Only Some Nations?

Is the Gospel of the Kingdom a message for only some nations, or is it Good News for all nations and peoples of the Earth?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is often perverted into Good News for some nations, but bad news for others. This twist occurs whenever representatives of the church of the same Jesus who gave his life for all men associate and even identify his name and message with specific nations, races, cultures, and political ideologies.

[Glass Globe Photo by Joshua Kettle on Unsplash]

After his resurrection, Jesus declared: “All authority in heaven and on Earth is given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” Enthroned as the Ruler of all things, he now empowers and sends his envoys to proclaim his sovereignty and salvation to all men and every nation:

• “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth” - (Acts 1:8).

• “I will also give you for a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the ends of the earth” - (Isaiah 49:6).

• “Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession” - (Psalm 2:8).

Through his sacrificial death, the Nazarene established the promised “priestly kingdom” of men and women redeemed from every nation, a body of believers dedicated to his Kingdom and sent to proclaim his message to all men.

In the Book of Revelation, for example, the entire universe declares the slain “Lamb” “worthy” to receive all power and glory because he redeemed men “by his shed blood” from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people – (Revelation 5:5-14).

The Apostle Paul wrote to the congregations of Rome about God’s righteousness that is now available to all humanity “through the faith of Jesus Christ for all men who believe, for there is no distinction.” Men from every nation may be acquitted before God of the penalties of sin because of and through faith in Christ’s act on the Cross. Their ethnicity makes no difference - (Romans 3:22-24).

Paul employed his radical monotheism to make the point.  “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also!” No one is advantaged or disadvantaged before the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” because of biological descent or national origin - (Romans 3:29-30).

• “There cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all” – (Colossians 3:11).

Through Jesus, God is creating a new humanity and one covenant community, and its members come from every nation, including Israel. No nation, race, culture, or political ideology can claim Jesus as its exclusive possession.

According to the Psalmist, God has given His Son the nations for an inheritance. Because of his Death and Resurrection, he is now the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth.” They (and we) serve him, not vice versa - (Psalm 2:8, Revelation 1:4-6).

The announcement of the Good News of salvation is a message of hope, salvation, and life for all men and women regardless of their origins.

PERVERTING THE FAITH

Sadly, many churches and ministries link the biblical faith to specific nations, ideologies, cultures, and civilizations, and even to economic theories. This is the destructive political myth peddled to the world under the name of ‘Christendom,’ an attempt to associate Jesus and his teachings with specific races and nations.

If anything, ‘Christendom’ is an abominable counterfeit of the true and universal Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus and his Apostles, an idolatrous conceit propagated by deceivers and political operatives working inside the Institutional Church and from many pulpits.

Jesus announced a Kingdom that transcends all national, ethnic, social, and economic boundaries, and any attempt to limit it by such categories violates the essence of his message and denies the validity of his sacrifice for all men.

• “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole habitable earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” - (Matthew 24:14).

• “There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither slave nor free, there can be no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” - (Galatians 3:28).

The mission of the Church is to proclaim this Good News in even the remotest corners of the Earth, and this task must be completed before Jesus returns to consummate all things, judge the nations, raise the dead, and gather his “elect.”

Christ’s life-giving message is for every person and nation on Earth. All men have sinned,” and everyone needs God’s saving grace. No one deserves it, but God has graciously made it available to everyone through the preaching of the Gospel and the faith of Jesus Christ. In the truest sense, the Good News of God’s Kingdom is a universal religion and an inclusive faith.

When Jesus returns, only one Kingdom will be left standing. As his disciples, we must resist every attempt to link, conflate, or identify the Apostolic Faith with any nation, culture, or civilization. The message of salvation is for all men, and we pervert it into a very “different gospel” when we begin to exclude certain groups from it.

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SEE ALSO:

• Salvation for All! - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and life to men and women of every nation and people)

• The Promise is for you! - (The Gift of the Spirit is for every man who repents, even to those afar off, and in fulfillment of the promise of the Father - Acts 2:37-41)

• The Mission - (The mission of the Assembly of Jesus is to proclaim the Good News of his Kingdom to all Nations until he returns – Matthew 24:14)

• The Salvation of Yahweh - (Jesus means ‘Yahweh saves.’ In this Man of Nazareth, the Salvation promised by the God of Abraham and Israel has arrived for all men)