The Good News Concerning Jesus Christ & the Kingdom of God

Most people in America today have had some kind of encounter with what they are told is Christianity, whether it be through a religious media program, or by personal contact with someone who identifies him or her self as a Christian. Such encounters may have been true presentations of the authentic, biblical Christian faith.
Unfortunately, they may just as likely have been an encounter with a Bible-based religious cult whose message though sincere, is a perversion of what Christianity teaches. Therefore, just to be safe, in this article I will attempt to offer a brief, biblical, explanation of the good news concerning who Jesus Christ is and what He has accomplished for us.
A good place to begin is at the beginning. The One True God exists as three persons, God the Father, God the Son (i.e. Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. This One God created mankind in His very own image, to have friendship with Him, and be part of the beautiful display of His goodness, wisdom, and love in this world. This display is called God’s “glory.” We have all been created for the glory of God, and we are to do all that we do for His glory, as a part of that wonderful display.
However, almost from the beginning, our first parents, Adam and Eve, doubted the goodness of God. They believed the lie of a fallen angel, known as Satan, that God is not really good and that there is something better to be had than just knowing and doing the will of the Creator. So, they doubted God enough to actually disobey Him, and in doing so they “fell short of the glory of God”. They unwittingly became instead a part of the display of Satan’s evil, foolishness and selfishness. That is the world in which we now live—a world corrupted by sin.
God could have discarded the whole lot of us. But in His mercy, He choose instead to forgive and rescue all those who turn back to Him. To set this plan in action God the Father sent God the Son, (again, that is Jesus Christ), into this world to be a man, to live the perfect life of goodness that we all should have lived, and then to willingly die in our place as the death payment required by God to settle our debt to eternal justice. Jesus died for us.
In order to prove that Jesus’ death sacrifice was accepted as full payment for our sins, God raised Jesus from the dead. So, Jesus is alive right now. He is no longer dead!
Because of this, Jesus is now the good and wise King over the Kingdom of God. This is the realm where the will of God is “done on earth as it is in heaven” joyfully from a heart of faith in Jesus.
This Kingdom of God is where Jesus’ competence as King is clearly put on display in the lives of all those who trust in Him enough to actually obey His command to love one another. That is the “law of Christ,” the Great Command to show our love for God BY the way we love and care for one another on His behalf.
King Jesus will eventually return from heaven to restore everything to God’s original purpose. Everything and everyone will bring proper glory to God, or be judged for refusing to do so. He may return very soon and there will be no more opportunity to be saved and forgiven.
In the mean time, as believers, we get to take part His glorious display right now. As soon as we allow Jesus to take His place in our lives as Lord, His goodness begins to overwhelm our tendency toward evil. His wisdom begins to overwhelm our foolishness and pride. His love begins to overwhelm our apathy and hatred. We begin to change to become more like Him. In this way He rescues us from living in sin.
Because of His death we can be forgiven for all our sins, past, present and future.
Because He is alive, we can stop destroying our lives by living in darkness and start living our lives for His glory as part of His kingdom in this world.
That is good news!
So, whatever your circumstances may be, if you have not already done so, please acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe in your own heart that God has raised Him from the dead. If you will do this, you will be saved. You will be born again into a whole new life. And you will begin to shine as a light in this dark world.
There are many local churches in nearly every community around the world that believe and teach this same Good News concerning Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. We hope and pray that you will trust in Jesus to save you, and that you will then join with one of these faithful local churches in your community. If we can help you find that church, that would be great! We are happy to suggest churches in your own neighborhood, where you can make new friends and begin to grow to full maturity as a new Christian. Let us know how we can help.
—— Gregg Harris,
Director, Noble Institute