The Shorthand Way of Saying "The Gospel of the Kingdom of God." ("The word" or "word of God.")

Excerpt from book by Anthony Buzzard: The Amazing Aims and Claims of Jesus - What you didn't learn in church.

I invite you, if possible with open Bible, to notice the verses which immediately follow Jesus’ great and classic statement about the whole point of his mission and about Christianity, in Luke 4:43. You will find in Luke 5:1 that people listening to the Gospel of the Kingdom were listening to what Luke calls the “word of God.” Now that phrase “word of God” is one which you really must understand, if you are going to make sense of the Bible and especially the New Testament books.

Just as we in the West all recognize the term “the States” as shorthand for the United States of America, so Luke establishes for us here a “shorthand” for the Gospel of the Kingdom. Since the Gospel of the Kingdom is the heart and core of everything Jesus said and did, it is natural for those “in the know” to refer to that great saving Gospel message about the Kingdom simply as “the word of God,” which means “the message,” the Gospel message. Other New Testament writers refer to the Gospel of the Kingdom simply as “the word.” This is no more difficult than understanding the fact that we often refer to the President of the United States of America as simply “the President.” We all recognize this, but most people do not know what “the word” or “the word of God” means.

They lose out on a massive piece of vital information if they do not know that “word” or “word of God” in the New Testament almost invariably means “the Gospel of the Kingdom as Jesus preached it.”

I want to make this point crystal clear. Please do not confuse this important phrase “word of God.” It is not just another way of referring to the whole Bible. Unfortunately in churches and on radio and TV, this vital phrase “word of God” is constantly used as just another way of referring to the Bible. Why is this point so important? Because within the whole Bible, which is called the Scriptures or holy writings, we have what is called “the word,” or “the word of God.” And both those phrases mean the saving Gospel message of the Kingdom of God which both Jesus and the Apostles always preached to the public. Is that point clear to you? Let me give you just one of many examples: In Acts we very often read that the preachers preached “the word.” What does that mean? Is that just a general and vague statement about preaching anywhere from the Bible?

No. “The word” or “word of God” is the specific Gospel preaching about the Kingdom of God. This goes back to Jesus’ own preaching. “Next Sabbath almost the entire city gathered to hear the word of God” (Acts 13:44). They “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). This was not a general lecture on the Bible. It was the Gospel as Jesus had preached it. Acts 8:12 defines the “word” for us beautifully. “The word” is the “core” of the Bible. The Bible is certainly “the words of God,” but the heart of the Bible is called the Gospel or “word” or “word of God” many times in the New Testament.

To confuse “word of God,” thinking that in the New Testament it simply describes the Bible, would be like not knowing the difference between London and England. If someone says they are going to London, they do not just mean a journey to somewhere in England.

To misunderstand that phrase “word of God” is to throw away a very great key to understanding the teaching of Jesus. It is to throw away a key to God’s immortality plan for you.

Jesus was the first and authoritative preacher of the saving Gospel. And it is quite untrue (in fact a disastrous mistake) to say that Jesus’ Gospel was meant for Jews only! (It is true, of course, that Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom to his own Jewish people first. But later he commanded his disciples to preach the very same Gospel of the Kingdom to everyone.) It is meant for everyone! Hebrews 2:3 is a verse which everyone should memorize. “Salvation was first preached by the Lord (Jesus).” If you are interested in salvation, you must therefore determine to find out what Jesus preached. And the Gospel about the Kingdom is for everyone. It is the Christian Gospel. (The death and resurrection of Jesus are part of the Gospel but not the whole Gospel.)

We are going to see that it is this Gospel of the Kingdom (including of course the facts about Jesus’ death and resurrection) which we all must grasp and understand and take into our lives as vital spiritual food. It is the Gospel about immortality, and we insist with Hebrews 2:3 and a mass of Bible verses that Jesus is the first, model preacher of immortality. Here is how Paul put this fascinating and important concept: Paul wrote to Timothy, his student in the faith, that Jesus had “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10). There it is! Stop and ponder that wonderful statement. It was Jesus, preaching his Gospel of the Kingdom, who brought the secret of how to live forever to light. It was in Jesus’ Message, and in no other, that we are invited to find the amazing secret of living eventually forever.

But in church this simple fact about “the word” being the Gospel is not clear. In fact the Gospel itself is not clearly defined. Often it is defined with no mention of the Kingdom! Many in churches have very vague ideas about what the Gospel is. In church circles you will almost never hear the phrase “Gospel of the Kingdom.”

Has the voice of Jesus been lost or suppressed? Jesus and Paul spoke about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, but churches do not. They do not sound like Jesus and Paul.