CHRISTIANITY THE WAY JESUS LIVED IT (eBook)

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This Gospel of the Kingdom

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”3

What gospel was Jesus talking about? What end was Jesus speaking of?

Is the gospel that is so prevalent in the Western church today the gospel Jesus spoke about? I dare to say, “No way!” Much of the gospel that is being proclaimed today is at best only one-third the gospel, and at worst nothing like the gospel that Jesus preached and demonstrated.

Is it any wonder why the end has not yet come?

Jesus said, “This gospel will be preached.” Jesus did not say, “A gospel will be preached.” He did not even say, “The gospel will be preached.” He specified a particular gospel. And that gospel is to be preached by those Peter declared were ‘particular people.’4 These particular people are now the people of God by virtue of their faith in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His atoning work on the cross.

I am absolutely convinced Jesus would not recognize much of what we call the gospel!

Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”5

We know from this statement and others that Jesus made that His mission in life. It was, and is, to carry out the desire of His Father. The Father sent Jesus on a very specific mission and that mission was to, “destroy [reverse, undo, and loosen] the works of the devil.”6

Jesus came to seek and to save all that was lost. His mission was a mission to seek out and to destroy all that the devil had done, was doing, and was ever going to do. He accomplished the first part in Person while He walked the earth. He wants to, and He continues to accomplish these same works of God through His body, His bride, His church, at least the church He is building!

Jesus also came to release a quality of life that was not possible until He died on the cross, rose from the dead, released His life into all those who would believe on Him and in Him, His work on and through the cross, resurrection from the dead, and pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all those throughout every generation who would ask the Father for that Promise!

He worded it this way, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.”7

What Jesus is saying is that through His one coming 2000 years ago He has destroyed all the times that the devil comes and does his destructive work in people’s lives.

This is so vitally important for us to know and to proclaim. The world, as well as the church, needs to know that by Jesus’ one sacrifice He destroyed all the efforts by the devil to enslave people in sin, sickness, oppression and poverty.

The devil knows this is the truth, but most people do not, and that includes Christian people. Christians settle for ‘Que, sera, sera, whatever will be, will be’ Christianity.

Jesus did not come to earth, face rejection like no other person has, live a sinless life, demonstrate the miraculous, extend mercy and compassion on a level the world has never seen, die the horrific death He died, be raised from the dead, ascend into heaven and pour the Holy Spirit out, for ‘Que, sera, sera, whatever will be, will be.’ Don’t doubt me on that!

The devil always attempts to mitigate the Word of God to the people of God. “Did God say” can mean, “Did God really mean what He said?” The enemy attempts to sow any measure of doubt into the hearts and minds of God’s people. This will produce either hesitation, distant observation, or worse an abdication on the part of God’s covenant co-laborers.

These are the tools of the one who comes only for the purpose of deception and destruction, and to rob from God the pleasure of seeing His redemptive plan fully realized in the lives of those who love Him. Abundant life is not a life of bondage to sin, sickness, oppression or poverty. It is a life of wholeness! Wholeness in every area and relationship in life is what Jesus purchased for all humanity. We must get this truth embedded deep within our spirit!

Jesus came for wholeness — not just forgiveness!

As born-again believers in Jesus and His Lordship, we must take up that same mantle and mission. Jesus said, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”8

The phrase, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” must resonate within us until it transforms us. How did the Father send Jesus? That is a loaded question for sure!

The Father sent the Son with a promise of full access and full provision!

The Father sent the Son with a promise of success!

The Father sent the Son with a promise to anoint Him with the Holy Spirit!

The Father sent the Son with the promise to anoint Him with so much power, no power in heaven or earth could stand in the way of His accomplishing His mission!

The Father sent the Son with a promise that He would always be with Him, no matter what He faced in life! Of course, the only exception to this promise is when Jesus hung on the cross as God’s sin offering, when the Father turned His face away from Jesus.

“As the Father has sent Me” can be translated, “In the exact same way that the Father has sent Me.” It can be translated, “There will not be any difference in the way that I send you and the way that the Father sent Me.”

Does that do anything for your courage? Does that do anything about your confidence? It should!

Luke tells us this about the Father’s sending His Son, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”9

I love the NTE Bible which says, “God anointed this man, Jesus of Nazareth, with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were overpowered by the devil, since God was with him.”

Have you ever thought about what all this verse is saying about the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? There are some incredible truths presented in this verse.

1] The Father took responsibility to ensure Jesus had the necessary tools to do the work the Father sent Him to do. 2] The Holy Spirit came into complete agreement and came upon Jesus to empower Him to demonstrate God’s unequaled power. Remember, Jesus was conceived by the Spirit, so the Spirit was inside Him from His conception. This is in some measure equivalent to our supernatural birth, being born again by the Spirit.

3] The Father was always with Jesus.

These all contributed to Jesus going about in His life doing good things for those He encountered, and healing many people who the devil was harassing, oppressing, and suppressing their ability to have the quality-of-life God intended for them to have. Nothing has changed from God’s perspective!

What does it mean when it says God was ‘with’ Jesus? The word ‘with’ is an amazing word that is pregnant with enormous promises. To be ‘with’ in this case means to:

• Sanction
• Invest with authority or to authorize
• Send with credentials [as an ambassador, envoy, or diplomatic agent]
• Authorize as a messenger or delegate
• Believe in and put one’s trust in
• Vouch for someone as having done something or being able to do something
• Identify with
• Support or render assistance
• Be on the same side as
• Have intimate knowledge of, which denotes a close personal relationship

Wow! All of that in the word ‘with?’ Powerful, isn’t it? And Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” Jesus sends us out into the world He loves and owns [the earth is the Lord’s], and the Father promises to be ‘with us’ too!

I would like to quote F. F. Bosworth’s great book CHRIST THE HEALER. “The Gospel is a world-wide emancipation proclamation of liberty from service and bondage to the old tyrant master of sin and sickness — the devil.”10

The devil is the author of everything outside of the will of God. God is not the author of sin, sickness, or poverty. Sin is simply soul sickness anyway so we could simply state that the devil is the author of all sickness.

Luke the physician, and author of the gospel by his...