From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
The Jews in Jesus day were waiting for the Messiah, someone to lead and restore their nation to a position of power - free from the domination of Rome."Basically, the Messiah in Jewish thought is a descendant of King David who will also be a king and will bring the Jews together to live in the Land of Israel and to keep the commandments. He will fight wars against the enemies of the Jews, will prevail, and will inaugurate an era of everlasting peace when the Third Holy Temple will be built in Jerusalem. It is commandment to long for the Messiah every day and to expect him to arrive. There is no time that it is impossible for the Messiah to come, even in the darkest hours. "The Muslims are also waiting for a Messiah/Savior:
http://jewish.families.com/blog/messiah-who-and-what-are-we-waiting-for1
"According to the unanimously accepted saying of the Prophet Muhammad, God will bring about a saviour before the end of time to establish the global domination of Islam over all religions. In other words, the saviour will establish the Kingdom of God on this earth. In Islamic traditions, that saviour is known by the name of "al-Mahdi".Christians are waiting for the second coming of Messiah:
http://www.ummah.net/khoei/mahdi.htm
The second coming of Jesus Christ is the hope of believers that God is in control of all things, and is faithful to the promises and prophecies in His Word. In His first coming, Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby in a manager in Bethlehem, just as prophesied. Jesus fulfilled many of the prophecies of the Messiah during His birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection. However, there are some prophecies regarding the Messiah that Jesus has not yet fulfilled. The second coming of Christ will be the return of Christ to fulfill these remaining prophecies. In His first coming, Jesus was the suffering Servant. In His second coming, Jesus will be the conquering King. In His first coming, Jesus arrived in the most humble of circumstances. In His second coming, Jesus will arrive with the armies of heaven at His side.What are you waiting for?
http://www.gotquestions.org/second-coming-Jesus-Christ.html
The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." (John 4:25-26 NIV)However His Kingdom was not of this world:
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." (John 18:36 NIV)His Kingdom was starting during that generation:
I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." (Matthew 16:28 NIV)Jesus core message was about this Kingdom of His. He often used parables to describe it, and focused his preaching on it.
From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matthew 4:17 NIV)You don't have to be like the religious leaders of Jesus day:
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. (Matthew 21:32 NIV)The good news is that God's Kingdom is here now. Change your way of thinking, believe this message:
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15 NIV)
The word Gospel gets used a lot in Christian circles... but do we know what we mean when we use the word?"What's the Gospel?
What’s the gospel? I’ll put it in a sentence.
The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy. "
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2007/2389_The_Gospel_in_6_Minutes/
Question: "What is the true gospel?"
Answer: The true gospel is the good news that God saves sinners. Man is by nature sinful and separated from God with no hope of remedying that situation. But God, by His power, provided the means of man’s redemption in the death, burial and resurrection of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.Matthew 9:35 (NIV)
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.Matthew 11:5 (NIV)
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.Matthew 24:14 (NIV)
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.Mark 1:14-15 (NIV)
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.Mark 8:35 (NIV)
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.Mark 10:29-30 (NIV)
"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.Luke 3:18 (NIV)
And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:Luke 4:43 (NIV)
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,
But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."Luke 9:6 (NIV)
So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.Luke 16:16 (NIV)
"The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.Luke 20:1 (NIV)
One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. (NIV)
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."I pray that this Counselor, the Spirit of truth, would be with me at all times... I desperately need Him.
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"And what will this Spirit of truth teach me?
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.Hmm... will the Holy Spirit teach me all things? What could this mean?
Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"Jesus came to testify to the truth... the truth that He is King.
"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"
"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
