Thesis 22 We must preach the kingdom of God.
It may be nigh onto impossible for Martin Luther to be given too much credit. The ripples that extend from his earthly labors continue to spread across the globe. He helped the people of God recover the very Word of God, after centuries where it was distorted and shrouded by Rome. He helped us remember what that Bible tells us about how a man is made right with God, recovering a sound view of our justification. Some, however, in wanting to credit Luther for this recovery on justification, have been a bit injudicious in their language. Some have claimed that Luther “recovered” the gospel. I believe Luther was spot on on justification. I believe Rome was way off at the start of the Reformation, and sadly that they irrevocably codified that error in the Canons of Trent. But Rome never imperiled the Gospel, and Luther did not recover it.
The good news is that the good news is not the means by which we are made right with God. It is of course good news that we can have peace with God. It is great news that we have that peace not through our own efforts, but by the provision of the life and death of Christ for us, appropriated by God’s gift of faith. It is stupendous news that because of this work we will enjoy the blessing of God into eternity. But the Good News, or the Good News, according to the Bible, is that the kingdom of God has come. As both John the Baptist and Jesus went about their public ministry their message was not, “Here is the good news. We have a new way to have peace with God.” They did not say, “Here is the good news. God’s way of salvation is now going to be much more clear than it was in the Old Covenant.” They said, “The kingdom of God is at hand.”
Our preaching is not merely for the purpose of getting souls saved. It is not merely for educating the laity in the finer points of theology. It certainly isn’t for our amusement and for the amusement of those “seekers” seated next to us. We too are called to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God. We are called to preach the Good News. We are called to proclaim the glorious truth that the second Adam has come, that He has established His kingdom, that He is about the business of bringing all things under subjection. We preach Christ born, and Christ crucified. We preach Christ’s life and message, and Christ crucified. We preach Christ resurrected, and Christ crucified. We preach Christ ascended, and Christ crucified. We preach Christ’s continuing conquest, and Christ crucified. We preach Christ’s promised return, and Christ crucified. We preach this glorious news, that because He was lifted up on the cross, He will draw all peoples to Himself (John 12:32). We will only live in the kingdom, we will only show forth the kingdom, as our pulpits faithfully preach the kingdom, remembering that His is the power and the glory and the kingdom, forever and ever, amen.