Understanding God, Myself, and the WorldExemplo

The Return of the King

Sharing the Gospel is a task all of us as followers of Jesus are called to do. But what exactly is the Gospel message? In the modern church, we usually understand the Gospel to be the forgiveness of sins through the Cross of Christ. Now, this is a crucial part of the Gospel, but it is not the complete message. Similarly, we often include the glorious truth of the resurrection of Jesus. This is an equally important part of the Gospel, but it is still not the complete message. There is a third component to the Gospel which is often neglected, or completely ignored, in the modern church, which was integral to the New Testament authors’ understanding of the Gospel message: the return of God as King. 

When Jesus began His public ministry, He proclaimed that God’s Kingdom had finally come. The appropriate response was to repent and believe in Jesus. Repentance calls for full faith (or allegiance) in Jesus as the King. When we repent, we declare that there is no other king in our lives but Jesus. But what kind of King is Jesus?

During the time of Jesus, the Jews were desperately waiting for God to send the Messiah to liberate them from ruthless Roman oppression. In their minds, the Messiah would be a military “general-king” who would raise up an army, defeat the pagan nations (in this case, the Romans), vindicate the Jews as God’s true people, and establish His rule (or Kingdom) here on earth. 

However, Jesus the true Messiah did not come as a warrior wielding a sword, but as a Servant carrying a cross. Instead of defeating people with the sword, He defeated the powers of sin, evil, and death by dying on a cross. Instead of establishing a kingdom of political and military might, He established a Kingdom of love and forgiveness. God, in and through Jesus, came to dethrone all the principalities and powers that held people in bondage. On the Cross, Jesus was crowned King of kings. On the Cross, He was victorious over all the powers of evil. Under the rulership of the King of kings, we are liberated from our slavery to sin and idolatry. This is good news!

The Gospel is thus about how God, in and through Jesus, came to establish His Kingdom and rule on earth. Our response to this message is to repent of our sins and to put our faith (allegiance) in Jesus as King. 

How would you present the Gospel to others by including the theme of the return of the King in your message?