What was the real message Jesus preached througout His ministry?
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rag4aCrown
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Jesus preached the message of salvation, and how one might be saved. He said, I AM the way, the truth and the life. No one goes to the Father except through Me. Jesus preached what the Father had spoken to Him, and the high priest and elders did not believe on the only begotten Son of God; even though they had written text that told them of His birth and His walk. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. These are hard sayings? They are to an unbeliever, who believes they know everything, yet have never been spoken to by the Lord God.
The prophecies did not stop there; they continue on. Jesus completed His mission and became the open door in which one must enter in; picking up our cross and following Him. Jesus is the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new covenant. He said, If anyone come after me, let him deny himself, and pick up his cross and follow Me. There is only one way to be with Him where He is (at the right hand of God); one must be willing to go forth in Him, in love greater for God than anything in this world and suffer as He suffered; being afflicted, persecuted, falsely accused, stoned, spit on, (Lord have mercy) and die at the hands of sinners; because of their own unbelief in the only begotten Son of God, they do condemn themselves.
I am a witness unto His walk. I have suffered many things for His name sake, just as He did, so I have. He has showed me many things that will come to pass. They are recorded in scripture, yet I suffer in Him because they do not believe that God is able to raise up children (soldiers) of God. The world listens, and yet, those who claim to be His children, rip and tear at the messenger of God, who is sent forth in Him, by Him, for Him. May God have mercy upon us ALL.
God is able to raise up vessels unto honor and unto dishonor, just as His Word says. Who are we to fight against God? As scripture says, If we are not for Him, we are against Him. Those who don't know Him come against those that He is raising up and justify themselves for doing so. However, His Word bares true; if ye have done it to one of the least of these, my children, ye have done it unto Me. When will people realize we have been made ONE in Him? But yet, the carnal mentality, deems self worthy and another unworthy.
The prophecies did not stop there; they continue on. Jesus completed His mission and became the open door in which one must enter in; picking up our cross and following Him. Jesus is the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new covenant. He said, If anyone come after me, let him deny himself, and pick up his cross and follow Me. There is only one way to be with Him where He is (at the right hand of God); one must be willing to go forth in Him, in love greater for God than anything in this world and suffer as He suffered; being afflicted, persecuted, falsely accused, stoned, spit on, (Lord have mercy) and die at the hands of sinners; because of their own unbelief in the only begotten Son of God, they do condemn themselves.
I am a witness unto His walk. I have suffered many things for His name sake, just as He did, so I have. He has showed me many things that will come to pass. They are recorded in scripture, yet I suffer in Him because they do not believe that God is able to raise up children (soldiers) of God. The world listens, and yet, those who claim to be His children, rip and tear at the messenger of God, who is sent forth in Him, by Him, for Him. May God have mercy upon us ALL.
God is able to raise up vessels unto honor and unto dishonor, just as His Word says. Who are we to fight against God? As scripture says, If we are not for Him, we are against Him. Those who don't know Him come against those that He is raising up and justify themselves for doing so. However, His Word bares true; if ye have done it to one of the least of these, my children, ye have done it unto Me. When will people realize we have been made ONE in Him? But yet, the carnal mentality, deems self worthy and another unworthy.
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Simplified breakdown of the Gospels:
God became flesh, in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. He taught repentance and salvation through Him only. He proved His deity through many miracles witnessed by thousands, ultimately His resurrection and brief return to show Himself to His disciples and other witnesses. He taught us to be Holy and walk in the Spirit, be a light and salt to the earth. He taught us to love, forgive and witness to others through our light of Christ. He walked the earth for 33 years for the purpose of living a perfectly sinless life, setting an example for all believers how to live a holy life, and life of selflessness and sacrifice. Also for the purpose of showing us that He understands temptation, betrayal and hurt. He also promised us eternal life and rewards in Heaven as a result.
God became flesh, in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. He taught repentance and salvation through Him only. He proved His deity through many miracles witnessed by thousands, ultimately His resurrection and brief return to show Himself to His disciples and other witnesses. He taught us to be Holy and walk in the Spirit, be a light and salt to the earth. He taught us to love, forgive and witness to others through our light of Christ. He walked the earth for 33 years for the purpose of living a perfectly sinless life, setting an example for all believers how to live a holy life, and life of selflessness and sacrifice. Also for the purpose of showing us that He understands temptation, betrayal and hurt. He also promised us eternal life and rewards in Heaven as a result.
TaylorDonBarret
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what kind of deeper information do you think there may have been? are you thinking that there may be some unorthodox, hidden meaning that Christians are unaware of? i think you probably already know the basics of salvation, the bible, the life of Jesus, the traditional interpretations, etc, right? so what exactly are you asking?
Not hidden but deeper in the sense of the abstract way Jesus taught or preached our destiny in His Kingdom.
