81. What does it mean to proclaim the Kingdom of God?

Preaching the gospel is proclaiming the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ by trusting in His atoning work on the cross, thus paying the penalty of our sins. The gospel of the Kingdom of God is the good news that Christ’s Kingdom has the power to reign over all other kingdoms, and it will manifest that power in an ultimate way one day in the future at the return of Christ. The Kingdom of God refers to the government of Christ and its relationship to all other kingdoms. Once a person accepts Christ into their life they can then live under the rule and reign of the Kingdom of God. Matthew 24 verses 14 states that ‘this gospel of the Kingdom must be proclaimed to all ethnic people groups before Christ will come again.’ God’s justice demands the completeness of this proclamation to all peoples before the day of Judgement. This great task requires many workers (Matthew 9:35) and we are all invited to be one of those workers. The proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom challenges opposing powers, and results in signs and wonders as recorded in Matthew 4 verses 23 – 25.

To the Muslim, good news is the expansion of the influence of Islâm over the face of the world. Bringing every nation under Shari’ah Law and eliminating all opposing forces would mean the ‘Caliph’ would come and ensure one government (A Caliphate) on earth. With the ‘Caliph’ in control of all nations under the governance of Shari’ah Law they would be able to ensure that righteousness could be imposed on all nations, and most of the social ills and moral decay the world is now suffering would disappear. This is good news for Muslims.