Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip, who announced the gospel of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near.
In verse 12 "bringing the good news" is a verbal form of the noun "gospel." Philip preached Christ as the good news; he preached Christ as the gospel. In other words, he preached Christ, and Christ was his gospel. Acts 8:12 also indicates that Philip preached the kingdom of God as the gospel. He preached the kingdom of God as the gospel just as the Lord did (Mark 1:14-15). Like Philip, we should preach the gospel that is Jesus Christ and also the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the Lord Jesus, the Savior, as the seed of life sown into His believers, God's chosen people (Mark 4:3, 26), and developing into a realm which God may rule as His kingdom in His divine life. Its entrance is regeneration (John 3:5), and its development is the believers' growth in the divine life (2 Pet. 1:3-11). The kingdom of God is the church life today, in which the faithful believers live (Rom. 14:17), and it will develop into the coming kingdom as an inheritance reward (Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5) to the overcoming saints in the millennium (Rev. 20:4-6). Eventually, it will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God's eternal life for all God's redeemed to enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5, 14). Such a kingdom, the kingdom of God, is what both the Lord Jesus and Philip preached as the gospel, the good news. (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Acts, pp. 182-183. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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