Besides His sacrifice for the remission of sins and plan of salvation Luke mentions that Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, noting that Christ said
" Because for this purpose I have been sent " -Luke 4:43.
In Mark 1:14 - " Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel (good news or message) of the Kingdom of God...."
Jesus began preaching the message of God's Kingdom from the very beginning of His ministry and throughout.
He went through every city preaching and teaching the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. Luke 8:1
Jesus sent His apostles to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God- Luke 9:2
Jesus also sent 70 other disciples unto every city to preach His message of the Kingdom of God.-Luke 10:9-11
After His death and resurrection Jesus appeared to the apostles and continued teaching of those things pertaining to the Kingdom of God-Acts 1:3
Paul describes his writings as pertaining to the Kingdom of God-acts 19:8
Most of Jesus parables described what the Kingdom is, when it would come, and how a person can enter it, and clarified the requirements and obstacles to entering it.
The Kingdom theme is in all the Gospels.and some biblical encyclopedias say the teachings of " the Kingdom of God" is the main mission of His coming.
Jesus equated gaining salvation with entering the Kingdom of God-Matt 19:16
The principal goal of a Christian is to seek first the Kingdom-Matt 6:33
the promise of a Kingdom to come is central to the Bible.
The question is- was Jesus talking about a literal Kingdom on earth under His rule with those saved or a place in heaven with Him?
RJ
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Just as Jesus said: " I came not to condemn the world but to save It"!
TaylorDonBarret
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Oh ok. I understand your question now. Thank you for clarifying. I think the answer to your question is that the kingdom of God is both here on earth and in Heaven. In theology this is called the "already, but not yet". The kingdom is already here in of that believers have Christ living inside of them and Christ is ruling the earth. But the kingdom has not truly came in all its fullness until Jesus returns and kills Satan, all his demons, all the wicked people, and kills the sin nature as well; and then the new heaven and the new earth will be created and the kingdom of God will be here in all its fullness.
Kingdom is not a place, its a Greek Female noun. What you said, the rule of God on earth now by the Spirit on him to enforce God's will on earth as it is also in Heaven. When John asked if it was the Christ (Anointed one, Hebrew Messiah) or should they wait on another, Jesus said you go tell John the dead are raised back to life, the bind see and the lepers are cleaned. He said the devils are cast out, because the Rule (Kingdom) of God has come unto you.
I ABSOLUTELY agree with the above observation of 'Judge Not".
If God is to become real and genuine for our lives, we often first have to rescue Him from the various self-proclaimed experts of these days; wrestle Him away from the pretenders, the pious and the babbling theologians. Only then can we truly recognize God’s authentic face and touch Him.
Indeed, there clearly is a gospel ABOUT Jesus and also the gospel OF Jesus.This could perhaps be better understood with the terms: 'Gospel of Repentance' and 'Gospel of the Kingdom'. The gospel of repentance is primarily concerned with the 'coming kingdom', ("kingdom of God is at hand"),while the latter is preoccupied with the 'present kingdom', ("see the kingdom" / "enter the kingdom"). The Gospel of Repentance frees us from the just wages of sin and we become children of God. The Gospel of the Kingdom subsequently gives us children of God the ability to dwell in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" and be active as sons/daughters of God. The Gospel about Jesus gives us opportunity to grow into the image of God while the Gospel of Jesus encourages us to mature into God's likeness ... which is God's spoken intent for us in the book of Genesis. The Gospel of Repentance concerns our adoption into the family of God while the Gospel of the Kingdom concerns our active citizenship in the heavens: "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."
One of the largest successes of failure with the nominal church in our days is their continued neglect to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. This terrible circumstance has produced spiritual dwarfs among us; Christians who are trained to cherish the warmth of the womb instead of the New Birth. Look around you ... look within yourselves ... do you see any genuine activity of an ongoing metamorphosis in the nominal church these days? Is there evidence of a metamorphosis from a caterpillar, (dwelling on earth), to a butterfly, (which dwells in the heavens)?
Unfortunately, there seem to be far too many of us Christians who somehow paraphrased their Bibles to read similar to an Oprah self-help book which merely puts a new suit on their old man. The Gospel of the Kingdom presents us with the confidence to put a NEW MAN into the old suit! Not reformation ... but transformation!
The Gospel of the Kingdom is about elevation and not the counterfeit of levitation; of being resurrected and not simply exhumed. It's a gospel of healing and restoration and not the 'sedatives' of self-help nor the 'anesthesia' of religious ideology. The Gospel of the Kingdom offers life assurance, not fire insurance; freedom, and not merely a tentative truce. Its preoccupation is mercy, not money ... triumph, not success ... inheritance, not reward.
Ummm, perhaps the meaning of the term 'Gospel of the Kingdom' can be understood in this manner:
The unseen invisible spiritual world should not be perceived as a location. Rather, it's best understood or imagined as an atmosphere ... a climate. For instance, just as the weather is not something to be located, neither is the invisible world.
