Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
The gospel of Jesus Christ: What is it?
#1
Hello all,

I'd like to know what is the Assyrian Church's stance on the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the "good news?" I assume it is the same as every other church? The death and resurrection?

Thanks.

p.s. Please keep in mind that by "gospel", I mean the message of Christ.
Reply
#2
Hi Seeker.

Your assumption is correct. The CoE confesses the same faith in the Gospel as all other apostolic churches. The Good News, of course, is that our nature has been restored to its pre-fall state in the Grace of our Creator by the sacrificial act of love that Our Lord, Jesus Christ, performed for our sake. The act which was foretold as a type by Abraham's willing sacrifice of his only son.

+Shamasha Paul
Reply
#3
Shamasha Paul,

Thank you so much for your time and your response. I really appreciate it.

What I am about to ask is not based on a foundation of conviction, but rather confusion. Perhaps you, or anyone else, when times allows, can shed some light on this topic for me?

Okay, so here's what I see reading the bible. The message that Jesus preached Himself and the message that He said He was "sent" to preach and the message that He sent His disciples to preach unto the world is not what is being preached today in almost any church as far as I have witnessed.

Jesus' message was shown in Luke 4:43:

"43 But he said, ?I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."

Having read the above verse, I don't understand why the main focus isn't on the kingdom of God. Can you explain that? Instead of following suite and pointing our attention to the kingdom of God, we focus our attention on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Doing so, to me - and I say this having not put too much study into it, --seems-- as though it's changed from one thing to another. The "good news" Jesus was preaching is no longer being preached but seems to have changed into a gospel of His death and resurrection. Is His resurrection "good news?" Yes, of course. Was it the "good news" Jesus was preaching? According to scripture, I can't see how it could be.

So what gives? What am I missing? All I see is how important this gospel seems to Jesus, and yet no one ever speaks of it. Why? It's so important that in Matthew 6:33, Jesus actually instructs us to "seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God." If Jesus were here today, and He said to us, "first things first: seek the kingdom of God", why would it make any sense whatsoever for us to do anything first besides seeking the kingdom or (for those in authority) to preach about it? I honestly don't get it, so any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Here are a few verses that confirm what Jesus referred to as "good news" and what Jesus was constantly preaching and what He sent His disciples out to preach:

Acts 8:12:

12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Luke 8:1

1 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.

Luke 16:16:

16 ?The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.

Mark 1:15:

15 ?The time has come,? he said. ?The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!?

Matthew 4:23:

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Mark 1:14-15:

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 ?The time has come,? he said. ?The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!?
Reply
#4
Seeker, how is the kingdom of God given or opened to us, if not by the death and resurrection of our Lord?

Jesus preached a gospel of repentance and proclaimed that the kingdom of God is near! His passion and resurrection made it possible to dwell in the kingdom.
Reply
#5
So in order to seek the kingdom we must do so through Christ.
Reply
#6
Hi again Seeker,

Indeed, the Kingdom of God, rather than being an earthly traditional monarchy, is the fulfillment of His mission here on earth. It is the culmination of all that was spoken of by the prophets, ie, that the disease which was inflicted upon our humanity by our decision in the garden has been cured, and our state has been restored.

The entire message in scripture from cover to cover is the story of our fall from Grace, and the types (symbolism) of our Redemption.

The Messiah indeed preached about the Kingdom of God, and His suffering, death, burial and resurrection are the means by which we may enter into that state of Grace which otherwise would not be possible. This is what the prophets saw and why they rejoiced.

The following is an ancient Aramaic hymn you may find insightful.

<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.peshitta.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2773">www.peshitta.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2773</a><!-- w -->

+Shamasha
Reply
#7
Amen Shamasha
Reply
#8
Paul Younan Wrote:Hi again Seeker,

Indeed, the Kingdom of God, rather than being an earthly traditional monarchy, is the fulfillment of His mission here on earth. It is the culmination of all that was spoken of by the prophets, ie, that the disease which was inflicted upon our humanity by our decision in the garden has been cured, and our state has been restored.

The entire message in scripture from cover to cover is the story of our fall from Grace, and the types (symbolism) of our Redemption.

The Messiah indeed preached about the Kingdom of God, and His suffering, death, burial and resurrection are the means by which we may enter into that state of Grace which otherwise would not be possible. This is what the prophets saw and why they rejoiced.

The following is an ancient Aramaic hymn you may find insightful.

<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.peshitta.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2773">viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2773</a><!-- l -->

+Shamasha

Thank you, Shamasha Paul. Both for your answer and for the link you provided. I'll look into it following this post.

Alan G77 Wrote:Seeker, how is the kingdom of God given or opened to us, if not by the death and resurrection of our Lord?

