Fulfilling our part in preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God must be done with true compassion and deep concern for those who are hearing the message God has ordained. While the focus is on future events, when God’s Kingdom will govern the entire world, the knowledge we are imparting has impact for people right now!
Of God, it is said that He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4); and, that He “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
When God calls someone to repentance, He is giving that person the opportunity to receive eternal life. Along with that calling, and following repentance and baptism, comes a brand new way of living through the power of God—His own Holy Spirit.
All of this astounding opportunity for us rests in the fact that God cares for mankind—He loves us! The measure of His compassion is ultimate and without parallel:
“‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’” (John 3:16).
And:
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [atoning sacrifice] for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
If we accept this truth of how much God cares, then we are bound to express the same kind of care as we complete the Work of God given to us:
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).
