He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Mark 16:15 New International Version

Imagine you’re living 2,500 years ago in a far-off village. This place is under the control of an empire ruled by a king who sits on his throne thousands of miles away. It’s strange because you’ve never actually met this king, nor has he ever visited your tiny village. However, the king’s servants frequently show up and take things in the name of their ruler. They collect taxes, sometimes in the form of wealth and resources, while other times they force young men into the king’s army. As you can imagine, life is tough since your village carries the burden of the king’s rule. The king doesn’t care about your village beyond using it to grow his own wealth and power.

Now picture a scenario where miles away, a battle is raging between the king’s army and another ruler’s forces. After a fierce fight, the rival king emerges victorious. Your oppressive king has been defeated, bringing an end to his rule and paving the way for a new king to govern your village.

However, this battle happened far away and there is none of the fancy communication stuff we have now like the internet, social media, texting, newspapers, cable news, or even the telegraph. The people in the village don’t know it, but now there’s a brand new king in charge. The challenge is finding out the details of the battle and figuring out what this new guy is like. It’s important to know if he’s the kind of ruler who might make things worse with greed, ambition, or a love for war,. On the other hand, if he turns out to be a good king, there might be some hope that things will get better for the village.

One day, the king’s servants show up in your little village. Upon their arrival you did not know it yet, but these servants are actually loyal to a different king. Instead of burdening you with financial demands or asking for soldiers, they introduce themselves as representatives of the new ruler. Their purpose for visiting is not just to deliver the news of the transition of power, but to invite you to pledge your allegiance or faith to this newly crowned king. To accomplish this, they plan to gather the villagers and share the incredible tale of this new ruler. This story they tell shares many important details:

• The amazing qualities that distinguish him from others,
• How his power and wisdom have been revealed,
• The unique character and personality he possesses,
• The impressive accomplishments and pursuits accomplished during his reign,
• The journey to the throne and people who supported him,
• The victorious battle fought against the previous king,
• The expectations and rules that govern those living within his kingdom, shedding light on his laws,
• The level of security enjoyed by this newfound kingdom.

After they finish telling their story, these messengers, sent by the king to announce his kingdom in this village, invite everyone to follow this new ruler. Now it’s your turn to decide. Do you believe this news about the new king and his victory? There’s not really an option to stay neutral. You can either choose to serve this new king, living by his laws, and accepting his authority, or you can reject this news, ignore the messengers, and keep living according to the laws of the previous king. It’s up to you to choose who you want to serve and how you want to live.

Will you leave the old kingdom behind and start fresh in this new one?

Or will your doubts and skepticism cause you to continue living according to a kingdom and a king that has already been defeated?

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I mentioned in the intro post to this blog series, that when we mistakenly view kingdom words as exclusively religious, we miss out on their power and significance. Like other words I picked up at church, my understanding of “gospel” was shaped by the context in which I learned it. “Gospel” was a religious term that referred to the specific steps for getting into heaven. People would talk about spreading the gospel, and they usually meant leading someone through a series of verses from Romans or urging them to acknowledge their sins and say a prayer. I often wondered why I couldn’t find anything like that in the books of the Bible called Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John).

Before “gospel” was only associated with Jesus, it had another meaning. Many people who have attended church for a while know that it literally means “good news.” So lets go back to our story about you living in a remote village. These servant messengers of the king show up share a story about the life and victory of this new king who now rules over you. Stories that function that way in ancient kingdoms had a technical term. Can you guess what that word was? It wasn’t religious language. It was kingdom language. That word was “gospel.”

In an inscription found in the ancient city of Priene in western Turkey dating from 9 BC and now stored in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, announces the arrival of Augustus Caesar was celebrated as “good news”.

The emperor was praised for restoring order and bringing a new hope to the world when everything was falling apart and chaos was reigning. Without Augustus, the world would have faced destruction. The Greeks in Asia even decided to celebrate their new years on September 23rd in honor of Augustus’ birthday.

Augustus was described as a savior, a god, and the one who fulfilled the prophecies. He was also called lord and “son of a god”, which was an effective propaganda tool used against his political rivals. Coins minted during his reign even bore the title “son of god”. This title was later adopted by emperors like Tiberius, Nero, and Domitian.

As we recognize that a gospel isn’t some divine plan to guarantee our eternal home, but rather a narrative that proclaims a king’s triumph, it might seem like our faith or Jesus’ gospel is losing some impact; it’s just one gospel among many. However, when we grasp that Jesus’ Gospel is a telling of his life, ministry, death, and resurrection with the intention of announcing his victory over the oppressive reign of sin and death, declaring his supreme rule over all creation as the king above all kings, we then are welcomed to dedicate ourselves to serving and following King Jesus. Each of the four biblical gospels tell this story a bit differently. Yet, the central message remains that Jesus, God’s chosen king, has achieved a victory and is inviting us to live faithfully in his kingdom.

So when we read the verse that was shared at the top of this post, the words are the same as they were a few minutes ago, but hopefully the meaning is much richer and more powerful.

He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Tell all of creation the story that King Jesus has defeated the enemy and has rescued creation from the kingdom shaped by sin. The battle has been fought. The victory has been won. Jesus is king.

Additional Scriptures and Discussion Questions

Luke 4:43-44 and Luke 8:1 both include details about Jesus that his purpose and mission early in his ministry was to preach the gospel.

-But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. 

-After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 

Question: Both these passages are relatively early in the Gospel of Luke and many of the important events in Jesus’ life hadn’t occurred yet. What do you think Jesus was saying when the scriptures tell us that he was preaching the gospel and proclaiming the good news?

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Romans 1:16  – For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 

Question: If we understand the Gospel of Jesus to be the story of his life, death, and resurrection, shared to announce his victory over worldly kingdoms while inviting us to pledge our allegiance to King Jesus, does our understanding of Romans 1:16 change at all? How so?

1 Corinthians 15:1-8 – Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel  I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 

Question: In the letter to the church in Corinth, what does Paul say was the gospel that he received and passed on to them? In your opinion, why do you think Paul reminded them of this understanding of the Gospel?

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Whether this post about the meaning of gospel has answered some questions for you or created a whole bunch of new questions, I want to invite you to continue with me on this journey of exploring kingdom words.

Next week’s Topic: Preaching the Gospel

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