The True Gospel Conquers Everything; The Modern American “Gospel”…Not So Much

Here’s some good news about the Good News of the Gospel: It’s about much more than your precious personal salvation.

It’s about everything.

The Gospel of King Jesus touches, purifies and conquers everything.

It’s not about a Kingdom waiting out there in the future somewhere. It’s not about a Kingdom off in some far distant place. It’s not about a Kingdom confined to our church services, prayer closets, or nestled neatly away in our precious little hearts.

The Gospel of King Jesus centers on His Kingdom as it has come into the world, invading and conquering all that it touches, all by His grace and for His glory through His people’s faithful application of His Gospel-fueled Great Commission.

Every enemy of Christ will be put under His foot through His people’s faithful application of His Gospel:

The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”

~ Psalm 110:1 (emphasis added)

That means all art, law, economics, games, technology, literature, science, and everything else will be brought under His rule.

Everything will be brought under His feet.

This includes every nation and every land:

I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.

~ Psalm 2:7-8 (emphasis added)

These are the things of Christ prophesied in the Psalms. These are the beautiful truths of His rule made plain in His mission statement to His people before He ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He now sits empowering and awaiting the completion of His footstool:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

~ Matthew 28:18-20 (emphasis added)

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

~ Mark 16:19 (emphasis added)

This is His place now – at the right hand of the Father – where He is waiting for His enemies – all of them – to be made His footstool. Remember always: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1)

This is why we are command to pray that His will be done right here and right now on His earth:

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. . .”

~ Matthew 6:7-10 (emphasis added)

Which part of His will?

All of it, in accordance with His Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

The early church knew and built its everything upon this beautiful, comprehensive truth:

This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

~ Acts 2:32-35 (emphasis added)

The Spirit of God made plain to them, as it does to us now, that the work of the cross – the true Gospel of Jesus Christ the reigning King of creation – touches, defines, and will ultimately reconcile everything to Him:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

~ Colossians 1:15-20 (emphasis added)

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…

~ 2 Corinthians 10:5 (emphasis added)

We do these things by the grace of God and His Spirit within us. God is quite literally within His people; He is therefore very much present through His people in this world. His Spirit is the power by which we ultimately accomplish all that He has commanded…in spite of what any of His enemies may do or desire:

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

~1 John 4:4 (emphasis added)

When we submit ourselves to Christ and resist the devil, it is he – not we – who will flee the field of battle:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

~ James 4:7 (emphasis added)

So if you’re one of the many (as I once was myself) who looks around and wonders how things could possibly have gotten so terrible so quick ’round here in a place with the deep Christian tradition of America, well…

1. “American Christianity” has long abandoned the biblical perspective shared above in favor of a recently developed religious approach centered on pre-emptive surrender of the culture and all therein because “it’s all going to hell anyway”.
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2. This is in stark contrast to the Puritans and Pilgrims who came here and planted the seeds of America because of their vigorously Calvinistic biblical theology and Christ-fueled optimism concerning the power of His true, comprehensive, supernatural Gospel to really, truly, and actually change people into New Creatures in Christ who then could not help but – by His grace – change everything that they touched.