The Kingdom of God is at Hand (Mark 1:15)

The time is fulfilled in the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. - Mark 1:15

When we in the 21st-century hear the word gospel, our minds are immediately drawn to Jesus Christ.

But in the early first century the word gospel did not carry this connotation.

The ancient historians Josephus, Plutarch, and Cicero all used the word "gospel" (Euangelion in the Greek) to refer to particular political or military victories.

The most famous pre-Christian "gospel" of the ancient world was the gospel of Caesar Augustus, which presented him as a divine figure sent by heaven to become savior of mankind.

It is within this context that Jesus Christ comes onto the scene, marching into the outskirts of the Roman Empire proclaiming the "the Gospel of God."

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a ticket to heaven at some future point in time. It is the news of an actual historical event that has significant consequences for every human being on earth.

Motivated by a love unrivaled in the history of our world, Jesus Christ descended from His glorious throne to come to earth. He endured slander, abuse, torture, and ultimately execution, at the hands of the very people he came to save.

Though innocent and sinless, He absorbed within himself the sins of the entire world; past present and future, so that he could descend to the very deepest depths of hell in order to ensure that no square inch of the cosmos remain unconquered by His love.

And then with the keys of death and hades firmly in hand, He rose triumphantly on the third day having forever defeated the enemy’s grip over mankind.

He does not force our allegiance, but he makes the consequences of our choice clear. All who surrender to the consuming fire of His love will burn with the unquenchable flame of life. All who resist, will suffer destruction from the heat of that very same fire of love.

I am the living one.

I died, and behold I am alive forevermore,

and I have the keys of Death and Hades

Rev 1:18