For the Sake of the Gospel #2

Last week I began a series of columns entitled “For the Sake of the Gospel.” In my first column I explained that what we do for the sake of the gospel we do for the sake of Christ, and what we do for the sake of Christ we do for the sake of the gospel. But what do we mean by the gospel? What is this gospel that is so important that what we do for the sake of the gospel we do for Christ?

The opening words of the Gospel according to St. Mark focus our attention on the gospel about Jesus: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1) With this statement, the Evangelist tells us that the rest of his story will be an account of the gospel/the good news about Jesus the Christ, the promised Messiah, the Son of God. Mark’s account of Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection is good news for us because it tells us what God did in his Son, Jesus Christ. But what has God done that makes the story of Jesus’ life good news for us today? To answer this question we must turn to the beginning of Jesus’ own preaching.

At the outset of his ministry Jesus proclaims: “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has drawn near, therefore repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). This summary of Jesus’ preaching makes an important point that affects us even today: through his ministry Jesus inaugurates the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is breaking in and making its appearance in Jesus’ ministry. Everything that Jesus does, then, points to the kingdom of God. Jesus’ mighty deeds, whereby he expels demons, heals the sick, and raises the dead, point to the in-breaking kingdom of God. If we are to follow Jesus and enter the kingdom, then, we must do two things: (1) repent and (2) believe in the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus proclaims.

The gospel that Jesus preaches is that the kingdom of God is making its appearance in his ministry. But what does Jesus mean when he talks about the kingdom of God? What is this kingdom that he proclaims and that we celebrate today? First, it will be helpful to say what the kingdom is not. It is not a space or a place? It is not even heaven. The kingdom of God is God’s rule over our lives. The kingdom of God is God’s rule over history and creation. The Psalmist summarizes the essential message of the kingdom when he proclaims “God is King of all the earth … the rulers of the earth belong to God, to God who reigns over all” (Psalm 47).

The problem, however, is that humanity went astray. By refusing to submit to God’s rule, humanity put itself under the rule of the One who is evil. By refusing to put itself under God’s rule humanity fell under the rule of Sin and Death, the rule of Satan. The good news of the gospel that Jesus brings, however, is that he has reclaimed us for God. We are no longer under the power of Sin and Death; we are no longer under the rule of the Evil One. Since Christ has inaugurated the kingdom of God we can live under God’s rule, which is the sphere of grace and freedom. When we live for the sake of the gospel, then, we are living under God’s rule; we are in the sphere of the kingdom of God. But more about this next week.