Jesus' Assignment Was to Restore the Kingdom
King Jesus proclaimed His assignment: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
The Lord God's purpose is the same as it has always been: to exercise dominion and authority over the earthly realm under His sovereign kingdom. That has never changed. What has changed is our position. Adam and Eve's abdication of their rightful place of authority allowed the deceiver, who is an unemployed cherub, to usurp the throne the Lord God intended for us to occupy. I must say, fortunately for us the Lord God did not simply write us off and wipe us off planet earth and start over again. His eternal purpose will never be thwarted. His perfect will shall come to pass. From the very beginning, the Lord God had a plan that would resolve over defection. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. God's purpose was to restore us to our full status as His sons and daughters and bring us back into His Kingdom. He sent Jesus as the Way and the Door. Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Faith in Jesus the Christ as the Son of God and in His death for our disobedience (sin) resurrected our life. Jesus is the doorway through which we enter the Kingdom of God.
Questions for thought:
The Lord God's purpose is the same as it has always been: to exercise dominion and authority over the earthly realm under His sovereign kingdom. That has never changed. What has changed is our position. Adam and Eve's abdication of their rightful place of authority allowed the deceiver, who is an unemployed cherub, to usurp the throne the Lord God intended for us to occupy. I must say, fortunately for us the Lord God did not simply write us off and wipe us off planet earth and start over again. His eternal purpose will never be thwarted. His perfect will shall come to pass. From the very beginning, the Lord God had a plan that would resolve over defection. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. God's purpose was to restore us to our full status as His sons and daughters and bring us back into His Kingdom. He sent Jesus as the Way and the Door. Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Faith in Jesus the Christ as the Son of God and in His death for our disobedience (sin) resurrected our life. Jesus is the doorway through which we enter the Kingdom of God.
Questions for thought:
- Why did the Lord God send Jesus as "the Way" we should return to Him? Why couldn't mankind fulfill the obligation through the law?
- Explain Galatians 4:4-5 as you would to an unbeliever. How does this verse put the Gospel in a nutshell?
- How has our position changed from what the Lord God's originally intended? What kind of authority did we give to the deceiver? How has this changed the way mankind operate in this world.
Thought for Meditation:
Keep in mind, everywhere Jesus went, He preached the Kingdom. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. That was His assignment. Jesus' primary message was not the born-again message that dominates gospel preaching. In His entire recorded ministry, Jesus spoke only once about being born again, and that was in the middle of the night to a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus privately. Being born again is the way into the Kingdom; it is the necessary first step. But the Gospel of the Kingdom involves much more.
Now your personal questions:
- What is your primary message as an ambassador for the Kingdom?
- What more is involved in the Gospel of the Kingdom?
- How well do you share the "more" with others?
The question is, "How well?" not "How often?"
Luke 4:18-19 Galatians 4:4-5 John 10:7
~~W.R. Luchie