Rom. 1:15, “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.”

Msg. Rom 1:15, “And that’s why I can’t wait to get to you in Rome, preaching this wonderful good news of God.”

So what is the Good News? Jesus speaking to the His disciples said;

Ampl. Matt. 24:14, “And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.”

So we see that Jesus defined the Good News to mean the message of the kingdom.

It simply means every other message we are preaching is NEWS but not THE Good News.

In fact, when He started ministry after John was put in prison we are told;

Ampl. Mark 1:14, “Now after John was arrested and put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching THE GOOD NEWS (the Gospel) OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, 15 And saying, The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled (completed), and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent (have a change of mind which issues in regret for past sins and in change of conduct for the better) and BELIEVE (trust in, rely on, and adhere to) THE GOOD NEWS (the Gospel).”

He emphatically says we should trust and adhere to the Good News of the kingdom, and this is very important. Are there consequences if we don’t adhere to this message? Look at it;

Ampl. 2John 1:9, “Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ [does have God], he has both the Father and the Son.”

Msg. 2John 1:9, “Anyone who gets so progressive in his thinking that he walks out on the teaching of Christ, walks out on God. But whoever stays with the teaching, stays faithful to both the Father and the Son.”

TLB. 2John 1:9, “For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will leave God behind; while if you are loyal to Christ’s teachings, you will have God too. Then you will have both the Father and the Son.”

Did you see that? Like Myles Munroe would say the message is really not about who Jesus is, but about His kingdom and what He represents in the kingdom. You see, Jesus came for a purpose and with a purpose.

The purpose is to establish a kingdom and the message is about the kingdom of His. Look at this;

TLB. Luke 4:42, “Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”

How can Jesus be so emphatic on what He was sent to do and preach, and yet we who are His disciples and are doing our own thing and preaching what we feel is our message; viz., Christocentric, deliverance, salvation, Baptisms, Grace, Finished Work of Christ, and on and on.

But how many of you really understand that all these are found as fragments within the message of the kingdom.

Take for instance when He commissioned His disciples;

Matt. 10:7, “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”

The first thing is, talk about the kingdom then do the others. This should be seen as the principle of “first thing first.”

So what are we saying? The Good News is the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Therefore when you say I am preaching the Gospel or I am a minister of the Gospel, just know it that you are saying,“I am a preacher of the message of Jesus, the message of the kingdom.” No more, no less.

To be continued…