Baroni Bloggin’

When Jesus first appeared as an adult in the gospel according to Mark 1:15, He said:
“The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel.”

Borrowing a bit from my friend Dudley Hall, (check him out at www.sclm.org), I paraphrase:

“You have been living in an earthly realm with a certain set of expectations and paradigms. I tell you that I am bringing a new way to live, a new way to look at life. I am God, the King come to earth -and I have brought my kingdom with me. Get ready to have your mind changed, your whole way of life changed- this is great news!”

The message that Jesus preached (and embodied) was the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Most believers have settled for assuming that the gospel of Salvation (Jesus was God come to earth as a man, suffered died and was buried, rose again on the third day for the forgiveness of our sins) is the same thing as the gospel of the Kingdom.

As vital as the gospel of Salvation is, (and make no mistake, it is vital- without the crucifixion and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ we would have no means for a real relationship with God), it is just a part of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life and that more abundantly.” The gospel of the Kingdom is not just forgiveness of sins and a ticket to heaven, it permeates the whole of life.

The word “gospel” means good news. Good news to the Wall Street tycoon and the orphan in Calcutta, to the star NFL athlete, the successful lawyer and the huddled refugees of Sudan.

What is that good news?

That we have a Father Who gave life to us. We have a destiny- a purpose. We are valuable and precious to God. We can walk in peace in this life- living above circumstances. Through the cross of Jesus we can be free to get to know God- to get to know ourselves.
Through Jesus we are set free to be who we were origially created by God to be!
We can learn to love others and love ourselves and even love our enemies.

All of this is impossible without God- but the good news of the Kingdom that will affect every sphere of life on earth is that we are not without God. Emmanuel has come. He lives in us by His Holy Spirit. We are the dwelling place of the Most High God!

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is filling the earth through His people!
Seek first the Kingdom of God…

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 9:45 am and is filed under Random Thoughts, Spiritual Musings, All About Music, Devotional Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.