Preaching the Same Gospel Jesus Preached
“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.” (Matthew 24:14)
Introduction
In this essay we will discover Jesus’ prophecy of the gospel of the kingdom being preached to all the nations before His return. We will discuss how Jesus started this multiplicative chain reaction to facilitate global evangelization, the message He used, and the people He chose to spread His message. We will also look at the tension between urgency and sustainability.
Key Words and Phrases
The gospel of the kingdom – When Jesus and His disciples preached “the gospel of the kingdom,” He had yet to be crucified and resurrected. Although these two events are essential elements of the gospel, Jesus’ gospel was the gospel of the hour. Basically, it was that God’s love was on display through the sending of His Son, the awaited Messiah King to redeem His people from their sins. It was a gospel that was preached at the time, and then later inaugurated by Jesus Christ’s redeeming work on the cross and demonstration of His sovereignty by His resurrection, but would be completely manifested in the final consummation of His kingdom at His return, when salvation and judgment are fully revealed and all things are brought under His headship. God’s expectation for response to this gospel message was to “repent and believe.” (Mark 1:14-15) In other words, trust that the awaited King has arrived and align our lives with His ways. The ways of the kingdom. This gospel of the kingdom is much like the kingdom itself; preached as a very present reality and yet waiting for future fulfillment.
In the whole world – Whole – ὅλος (Strong’s G3650 – holos) all, whole, completely. World – οἰκουμένη (Strong’s G3625 – oikoumenē) the inhabited earth or the portion of the earth inhabited by the Greeks, in distinction from the lands of the barbarians or the Roman empire, all the subjects of the empire or the universe. In this particular case, as Jesus is looking to the end and includes “all nations,” the whole inhabited earth fits the translation best.
As a testimony to all the nations – Testimony – μαρτύριον (Strong’s G3142 – martyrion) to be testified, testimony, witness. Nations – ἔθνος (Strong’s G1484 – ethnos) a tribe, nation, people group. This is the word in which we derive “ethnic” from.
Then the end will come – End – τέλος (Strong’s G5056 – telos) the end, the last in any succession or series, eternal. In context Jesus is talking about His return and the end of mankind in this present realm. (Matthew 24)
Messianic Model – His Gospel was the Gospel of the Kingdom
As stated earlier, this was the gospel Jesus preached. He preached it in many ways, from the parables, to the Sermon on the Mount (Kingdom Values), to private sessions with His disciples explaining the kingdom of God. It was His primary message from the beginning (Matthew 4:17) and the end (Acts 1:3). He not only preached it, He lived it. He is the kingdom of God personified. When the religious leaders asked about the kingdom, He could truly say “behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21) He lived and preached the gospel of the kingdom to His death (and after His resurrection) and expects us to do the same until He returns.
Key Theological Implications
When we talk about the gospel in context of the kingdom as Jesus did, it becomes more than just the forgiveness of sins (although this is an essential part of the gospel). The gospel Jesus preached was about the realm and rule of an almighty, all knowing, completely sovereign Divine King that stepped into human history as a man. He came not only to redeem us of our sins but to exert His authority over all who receive Him and become His subjects and co-regents. He also showed us an example of what it looks like to live as a steward made in God’s image and what kingdom work and character look like. In the present, mankind has a choice to make Him Lord and inherit eternal life but one day every knee will bow and call Him Lord. (Philippians 2:10–11)
Contemporary Spiritual Significance
One of the essential elements missing from the gospel that is preached today is the Kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. If Jesus is not Lord, there is no reason to be sorry for my sins and ask for forgiveness. There is no need to repent, to change my thinking and way of life to align with His design. We are left with a subjective emotional response that acknowledges Jesus as a good moral teacher but not someone who has all authority in my life (let alone all creation). We must preach the gospel Jesus preached and lived and died for or we are not preaching the gospel at all. Usually, when people refer to a false gospel, they are talking about adding a merit system (works) to what is being preached. This is what the Apostle Paul was fighting in Galatians. But the other end of the pendulum swing is a gospel that fails to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord through discipleship (a willingness and effort to bring my life under subjection to His rule). Both ends of the spectrum are just as dangerous and just as false.
