Progressive Unfolding of the Gospel of the Kingdom

God has revealed a lot more about the gospel of the Kingdom since the day He preached it to Abraham (c.f. Galatians 3:8). In fact, God has progressively revealed everything we need to know about this gospel of the Kingdom through the testimony of His Son, the Word of God (c.f. John 1:1).

Hebrews 1:1-2
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

From scriptures, in many portions and in many ways, we can see how the progressive revelation of God’s counsel; the progressive unfolding of God’s eternal purpose; the progressive transition of God’s dealings with mankind; and the progressive demonstration of Kingdom truths, have formed the complete revelation of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom’s King. We can also see how this complete testimony about the Christ will guide us in building up the body of Christ for the summing up of all things in the Kingdom of Christ in these last days.

Thus, in order to understand the full gospel of the Kingdom, we must connect and understand the many portions and the many ways which God has spoken concerning this Kingdom and its King. Like a picture puzzle, we must connect the dots systematically until we can see the full mystery revealed.

Once we have surveyed and understood this progression, we will be able to trace the entire revelation of the origin and destiny of the gospel that God preached to Abraham.

Just to illustrate such progressive revelations in the Bible, let us consider the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the testimony of God, and the Tabernacle of Moses, which was the tent of meeting between God and men.

Hebrews 9:3-5
Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

In the days of the Tabernacle of Moses, the Ark of the Covenant contained the two tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments, a golden jar of manna, and Aaron’s budded rod. After these three items were placed into the Ark as a testimony of God to His people, no man could touch them, add to them, or remove them.

By the time it progressed to Solomon’s Temple (even so in the days of the Tabernacle of David from where the Ark was brought into Solomon’s Temple), the Ark contained only the two tablets of stone.

1 Kings 8:9, 20-21
There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt… “Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. There I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which He made with our fathers when He brought them from the land of Egypt.”

In Solomon’s time, God had removed Aaron’s budded rod and the golden jar of manna, signifying that the testimony of the priesthood of Aaron and the testimony of the manna were no longer relevant or had been made obsolete. Indeed, the testimony of God through the mouthpiece of Aaron’s priesthood had been replaced by the mouthpiece of prophets (from Samuel onwards) and priestly kings (or royal priesthood from David onwards), while the testimony of manna in the wilderness had been replaced by the testimony of the supernatural fulfilment of God’s promise in “fortified cities and a fertile land” (Nehemiah 9:24-25).

It was out of these progressions that the most definitive characteristics of “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6), “city of God” (Psalm 46:4-5), and Zion (Psalm 110:1-6) according to the order of Melchizedek were revealed (c.f. 1 Peter 2:9-10; Hebrews 6-8; Hebrews 12:18-24).

Then, when it progressed to Zerubbabel’s Temple, the Ark, together with the two tablets of stone, was no longer present in the Temple.

Jeremiah 3:14-16
“‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the LORD; for I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.’ Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.”

Here, God had made obsolete the physical Ark and the tablets of stone. From then on, the laws of God that were written on tablets of stone were tranferred to tablets of human hearts, while the connection to God’s presence was no longer through man-made objects but through lives of shepherds who represent the heart, thoughts, and ways of God.

Then, by the time it progressed to the Cross and resurrection, the institution of the temple by which the name of God was represented and made known had been replaced by the temple of Christ’s body.

John 2:19-22
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

In other words, the house of God from which God would testify to the nations had now been changed from Jewish temples to the body of the Messiah, the church of the Firstborn Son.

In fact, as far as the testimony of God is concerned, when Jesus arrived on the scene, the witnesses to the testimony of God had completely changed from those in the days of Moses to those in the days of Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:6-8
This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

In other words, the witnesses to the testimony of God that began with tablets of stone, Aaron’s budded rod, and manna had now been replaced by the Spirit of truth, the water, and the blood (c.f. John 1:31-34; John 19:34-35; Romans 3:23-26).

In fact, not only the type and nature of the witnesses to the gospel had changed, the agent (or person) through whom God testifies the gospel had also changed from temporal Moses to the eternal Spirit of truth. Yet, throughout these temporal progressions, the eternal truth and consummating nature of the gospel of the Kingdom of Christ are revealed and manifested.

So, as we can see, there is a complete Word of truth and there are progressive revelations of truths; there are universal truths and there are contextual applications of truths; there is an eternal purpose in heaven and there are temporal unfoldings on earth; there is a final destination and there are intermediate milestones. We can never understand the former without mapping together the latter; and we can never understand our part in the latter without understanding the complete picture of the former.

The Bible, which is the testimony of Jesus given through the agency of the Spirit of prophecy, will reveal them all.

Only when we have understood the progressive revelations of the many parts and many ways can we be co-labourers with God “for the complete restoration of all that God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets for ages past” (Acts 3:20-21), so that God can release Jesus Christ for His return to receive a Kingdom prepared for Him by the Spirit of His Father and His bride on earth.

Therefore, the gospel has a lot more to it than we think, for it encapsulates the whole purpose of God from before the foundation of the world.

Acts 20:27
“For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.”

Indeed, the gospel of the Kingdom is not just the gospel of salvation through Christ or the gospel of social action in the world. It is also not the gospel of the kingdom of Jewish State of Israel (as pointed out in our previous post “The Gospel that God Preached to Abraham“). It is certainly not the gospel of dominionism.

Rather, it is the gospel of the whole purpose of God which He has carried out in Christ for the restoration, sanctification, permeation, and consummation of His Kingdom domain in the nations – all of which He has progressively revealed since ancient times, even from the foundation of the world. Once we have surveyed and understood the many portions and many ways that God has testified in the Bible, we will understand the mystery of His will concerning the true nature, power, and glory of the gospel of the Kingdom.

Ephesians 1:9-10
He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth…

This gospel of the Kingdom is the true apostolic foundation of the church, the appointed administrator of the Kingdom for the restoration and summing up of all things in Christ for the fullness of the times.

Matthew 24:14
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Are we ready to preach the gospel of the Kingdom that God preached to Abraham, until the Kingdom becomes an evidential witness and ending testimony to all the nations?

If we love Jesus, and look forward to His return, we will preach and act on this gospel of the Kingdom in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, beginning and ending with the gospel that God preached to Abraham.

May the gospel of the Kingdom be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Back to Bible Study & Devotional Blog