November 24 2024

Sunday November 24

“The Glad Tidings of the Kingdom of God”

Luke 8:1-3

1 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, 2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.

One of the major themes in Luke 8 is how to get faith and use it in the everyday experiences of life. In the first section of verses 1-21, Jesus laid the foundation by teaching His disciples that faith comes through receiving the Word of God into an understanding heart. In the second part, verses 22-56, Jesus put them through a series of "examinations" to see how much they had really learned. Most of us enjoy Bible study, however, it is in the tests of life that faith really grows, and we get closer to Christ.

Everybody lives by faith in something or someone. The difference between the Christian believer and the unsaved person is not that one has faith and the other does not. They both have faith. The difference is in the object of their faith, for faith is only as good as the object. The Christian believer has put his faith in Jesus Christ, and he bases that faith on the Word of God. In Hebrews 11, we are told of the great exploits of faith through the lives of the Old Testament heroes. Then in Hebrews 12:2, we are exhorted to continuously be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”. 

In Luke 8, Jesus leaves His ministry headquarters in Capernaum and continues “preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, going “through every city and village” in the northern Galilean region.

The words "preaching and bringing the glad tidings" are translated from one Greek word which is the word from which we get our English words evangelize, evangelistic, evangelist, and evangelical. The "glad tidings" was that Jesus provided a way to enter the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is an interesting phrase that is used often in the New Testament. The phrase “kingdom of God” occurs 68 times in 10 different New Testament books. Acts 1:3 tells us that during Jesus forty days of ministry to His disciples after His resurrection that “He spoke of those things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Acts 28, the very last chapter of the Book of Acts, also mentions how Paul’s messages centered around “the kingdom of God” (v. 23), and in the very last verses, Acts 28:30-31, “Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.”

It might be interesting to note that the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” occurs only 32 times in the New Testament, and only in the Gospel of Matthew. Many Bible scholars believe that both terms are speaking of the same thing and are considered to be synonymous.

The main thing we should take from all this is that in John 3, in Jesus’ discourse with Nicodemus, Jesus makes it very clear that the only entrance into the “kingdom of God” is by being born again. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3), and “he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Without a spiritual rebirth we can neither see nor enter the kingdom of God.

The “kingdom of God or heaven” is basically everything that has to do with God and His rule over everything. A kingdom has a king! Jesus is the King of God’s kingdom. That is why when Jesus showed up on earth and began His ministry, He was preaching that “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). The King had arrived! Jesus is the “Door” and He is the only entrance to “God’s Kingdom”.

When we repent of our sins and by faith trust and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we enter His Kingdom, and our spiritual eyes are activated and for the first time we can “see” the things that pertain to “God’s Kingdom”. We submit and come under His authority, and we enjoy all the blessings of living a life of heaven on earth!

There are only two kingdoms on earth today. One is the domain of darkness and the other is the kingdom of the Son of His love (Colossians 1:13). Which one are you in?

God bless!