Another facet of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom is a sense of urgency as people are perishing by the thousands daily. We have the model of the Master and His self-proclaimed mission “to seek and to save that which is lost.” (Luke 19:10) We should be sharing with everyone in our relational network and those who cross our paths. However, this is a lifetime pursuit. We need to accept that we have capacity issues and must steward the ministry God has given us. This will take time. Being motivated by guilt or thinking that your efforts alone will usher people into the kingdom are both faulty thinking. We are co-laboring with God and He does the heavy lifting.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)
The Transformative Power of the Gospel of the Kingdom
Many people who see themselves as Christians lack transformative power in their lives because they see Jesus as a Savior but not as Lord. The Bible is quite clear on the evidence of new life in Christ;
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1 John 2:6)
This is not just intellectual acknowledgement or something to happen in the future. It is a reality that our lives are being conformed to as we exercise our faith in Christ. (Romans 2:12, 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18)
Not only are we seeking to understand the gospel of the kingdom for salvation but we are to preach the same to help others come into the kingdom of God. Alignment with His Word and ways happens as we both seek to comprehend and proclaim it on a regular basis.
Conclusion
As we follow Jesus’ ministry we can see that not only did He preach and teach the gospel of the kingdom, He lived it. Now we are His messengers to a lost and dying world in this generation. It is our responsibility to proclaim it in its purity and sense of urgency and stewardship of our efforts for a lifetime or until His return. As we make disciples who embrace His call to spread the good news of the kingdom, we will see global evangelization become a reality. And when the end comes may we be found living a life worthy for our King.
Disciple-Maker’s Short Story
In the Living Room of Lot 27
The rain had come early that evening, tapping the tin awnings of the Willow Pines Mobile Home Park like a quiet reminder that everything in this world was temporary. Inside Lot 27—a double-wide that smelled faintly of coffee, old hymnals, and last night’s fried tortillas—a small circle of folding chairs framed the living room. The carpet was worn where countless feet had traced the same hopeful path week after week.
Mary, their leader, set her Bible on the low table between a half-dead succulent and a stack of napkins someone had folded into triangles. The others filtered in: Hector from Lot 32, limping slightly from decades on the maintenance crew; June from the corner unit, her hands always shaking a bit from nerves she never confessed; Darius from across the lane, tall, quiet, carrying the weight of a man who had recently learned his son wanted nothing to do with him.
And then there was Allison—youngest in the group, barefoot, sitting cross-legged on the sofa with a notebook balanced on her knees. She was the one who had asked the question last week, the one nobody had quite known how to answer.
Tonight she repeated it, her voice soft beneath the patter of rain.
“So… if Jesus hadn’t died yet, how could He preach the gospel?”
She glanced around, almost apologetic. “I mean, isn’t the gospel the cross?”
The room fell still. Outside, a dog barked twice, then silence again.
Mary leaned back in her chair, fingers steepled. “Let’s talk about that.”
The others shifted uncomfortably. The question had lodged in all their minds, scratching at old assumptions.
Hector broke the silence first. “I always thought the cross was the gospel. Forgiveness, washed clean, and all that.” His voice trembled with the exhaustion of someone who had prayed that cleansing over his grown children for years without seeing it take root.
June nodded vigorously. “Same. The idea of the kingdom… I don’t know. Sounds like something for heaven later. Not for right now.”
Darius said nothing at first. Then, quietly: “But Jesus preached something before He died. He preached it with authority.” He stared at his hands. “Maybe we’ve just trimmed Him down to the parts that feel safe.”
Allison’s pen hovered in the air.