Additionally, what Christians might mean to imply when using the term 'heaven', is oftentimes named as the 'Kingdom of Heaven' in Scripture. The Kingdom of Heaven, (as imaged by the Garden of Eden), has two opposing realms ... the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.
Here's a question you might wish to ask and discover for yourself to be true: Does your human spirit belong with the visible temporal dimension or with the invisible eternal dimension? If your answer is that your "inner being" is unseen to the naked eye and therefore invisible, it must obviously must be found as dwelling within that invisible realm ... correct?
So it is, that all men are simultaneously attached to BOTH the natural world (physical) and also the spiritual world, (heaven) from birth.This is why the Bible says that we were transferred from the kingdom of darkness (within unseen spiritual world) into the kingdom of light, (also within the unseen spiritual world). Which was transferred within this invisible realm? Your "inner man" (human spirit) or your physical man? Obviously, the unseen "inner man" was released from the invisible chains of the invisible kingdom of darkness. So? It becomes true that you must have been unknowingly dwelling in both the visible world and invisible world simultaneously ... correct?
Read the parables of Jesus again concerning the Kingdom ... but this time with the perspective that Jesus is using the visible images from earth to reveal the invisible realities of the unseen heavens.
Greetings,
A 'weirdy, beardy, proverbially wise-old, kind-old, be-slippered, fire-sided, snoozy, fearless, story-telling, grand-fatherly, rugged, tribal-leader' wrote /sang/said that we're living in eternity, there's always time to care.
From what I came to know and then read, the message which was summarized in the Old Testament,
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Isaiah 56:1 Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.
and revealed in the New,
1John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
and,
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:
Matthew 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Luke 7:22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Luke 10:24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
John 14:7 If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen h
Him.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.
is one of love, our Father's Love.
Bless you ....><>
A 'weirdy, beardy, proverbially wise-old, kind-old, be-slippered, fire-sided, snoozy, fearless, story-telling, grand-fatherly, rugged, tribal-leader' wrote /sang/said that we're living in eternity, there's always time to care.
From what I came to know and then read, the message which was summarized in the Old Testament,
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Isaiah 56:1 Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.
and revealed in the New,
1John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
and,
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:
Matthew 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Luke 7:22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Luke 10:24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
John 14:7 If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen h
Him.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.
is one of love, our Father's Love.
Bless you ....><>
You lost me. Kingdom just means to rule with, or to rule. Why they translated it Kingdom is beyond me.
Curtis
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As a Christian we live in two realms at the same time. The physical, and the spiritual. With our physical bodies we contact the earthly world ,and with our spirit the Kingdom of Heaven in which we have already been translated into. The Kingdom of God is "transportable" and we bring it with us were ever we go, yet there is a stationary place where the Kingdom is set. Where ever God rests and sits on his throne is the permanent place, which is mount Zion the city of the living God, for he has chosen it to be the place of his rest forever.
Psa 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
The Lord's exact place of his rest is were his light emanates from. It is the source of his presence that spreads out throughout all eternity, and time. We are light in the Lord, and his light emanates out from us which is the Kingdoms environment in which all of his children dwell within. This is the Kingdom that all children of God bring with them where ever they go on this earth. Jesus said he brought the Kingdom with him....
Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Psa 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
The Lord's exact place of his rest is were his light emanates from. It is the source of his presence that spreads out throughout all eternity, and time. We are light in the Lord, and his light emanates out from us which is the Kingdoms environment in which all of his children dwell within. This is the Kingdom that all children of God bring with them where ever they go on this earth. Jesus said he brought the Kingdom with him....
Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
The word translated " Kingdom " throughout the New Testament is the Greek word basileia, which denotes " sovereignty, royal power, and dominion.
The focus of Christ's message was the announcement of a coming world government.
Daniel 2:44-prophecies reveals the Kingdom of God is nothing short of a world ruling monarchy that God will establish on this earth through Jesus Christ.
Rev 11:15 shows after Jesus second coming He will rule over all literal kingdoms on earth, He is not doing that right now-it is a future event.
the Bible tells us that Satan is called the prince or ruler of our world now and is called the " god of this age "- 2 Cor 4:4
Jesus is coming back to take over Satan's kingdom and restore it under Him
The message of God's Kingdom was at hand or being offered to us now. Jesus who will be the king of Kings in his coming kingdom was referring to Himself when He would say :": the Kingdom of God is among you or in your midst " as the divine representative of that Kingdom.
Right, and if we translate it this way as the power to rule with, or have God rule over, or have God's will for you here as it is in Heaven, then a whole lot of scriptures make sense.
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God (Power, rule and will of God) is come upon you.
