国度是福音的中心。新约甚至说到，国度就是福音。在路加四章四十三节，和合本译为‘传神国的福音’，但希腊原文的意思是传福音，就是传神的国。神的国就是神的福音；神的国，在新约称作‘诸天的国’，一般人称之为‘天国’。
可惜，今天基督教里所传的福音，几乎极少题到神的国。即使题到，也只是在名词上说一下而已。甚至今天人传福音时，把天堂当作一个中心且重要的事物传讲。在整本新约里，没有一句话告诉我们，福音的目标是要叫人上天堂。在新约里，几乎每一卷书都说到神的国，并且告诉我们，福音乃是以神的国为中心目标。神的心意，不是要用福音把人救到天堂里，乃是要把人救到国度里，也就是救到诸天的国里。况且圣经不是说‘天堂’，乃是说‘新耶路撒冷’。启示录二十一章二节说，‘我又看见圣城新耶路撒冷由神那里从天而降……’圣经所给我们看见，福音拯救人的事，绝对不是以天堂为目标，乃是以国度为目标。
你已听过福音，也信主得救，甚至聚会多年，但你里面或许从来没有一个印象，神的福音是要把你救到一个国里。你知道，神的福音是叫你罪得赦免，叫你与神和好，叫你得着神的生命，使你作神的儿女，叫你得着神的圣灵，以及各样属灵的恩典和福分。然而，圣经告诉我们一件更中心的事，就是神的福音不仅叫我们得着以上所说的各种，更要把我们救到祂的国里。
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The Kingdom As the Central Goal of the Gospel – Luke 4:43
The kingdom is the center of the gospel. The New Testament even says that the kingdom is the gospel. In Luke 4:43, the Union Version translates it as “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God”, but the original Greek text means preaching the gospel, which means preaching the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the gospel of God. The kingdom of God is called “the kingdom of the heavens” in the New Testament.
Unfortunately, the gospel preached in Christianity today rarely mentions the kingdom of God. Even if it is mentioned, it is only mentioned as a proper noun. Even when people preach the gospel today, they preach heaven as a central and an important item. In the entire New Testament, there is not a single verse that tells us the goal of the gospel is to go to heaven. In the New Testament, almost every book talks about the kingdom of God and tells us that the gospel takes the kingdom of God as its central goal. God’s intention is not to use the gospel to save men into heaven, but to bring them into the kingdom, that is, into the kingdom of the heavens. Moreover, the Bible does not say “heaven” but “New Jerusalem”. Revelation 21:2 says, “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…” The Bible shows us that the gospel’s goal of saving men is definitely not aimed at heaven, but at the kingdom.
You have heard the gospel, believed in the Lord and been saved, and even attended church meetings for many years, but you may have never had the impression that God’s gospel is to save you into a kingdom. You know that God’s gospel may forgive your sins, reconcile with God, receive God’s life, become children of God, and receive God’s Holy Spirit with all kinds of spiritual grace and blessings. However, the Bible tells us a more central thing, which is that God’s gospel not only allows us to obtain the things mentioned above, but also saves us into his kingdom.