Mary watched them each, sensing not confusion but hunger—people who wanted Jesus, but weren’t always sure what that meant beyond asking Him to rescue them at the end.
“Let’s look at what Jesus actually said,” she murmured.
She opened her Bible to Mark 1 and read slowly, deliberately:
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”
The word kingdom seemed to hang in the air like incense.
“The gospel Jesus preached,” Mary said, “wasn’t less than forgiveness—but it was more. He was announcing that God’s long-promised King had arrived. That His rule—His ways, His authority, His love—was breaking into the world right now.”
She looked at Allison. “It was the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of the hour. The King is here—align your life with Him.”
Darius inhaled sharply, as if something inside him had just clicked into place.
“But He hadn’t died yet,” Allison repeated, searching for clarity.
“No,” Mary said. “Not yet. But His coming was already good news. His cross and resurrection would inaugurate the fullness of redemption—but even before that, He was calling people to turn from their broken kingdoms and step into His.”
She paused, letting them digest the weight of it.
“Jesus wasn’t just telling people what He would do for them. He was inviting them to become like Him.”
A gust of wind rattled the thin windows. June hugged a blanket around her shoulders.
“But how do we live that?” she whispered. “Here? In this place?”
Mary smiled—not condescendingly, but with the gentle confidence of someone who had seen the kingdom come in trailer parks, hospital rooms, addiction groups, and quiet prayers whispered in the middle of the night.
“The same way Jesus lived it,” she said softly. “By surrendering every part of ourselves to the King who loves us. By letting His rule begin inside us long before He returns to rule the whole world.”
She pointed to Darius. “Forgiving someone who’s wounded you—that’s the kingdom.”
To Hector. “Serving people who never say thank you—that’s the kingdom.”
To June. “Learning to trust God with your fears—that’s the kingdom.”
And then to Allison. “Choosing to obey Jesus because you love Him, not because you’re afraid of messing up—that is the kingdom.”
Allison’s eyes glistened. For years she had asked Jesus to forgive her but had never realized He also invited her to follow Him, to imitate Him, to carry His character into every conversation and corner of her life.
To become like Him.
“But it’s overwhelming,” June said. “The whole world… nations… testimonies… urgency…” She gestured vaguely, as though swatting away invisible pressure.
Mary nodded. “There is urgency. Jesus said this gospel—the gospel of the kingdom—would be preached to all nations before the end. Every people group. Every corner of the inhabited earth.”
She leaned forward, voice low and steady.
“But urgency doesn’t mean frantic striving. Jesus didn’t call us to save the world in one night. He called us to be faithful. To plant. To water. And to trust God with the growth.”
Hector exhaled with relief, like a weight sliding off his shoulders.
The rain softened. A warmth—not from the rattling heater vent, but something deeper—settled over the room.
For the first time since the group began meeting, they were not just learning about Jesus.
They were imagining what it would mean to live the life He lived.
To speak and act and forgive and love as He did.
To embody the kingdom—not later, but now.
Allison finally spoke, her voice a quiet flame.
“If Jesus preached the kingdom before the cross… then maybe following Him means more than waiting for heaven. Maybe it means letting Him reign in me tonight.”
Mary’s smile widened.
“That,” she said, “is the beginning of becoming like Jesus.”
The clock on the wall ticked softly. Someone’s coffee grew cold. The dog outside barked again, then fell quiet.
Mary folded her hands.
“Friends… the King has come. And He’s coming again. Between those two arrivals is our whole life. What will we do with it?”
No one answered with words. But around the circle, small signs of surrender bloomed—Hector’s jaw unclenching, June’s shoulders relaxing, Darius lifting his gaze for the first time all night.
And Allison, scribbling one final line in her notebook:
Let His kingdom come—in me first, and then through me.
The rain stopped.
And inside Lot 27, the gospel of the kingdom continued its quiet, unstoppable spread—one surrendered heart at a time.
ToBeLikeJesus 