The Good News answered the great Jewish question of the day, where is the Kingdom of God promised by the prophets? The hope of the prophets was that Israel and the nations would be one under the rule of the Messiah, the Son of David. As we read in Isaiah 2, the word of the Lord will go forth from Zion and nations will no longer go to war. Even nature will be transformed; the wolf will lie down with the lamb (Isaiah 11). The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.
When Yeshua began His ministry his announcement astonished our people. “The Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the Good News.” (Mark 1:14). In Yeshua the Kingdom had come in such a way that it could be embraced and entered into. Yeshua demonstrated that the Kingdom really had appeared and was available even though the final fullness of this Kingdom established over all the Earth would still await a future intervention.
Where is the Kingdom of God? Anywhere the rule of God is established. To the extent that His rule is established in any sphere of human life, we can say there is the Kingdom. Yeshua comes with the power to establish His rule, beginning in our hearts. The power of the Kingdom delivers from disease and demonic oppression and enables us to live according to the teaching of Yeshua. This teaching brings Torah to its highest application. Hatred is removed from our hearts. Murder becomes impossible. We love our enemies. We not only avoid literal adultery, but have freedom from lust in our hearts. We are honest in our words and true to our promises.
The parables of Yeshua show the nature of the Kingdom He offers. It spreads by the seed of the Word of God and finds reception in willing soils (hearts). It grows from a small beginning, a mustard seed, into the largest plant in the garden. It is the treasure that supersedes all else (Matthew 13).
Therefore the message of the Good News is that the Kingdom of God is available. If we come to the Father on the basis of the death and resurrection of Yeshua, our sins are forgiven and we enter the Kingdom of God. God promises to put all things in our lives into His right order, Kingdom order, Torah in the New Covenant, through the power of the Spirit.