Hi Alan,

Thank you, too, for your response and help.

Please tell me: how do you make sense of preaching of the kingdom -before- He was crucified, though? Are you implying that it was not possible to find the kingdom of God when Jesus was asking people to "seek" it, because he had yet to be crucified? I don't quite understand what point there would be in saying, "go look for 'so and so'", if "so and so" was unattainable when you instructed that person or persons to go find it.

Is it not written that the kingdom of God is within us? Knowing that, can you please tell me why my conclusion that Jesus, even prior to His death and resurrection, was directing our attention inward, is incorrect? You say that, "...to seek the kingdom we must do so through Christ." Well Christ always was, wasn't He? Even before His resurrection, He was. So why or how does His resurrection play a role in finding the kingdom, especially since the kingdom was being preached before His resurrection took place?
Reply
#9
Shlama Seeker.

The Kingdom is within us, by that we mean that our nature, our humanity, has been restored to its former state. When Christ said to repent, for the kingdom is at hand...it was already there from the foundation of the world. He of course meant that the final act or the realization of that long-prophesied event was near. Indeed, the prophets foresaw and understood and were even saved by the sacrifice of Christ before it even happened.

Remember that time is the measurement of heavenly objects (sun, moon, etc). God created these and is therefore outside of time and eternal. Our redemption extends to those born before and after the Messiah, and surely to Adam and Eve themselves.

+Shamasha
Reply
#10
Shamasha,

Very, very interesting. Again, I haven't put too much thought into this, but I still find it a bit weird how I've never heard that explanation before.

So the kingdom of God is not an actual dwelling place within us? There's a book entitled, "The Interior Castle", which was written by St. Teresa of Jesus (or Avila). In that book St. Teresa claims that there are 7 dwelling places (for "us" - or our spirit) within our body - the last being where the "Divine" resides. I know this is going far out into left field, but I was intrigued by the connection to the 7 major chakras. More than one group of people holding similar beliefs and basically saying the same thing and it all seemed to tie in exactly into what Jesus was saying. I take it, though, that such beliefs are not held by the Assyrian church?

Also, when Jesus said, "repent, for the kingdom of God is near", He was implying time (minute, hour, day, month, year)? I've assumed for quite some time now that by "near", considering, as you say, God does not dwell within time, that it implied distance. I figured how much closer can God's kingdom be than within our very own bodies - which is where Jesus says the kingdom lies, and thus where "near" comes into play. But again, not the case as far as the Assyrian church goes?

Thanks.
Reply
#11
p.s. Funny how I ran into a thread on the first page that contained the book by Bishop Mar Awa Royel called "Mysteries of the kingdom." Will be placing an order soon, as I'm beyond excited to see what he has to say.

Oh, and if this is not too forward a request, perhaps you can pray that my mind be opened to understanding both the mysteries of the kingdom of God and of Christ? Thanks in advance.
Reply
#12
Hi seeker,

Shamasha Paul has explained that through Christ's passion we have been restored, which means that through Jesus' resurrection, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. The Holy Spirit could only come after Jesus was taken into heaven, so through His death and resurrection the Holy Spirit, who is God, came from the Kingdom and dwells within us. Hence why Jesus says repent for the kingdom in near!

The Assyrian church is orthodox and our teachings are inline with our sister church.

The "mysteries" are given to those in rank, that is why Christ says that the mysteries are given to the apostles and not the laymen.
Reply
#13
It is the teaching of the Orthodox Church that the kingdom of God (the one we should strive for) is the reigning of the Holy Ghost within us. When He enters into our spirit, our heart and dwells within us. Through the giving of His Spirit God adopts us to be his children, sons and daughters.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (Corinthians 3:16)

The Holy Spirit starts to direct our actions, our speach and our thoughts in accordance with the God's will, with the Povidence of The Holy Trinity. Without Him whatever we do we sin in it. But that was only made available through the crusifixion (THE sin was redeemed), the glorious ressurection (the flesh was renewed that he could go through walls and other solid objects, he also changed the way he looked so that apostles could not recognize him, had no need of food though he ate in their presence to convince them He's not just a spirit), the ascension above the heavens of heavens and the sitting on the right hand of God.

But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:39)

After this divine mission had been fulfilled and The Comforter (The Holy Ghost) was sent from the Father.

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2)

Then from the book of Acts we can see for ourselves the kingdom of God in action within the holy apostles.

Arkady. Russia.
Reply
#14
Great Post Arkady.
Reply
#15
We have been transfered from the kingdom of darkness, into His Kingdom of Light...by what The Messiah has done for us. That's Good News!

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved Son,"
"I thank God The Father, who made us worthy for a part of the inheritance of the Saints in the Light;"
"For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in our Lord, therefore so walk as children of Light."
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)