The Gospel Meets the Needs of People
The Full Gospel of the Kingdom - Part 7
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He focused on meeting the needs of the people He encountered. When He sent His disciples out to minister in His name, He directed them to do the same.
Jesus’ focused His ministry on people who were poor—poor in spirit, poor in health, poor in strength, poor in status, poor in finances.
“The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”—Matthew 11:5 (KJV)
Jesus focused on poor people because poor people have needs. They need help. They need solutions. They realize that they cannot do everything themselves.
On the other hand, people who are rich in every area of life have no needs. They do not need help from anyone or anything. Because of this condition, they are often not open to the Gospel message.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I assure you that it will be very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, it’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.’”—Matthew 19:23-24 (CEB)
Being rich in this life is not always the blessing that it may appear to be. Rich people often reject God because they have deceived themselves into thinking that they do not need Him. Their hearts are often closed to the Gospel message.
That is one reason why Jesus focused His ministry on the poor. Poor people—people with needs—are usually more open to the Gospel message and the solutions that it offers them because they have great needs, and they know that they cannot meet these needs on their own.
So, God has chosen the poor and has compensated them for their poverty by giving them greater faith to believe the Gospel.
“Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and [as believers to be] heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?”—James 2:5 (AMP)
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
—Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)
“So He replied to them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news (the Gospel) preached to them.”— Luke 7:22 (AMPC)
That is why Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount by pronouncing blessings on those who are poor in spirit, because they are the ones who are open to the Gospel message. They will be the ones who will benefit most from the blessings, the solutions, and the rewards of believing the Gospel message.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”—Matthew 5:3 (KJV)
Some people are poor in finances. Some people are poor in health. But the ones who are most blessed are those who are poor in spirit because they will be more open to hear and receive the Gospel message.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ shows us the way of salvation, but the Gospel is much, much more than that. The Gospel has the power to meet our needs in every area of life and to completely transform our lives—body, soul, and spirit. The Gospel contains all of the infinite blessings of the Kingdom of God.
The Gospel has provision to meet every need in our lives—physically and spiritually.
“By his divine power the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own honor and glory. Through his honor and glory he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, that you may share the divine nature and escape from the world’s immorality that sinful craving produces.”—2 Peter 1:3-4 (CEB)
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