Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” Revelation 14:6-7

 

The everlasting gospel.  What is it?  Isn’t it 1 Corinthians 15:1-6, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus?  No. How could it be?  Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom in His day (Mark 1:14).  His disciples preached the gospel long before the death, burial and resurrection (Luke 9:1-6).  The gospel was even preached long before that to ancient Israel, long before the manifestation of Jesus (Hebrews 4:1-2).  Even Abraham had the gospel preached to him in his day (Galatians 3:8). Has the gospel changed?  Absolutely not.  It has been progressively revealed, but at its core, it is the promise of God to His people.

 

Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; Titus 1:1-3

 

Eternal life as an inheritance for the elect is the promise of God from before time began.

 

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:1-3

 

God’s promise is that the elect should know Him and be with Him forever.  Even before the first act of creation, He had already made provision within Himself to make this a reality.

 

…you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.  He indeed was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:18-21

 

Fully intending the fall of man as an event through which to reveal all aspects of His character and ultimately bring us closer to Him, God determined to redeem us to Himself by His own blood before He set to the work of laying the earth’s foundations.  He is the Redeemer and Redemption, the inheritance of His people; He is the promise, the eternal life.

 

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Genesis 15:1

 

“ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “ Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:24

 

And what about the gospel of the kingdom, announced at the first coming of its King?  The Kingdom of God is the place where the people of God will be with Him forever.  It is an indispensible part of the everlasting gospel, providing the living context of the eternal promise’s fulfillment.  The name of the King is Emmanuel, God with us, and at His first coming began the manifest dwelling of God with His people for the first time since the departure of the Shekinah glory, a bodily dwelling that is to extend uninterrupted from Jesus’ second coming into everlasting.

 

And what about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus?  It is the indispensible means by which we enter into this glory.  His death provided for the elect redemption and the remission of our sins; both forgiveness and the doing away of our corrupted flesh that while we still live we may bear the fruit of righteousness and be well pleasing to our God.

 

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 1 Corinthians 15:50

 

Without the putting off of this corruptible body, none can inherit the kingdom of God.  Christ put off His body of flesh in order to be the first to also take up a new, incorruptible body and so make a way for the rest of us to have our corrupted flesh removed and also receive the same inheritance.

 

And He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18

 

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:5-11

 

Eternal life was promised to mankind according to the election of God, hidden in Christ from before the foundation of the world.  Delivery from the serpent’s wound that precipitated our death was perhaps the first recorded preaching of this gospel to mankind (Genesis 3).  This gospel was again preached in more explicit terms to Abraham and his Seed.  To Abraham, God promised the land in which He would dwell with him and the multitude of children promised to him.  Even at the time, though Abraham was aware of the resurrection of the dead, the promise of many children was a sign of the everlasting gospel, a symbol of eternal life in the minds of the ancients.  Again this everlasting gospel was preached by the mouth of a prophet to king David, this time even more explicitly detailing the everlasting kingdom that would provide the context for our dwelling with God.  All of the Law and Prophets preached this everlasting gospel, the promise of redemption to eternal life, as they spoke beforehand concerning the coming King.

 

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. John 5:39

 

And now we have the everlasting gospel preached to us, the full revelation of Jesus Christ, the eternal life from the beginning that has now appeared to all men.

 

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:1-3

 

And now there yet remains a final preaching of the everlasting gospel at the end of days by the elect angel of God; the proclamation of the hour of His judgment in which He will commence the final fulfillment of the promise at the return of His Son to the earth.

 

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” Revelation 14:6-7

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