(Luk 11:20)
Wired 4 Fishen
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It could be said that living in the KIingdom of God is doing things Gods way. When you walk in His ways you are walking in His blessing and will see the fruits there of. Those who are not walking in His ways will not inherit the kingdom of God or rather will not see the power of Gods word working in their lives.
Blessings
Jim
Right, Jesus said thy Rule and power be done on earth as it is in heaven, and at the end of that He seed seek, Put Gods will, power, rule first and everything else is added. Doing the will of God, walking by spirit, not flesh you get to partake of the will and power of God in your life.
sounds good enough. Thank you for that.
Hi! 'Wired 4 Fishen'
We find ourselves alive in a generation where the key of knowledge has been lost from among the Christian community. A fundamental difference which exists between the kind of knowledge people had in Old Testament times and the kind of knowledge which the New Testament brought into the world has been clouded over and obscured. In the eighth chapter of Romans Paul writes that the Law of the Spirit of Life has made us free from the Law of Sin and Death. Since this is so, it is no longer necessary for us to learn the ten commandments by heart but it is utterly essential for us to discover the laws of the spiritual world. How can we do battle in the heavenly places unless we know what weapons need to be used there? How can we defend ourselves spiritually unless we are aware of the ghostly armor which gives protection against the fiery arrows of the enemy? How can we hope to bring about the healing and deliverance of others if we ourselves are not aware of the rules of that Kingdom of God and the righteousness upon which those rules are based? 'An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules', writes the apostle Paul in 2Timothy. It is a principle to which Paul was no stranger, for he writes again in 1 Corinthians: "I do not run aimlessly - I do not box as one who beats the air." The individual disciple cannot fight against sin on the spiritual battlefield unless he first discovers how the spirits of darkness work and the manner in which God's Spirit and the angels work together with him as a child of God in the battle for restoration. Paul declared that the Spirit of God searches out all things, even the depths of God Himself, and that this same Spirit is He who dwells in us. As far as the kingdom of darkness is concerned, the apostle made the observation that the thoughts of Satan were not unknown to him. "For we have received the Spirit of God so that we can understand the gifts which God has bestowed upon us", It is the Holy Spirit Himself who gives us insight and develops within us the gift of knowledge of the unseen world and the ability to discern spirits.
If we have as yet little or no knowledge or insight in the spiritual world we should not fall into the trap of camouflaging this lack by pretending that it is a part of our Christian simplicity. On the contrary, we must become enthusiastic for the spiritual gifts and endeavor to gain more spiritual knowledge from the Word of God.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ, whoever he or she may be, needs a knowledge of the unseen world if sin is to be overcome and expelled from his or her life. In fact the battle against sin lies in the heavenly places and not in a wrestling with flesh and blood; not even with one's own flesh and blood. It means coming to terms with the reality of spiritual powers and fighting the battle in a spiritual dimension. To obtain victory over sin and bondage it is necessary to have a knowledge of the kingdom of heaven and its laws. Jesus supplied the insights needed for this. Often He did it by means of parables; not because the parables always made things instantly clear to everyone who heard them; for the unspiritual man "would indeed hear but never understand", and "indeed see but never perceive". On the other hand, Jesus said to His spiritually-minded hearers, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear". This teaching of Jesus is to be found in Matthew 13:11.
When our Savior was nailed on the cross He prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do"'. Because they lacked knowledge, the people of Israel committed the greatest crime of all time. Afterwards Paul wrote: "But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before all ages for our glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory". What could the unspiritual leaders know about the Kingdom of Heaven and the battle which is fought there? What could a Roman soldier know about it? Little did they understand that they were being made use of by God and man's arch enemy. But at the cross Jesus made a public example of the enemies of God and man. This is the way He triumphed over the principalities and powers, (Col 2:15). Long ago the Old Testament prophet had complained: "My people are being destroyed, (are the prey of the evil one), through their lack of knowledge", (Hos 4:6). If we, as disciples of Jesus Christ in these difficult times, desire to be a spiritual people we need an acute knowledge of the world of the spirits. Our own spirits must learn to take their place in the heavenly places and to regard the situations in which we find ourselves from the vantage point of this position. Spiritual life is not a matter of intense seriousness and devotion, emotion or concentration or getting up early, going to bed late, after long prayer meetings. It is rather the matter of realizing a citizenship in the heavenly places, a walk there, and also a thought life which has the constant habit of occupying itself with things that are above; the battle and victory in the heavenly places.
Travis
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No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
amadeus2
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Yes. and early on "... Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."
No place to lay his head, but the answer as to where he would be able to lay his head was there in Psalm 132:14. Zion [one literal meaning is "parched place"] is the dry barren place which men have been and are. Jesus told us that this barrenness was going to be changed:
"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" John 7:38-39
When it was changed, then it would be the place for Jesus to lay his head as the Head of the Body of Christ.
