WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS OF THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL?

Acts 8:12: But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus the anointed one, they were baptized, both men and women.

Notice: Luke 8:12: Those by the wayside are they that hear; then comes the devil and takes away the word [about the kingdom of God] out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Notice that Matthew 13:19: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understands it, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart....

So, we understand from these verses that Satan is the enemy of the preaching of ‘the word’ about the coming kingdom of God. Why? Because one needs to understand what the message about the kingdom of God is, which is the message of salvation! (Luke 8:12)

So, first and foremost, the essentials of the good news message Jesus brought are the preaching of the good news about the coming kingdom of God and about his name, which is Jesus, who is the anointed one, the Messiah, the coming King of Israel. And since we have been grafted into the Israel of God (Romans 11), he is our King.

We need to realize that Jesus and his disciples preached the gospel about the kingdom of God long before there was any mention of Jesus' death and resurrection, and after his resurrection that same message continued to be preached to the world even as he commanded.

Notice Acts 28:30-31: And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus the Messiah, the things concerning Jesus about his death, resurrection, and looking forward to the time when he will return to sit on the throne of David at Jerusalem ruling over all the nations and Israel as a glorified immortal man and doing so with all those who have been resurrected to co-rule and co-inherit all things with him.

Unfortunately, that good news message is not now being preached completely. We only hear about the death and resurrection of Jesus and nothing about the soon-coming Kingdom of God. The message one has to understand in order to be saved... Luke 8:12. Why are no preachers today constantly preaching about the kingdom of God as Jesus did throughout his whole ministry? Why are we not being taught more about how the Sermon on the Mount was given to help us know how to prepare to be a co-ruler in that soon-coming Kingdom of God? When the Kingdom of God arrives, it will be the establishment of the Theocratic Government of God set up at Zion, where Jesus will reign as King of Israel and King of Kings and Lord of lords over all the nations of the world who will come up to pay homage to him at the Feast of Tabernacles every year.

Zechariah14:16: And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, [Jesus, acting as the agent of] Yehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Yehovah of armies of heaven, even upon them shall be no rain.

Again, where is the gospel of the Kingdom of God being preached to-day?

Why is it not the emphasis of preachers today? It was at the forefront of the message Jesus brought to Israel and that he wanted preached to the world!

The whole of Scripture is about God's redemption plan starting at Genesis 3:15, where God prophesies that a man born of a woman will have a son who will defeat the Adversary - Serpent - Satan and thus bring about a restoration of all things as they were at the beginning. So we know that the one predicted in Genesis3:15 is the Son of God, the lord Messiah Jesus, who defeated Satan on the tree and, by his shed blood - the sin-offending sacrifice he offered up to his God and his Father Yehovah reconciled all of humanity to his God and his Father Yehovah.

Now, all anyone in the world needs to do to be delivered from God's Wrath is to believe in the one He has sent and, believing in him, to obey his command to repent and be baptized, immersed completely in water. When we enter into the water, we are saying before our God that we are reckoning ourselves as dead to self, and coming out of the water, we realize a newness of life, become a new creation, filled with the Spirit - Breath - Love of Yehovah. At that moment, we have gone through a regeneration process. But that is just the beginning; now we need to be renewed in our hearts and minds to become as our elder brother, the lord Messiah Jesus. Our God enables us to do that by the power of His Spirit - Breath - Love indwelling us.

At that time we have been grafted into the Israel of Yehovah - God, become members of His household, members of His congregation, members of the body of His anointed one, and members of His called-out Assembly. We are also recognized by our God as His temples individually and collectively because of His indwelling Spirit - Breath - Love in us. We also become heirs of the promises made to Abraham and his "seed," Jesus, God's anointed one. And we look forward to co-ruling with the lord Messiah Jesus in the coming kingdom of God, when he will rule over all the nations as King of kings and Lord of lords at that time, all the nations' representatives will come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem - Zion... see Zechariah 14.

Jesus also ratified the New Covenant by his shed blood as a sin-offering sacrifice, which he said he would do as that prophet, the one Moses spoke about – Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:2; Acts 7:37

So, as those who are under the New Covenant, what are we to do? We are to live according to the CREED OF JESUS: Mark 12:26-34.... His creed says we are to love God totally committed to him in obedience, and to love our neighbors as ourselves! That is impossible for us to do unless we are enabled by the Spirit - Breath - Love of Yehovah indwelling us. As we submit to His indwelling Spirit - Breath - Love, we will become servants towards all our neighbors, even as Jesus was the greatest servant of all and still is at this very moment, interceding for us as our High Priest and coming alongside us to help and assist us as we walk on the narrow road towards the coming kingdom of God, which is all that Jesus talked and preached about.

WE are all destined at the resurrection to enter into the coming new age, ruling in the Theocratic Government that Jesus will establish and co-rule over all the surviving nations during the 1,000-year rule.

What an amazing opportunity our God and Father has envisioned for us, and to get where He wants us to be, all we need to do is submit to the guidance of His Spirit - Breath - Love, which enables us to obey the words that He gave Jesus to give to us.

Notice what Jesus says: Matthew 7:21: "Not every one that says unto me, ‘lord, lord,’ shall enter into the Kingdom of God, but he that does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. Again: If we don't obey the words that Yehovah gave to His anointed one, the lord Messiah Jesus, then you won't be in the kingdom of God. Luke 6:46: "And why do you call me, ‘lord, lord,’ and do not the things which I say? So believing in Jesus isn't all there is; after believing that he is the one whom God has sent and being baptized, we all now need to go forward, keeping the creed of the lord Messiah Jesus, enabled by his indwelling Spirit and the Spirit - Breath - Love of Yehovah, and preach about the soon-coming kingdom of God. This is what the disciples of the lord Messiah Jesus are called upon to do continually!