The Full GospelSample

The Good News of God’s Kingdom // The Gospel According to Matthew

When we choose to trust and follow Jesus, everything changes. What we believe and how we live becomes centered and anchored on the person of Jesus and the work He accomplished throughout His ministry. And, at the heart of His ministry was the announcement of the “gospel.” The word "gospel" comes from a Greek word that means "good news."

The gospel is the good news that Jesus lived, died, and rose again to rescue us from sin, repair our relationship with God, and restore our purpose.

The gospel may be simple but it is not shallow. It’s a deep ocean of love, beauty, and truth that we can spend our whole lives exploring and still have more to discover. That’s why, in this Plan, we’re looking at the good news of Jesus as it is presented in each book of the New Testament. So that, hopefully, your appreciation of what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do in your life and in our world will grow.

The gospel of Jesus is better, truer, and more beautiful than anything this world has to offer.

Today, we'll start in the first book of the New Testament, Matthew, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry where He makes His mission known.

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17 NIV

The first four words tell us of this verse show us that, while this might be the first time Jesus preaches this message, it certainly won’t be the last time. Jesus starts His message by using the word “repent.” This is a word that means: to turn away from what’s wrong (sin) and turn toward what’s right (God).

Jesus then talks about the kingdom of heaven. A kingdom is made up of people ruled by a king, and the King of this kingdom is God. The way He rules is different and better than any human ruler because He is totally good and perfectly loving. And the people in His kingdom are those who hear the message of Jesus and respond with repentance—turning away from their sin and turning toward the way of God.

At the end of this verse, Jesus promises us that this special kingdom “has come near.” God’s kingdom and His way of doing things has arrived. This was a big deal for the listeners of Jesus, and for us, as His followers today.

We might think of the gospel as the good news that Jesus came to take us away from the earth into some magical floating city in the clouds. But that’s not the gospel. The good news Jesus came to preach is that through Him, heaven has come to earth. The rule and reign of God is now taking root in history.

According to Jesus, the gospel is the good news that the kingdom of God has come near, and anyone who turns from their sin and trusts in Him can join.

So what does this practically look like? The very next paragraph shows us the answer:

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:18-20 NIV

Jesus says to the fishermen, “Come, follow me.” This is a more common and conversational way for Jesus to talk about “repentance.”When Jesus called these brothers to follow Him, He was inviting them to turn away from their old ways of life and turn toward the way of life only God can offer.

To be clear, fishing is not a sinful activity. But for these men, fishing was a safe, comfortable, and familiar way of life. Instead, Jesus called them to something more. The passage goes on to say:

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Matthew 4:21-22 NIV

When Jesus called to them, they left everything to follow Him. Why? Because they understood that Jesus wasn’t just inviting them to play a game of follow-the-leader. They understood, at least to some degree, that Jesus was inviting them to see more, be more, and do more with Him than they ever could on their own. And they weren’t alone in that.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. Matthew 4:23-25 NIV

Everywhere Jesus went, He taught people the truth about God and His kingdom, and He made it known to everyone who would listen that the kingdom of heaven had come near. Anyone who chose to repent, turn from their sin, turn toward Him, and follow Him would be welcomed into His kingdom!

This is how Jesus introduced the gospel to people in the first century. And this is how the authors of the Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit, chose to introduce the gospel to us in the New Testament.