Is There a Separate Gospel of Jesus Christ?

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As mentioned, Mark 1:1 speaks of “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Let’s ask: Is the “gospel of Jesus Christ” a different—a second—gospel? Did Paul forget that there was another gospel besides the one about the kingdom?

The answer is an emphatic “No!” But most preachers teach that the gospel of Jesus Christ is about Christ, also claiming that He is the kingdom of God and that the gospel of the kingdom is Christ. We have seen this is false, and completely unbiblical! The gospel of Jesus Christ is His gospel—His message about the kingdom of God!

We have seen that Jesus was a Messenger sent from God with an ANNOUNCEMENT! It was not about Himself—it was about God’s kingdom coming to reign over the entire Earth. In John 12:49-50, Jesus said, “For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak.” It should now be clear that Jesus functioned as a messenger—as a SPOKESMAN for the kingdom of God.

In John 14:24, Jesus said, “The word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me.” Christ brought the Father’s message—not His own. This should now be absolutely clear. Remember, He stated in Luke 16:16 that “The law and the prophets were [preached] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached.”

That is what this Work is doing today. Through this book, and many others, the truth of God’s kingdom is being preached to you and to millions of others.

The Kingdom of God Is Coming

Make no mistake! With world conditions nearing the final crises, no human could ever bring about a single, world-ruling government that would work. Jesus Christ will soon return and establish HIS kingdom.

The disciples did not understand when Christ would establish God’s government on Earth. He had to explain to them through use of a parable. Notice: “And as they heard these things, He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the KINGDOM OF GOD should immediately appear” (Luke 19:11). This long parable explains that much time would pass before it came.

Before His ascension into heaven, in Acts 1:1-26, after a series of meetings with His disciples, Christ met one last time with them. Until the very end, He continued to expound the kingdom of God to them. But they remained confused about when it would be established: “Until the day in which He was taken up.… [He was] speaking of the things pertaining to the KINGDOM OF GOD.… When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore again the KINGDOM to Israel?” (Acts 1:2-3, 6).

Christ explained, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons …” (Acts 1:7). We cannot today know exactly when it will come, but we can know that it is close.

Now notice Daniel 7:18: “But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.” Then, Dan 7:22 states, “Until the Ancient of Days [Christ here, and the Father in Dan 7:13] came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.”

Finally, notice verse 27: “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions [rulers] shall serve and obey Him” (Dan. 7:27).

Daniel knew that the saints will one day reign on Earth with Christ!

Jesus’ first recorded sermon, called “The Sermon on the Mount,” states that “the meek shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). Actually, Christ was quoting David, who had recorded this statement in Psalm 37:11—another place where David proclaimed the gospel. The wording there is precisely the same. Other prophecies also demonstrate that David himself will one day rule over all the tribes of Israel (see Ezekiel 34) within the kingdom of God.

Notice three separate verses in Revelation. Christ is quoted through John, saying, “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne” (Rev. 3:21). Also chapter 2, Rev 2:26-27: “And he that overcomes … to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.” Finally, “and has made us unto our God KINGS and PRIESTS: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10).

Has organized religion told you about any of these verses? Almost certainly not. Yet they have been in the Bible for thousands of years.

No wonder that when Christ was on trial for His life, He added more to one of His statements quoted earlier in the book, “My KINGDOM is not of this world: if My KINGDOM were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My KINGDOM not from here” (John 18:36). In this exchange, Pilate had asked Him, “Are you a king then?” Christ answered, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world …” (John 18:37).

Jesus fully understood that He was born to be a King!

Christ to Be a King

Christ’s First Coming was to be a great event. Isaiah prophesied of His birth to a virgin: “Therefore the LORD Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14).

Before Jesus’ birth, an angel appeared to Mary to explain God’s purpose and what was about to happen to her: “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin … Mary” (Luke 1:26-27).

Beginning in Lk 1:30, Gabriel explains more about Christ and how He would eventually rule from the throne of David. Notice: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for you have found favor with God. And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the THRONE of his father David: and He shall REIGN over the house of Jacob forever; and of His KINGDOM there shall be no end” (Luke 1:30-33).

Christ was never in doubt about His life’s mission and purpose. This is why He continually preached the kingdom of God everywhere He went.

Isaiah spoke in more detail about how God’s kingdom would spread around the earth, eventually encompassing all nations: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares', and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:2-4).

This identical prophecy is repeated for emphasis in Micah 4:1-3. These passages foretell that God’s kingdom will spread around the world. This is why one of Christ’s parables likened the kingdom to leaven (Luke 13:20-21), which always spreads until it fills its host. The overarching purpose for your life is to participate in the future spreading of God’s GOVERNMENT.

In front of the United Nations Building is the sculpture of a large man forging a plough from a sword. I have seen it hundreds of times, because I conducted church services across the street from that spot for several years. But no one seems to any longer take notice of, or even believe, the amazing prophecy depicted by this famous sculpture.

Jesus Christ came to be a KING who will one day REIGN on the earth. When He returns, suffering, misery, unhappiness, and all the world’s troubles and evils will disappear—and world peace will literally “break out,” along with supreme happiness, harmony, prosperity, and abundance for all nations. No human government has ever been able to bring these things to even one country on Earth. This is the core of the very gospel that Jesus brought.

Do you believe it? Will you believe it?

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