The term “Messiah” is not well understood. It refers to a deliverer who will abolish the rule of evil and restore peace and order to the world. This sounds like good news, but the term “Messiah” is actually a political term. For the Messiah will rule the nations. We first hear of this from the Jewish writings of their encounters with God, known today as the Old Testament, and in the Jewish world as the Tanak. This deliverer was first mentioned in the third chapter of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. It was the hope of Israel throughout their history, through each hardship, each era of foreign government rule over them. References to this coming deliverer are woven throughout the historical, poetic, and prophetic writings of the Old Testament. Yet the details of how he is to come, and when, are cryptic to the casual reader, and not easily discerned and pieced together, yet many selected passages were, and are, used to concretize theories on his arrival to cover the gaps of misunderstanding. One example is Daniel chapter 9, which accurately predicts the coming of a Messiah into the city of Jerusalem, which corresponded directly with the day that Jesus rode on a donkey into the city.
The New Testament was written to proclaim that the promised Messiah had come. Word of His arrival as “King of the Jews” caused King Herod to kill the innocent children (Matt. 2:13-18), and Mary and Joseph to flee the country. His coming in the New Testament, and his lifestyle, however, did not match the theories that had been propagated over the years, so he was rejected by many. But in his departure, he promised a return to the earth. There was more work to do, and few understood the purpose of his coming the first time. His return, however, is promised to be more like what was expected the first time. His return will be as King of Kings, and the nations will rile against his coming (Zech. 12:3). This has already begun, because his presence will threaten the very rule of of every national leader. According to prophecies, there is an expected “Antichrist” that immediately precedes the coming of the Messiah. He will appear to be a deliverer, but will show his true colors of evil after a short time, after deceptively gathering the following of the majority of the world. John, the apostle, pens a letter to the churches and says, “Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come” (1 John 2:18). John was speaking of the world ruler that would precede the coming of Jesus, who was proclaimed as the promised Messiah throughout the New Testament. Unfortunately, Gentile religion has turned Jesus into the “personal Savior,” a term you will not find in scripture. It’s become a private spirituality disconnected from the Messianic prophecies of the Psalms and prophets. It has degraded further into a means of personal blessing. Gnosticism saw to this in the second century. But Jesus, himself, proclaimed, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). The “good news” was not just for the individual, but for the world! A new Kingdom had arrived, and so had its King!
It was the Roman Caesars in Jesus’ day, who also declared their rule as “good news,” and themselves as “Lord” and “Savior,” bringing justice, salvation, and peace (pax Romana). As a result, they demanded “loyalty” and “faithfulness”, a “believing obedience.” This was the same word in Greek used by Paul and Jesus (Gk: “pistis” often translated “faith” or “believe”) to describe our relationship to the Messiah. Paul knew the political ramifications of the coming Messiah, and the Good News was the peace that would rule as a result, the restoration of all Creation to God’s rule. This is only Good News to those who are followers of, or are advocates of, the Messiah. But it is to this that Messiah’s followers are to be “faithful”, “loyal”, and have a “believing obedience.”
Similarly, today’s political powers assert themselves, and are looked at by the masses as “saviors” and “lords” promising peace and justice through whatever political philosophy they embrace. They demand a “faithfulness” and “loyalty”. But the “powers and authorities” that Paul referenced in Ephesians 5 are not threatened by personal religion. Their rule is threatened by a coming Messiah and loyalty to Him alone, who will displace the rulers of this world, and their respective ruling spirits, and will rule in true Justice and Peace!! For the angel declares in Revelation 11:15: “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” It is to this we are to be loyal. It is the Good News we are to proclaim to all the earth, and the entrance to this Kingdom, as it was proclaimed by the King himself, “unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). We are to call citizens from this world’s kingdoms into the Kingdom of God. God has promised that he will take back his world from the evil that has ruled it for so long. Paul, the apostle, declares that we, as Messiah’s followers, are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20), but not because we will live there forever, but because, “from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS WE ARE TO PROCLAIM, and it will be met with GREAT resistance, for the rulers of this world, will not give up their place easily. But proclaim it we shall, for as His followers, we KNOW the King, and shall rule with Him (Rev. 20:6).
Categories: Kingdom of God, Messiah
Beyond Traditon 
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