A clear summary of Jesus’ original gospel of the kingdom—the message the new Elijah will proclaim to call the world back to Jesus, thereby preparing the way for the coming of Melchizedek.

 

—
Transcript
—

 

The Future of the Teachings of Jesus
52. The Herald of Melchizedek-Part 3 (Ep. 71)
The return to Jesus and His Original Gospel

 

November 2026

 

The coming of Melchizedek. Malachi closes the Old Testament with a warning and a promise. The warning is clear: a day of judgment is coming—the great and terrible day of the Lord (Mal 4:5).  That day will come “burning like an oven,” consuming “all the arrogant and all evildoers” until neither “root nor branch” remains (Mal 4:1). God will send a divine son to confront and destroy the evil powers ruling this age. This promised son is Melchizedek, whom Malachi identifies as the Lord whom you seek and the messenger of the covenant (Mal 3:1).

Elijah the prophet. Before Melchizedek appears, Malachi says another messenger will come to prepare the way for him. He calls this forerunner Elijah the prophet, because his mission will resemble Elijah’s: to call a faithless people back to God and His righteousness.

The new John. This new herald of Melchizedek will serve as both an Elijah-like figure and a new John the Baptist. The first John prepared Israel for the coming of Jesus, the Son of God; the new John will prepare the world for the coming of Melchizedek, a divine son of God in the service of Jesus. The first John announced the arrival of Jesus; the new John will announce the return to Jesus. He will prepare the way for Melchizedek by calling the people back to the original teachings of Jesus.

Seek first to do the Father’s will. Jesus commanded his followers to Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt 6:33). To seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness means to seek first to do the Father’s will, to place God’s will above every competing desire. The new John will call believers back to Jesus’ personal concept of the kingdom: the Father’s will ruling in the heart of the believer.

The gospel of the kingdom. The new John will call for a revival of Jesus’ original gospel of the kingdom, the good news that God is our Father, and we are all His children, brothers and sisters to one another. This gospel of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man is the essence of Jesus’ message.

Fatherhood. The first and central truth of Jesus’ gospel is that God is our Creator Father. Melchizedek first revealed this concept of God to Abraham, proclaiming that God is the Universal Creator Father of all things and beings. Jesus deepened this revelation by teaching that God is also our personal and spiritual Father. He is a personal God and the creator source of our unique personalities. And He is the spirit Father of our souls. Above all, Jesus revealed that God is our loving heavenly Father and that He loves us with an infinite Fatherly affection.

Sonship. If God is truly our Father, then we are all His children—sons of God. In this universal sense, to be a son of God means to be an offspring of God. This truth embraces every man, woman, and child. Sonship with God is the saving truth of the gospel of the kingdom. Through faith we may awaken to this truth, live in it, and experience it in our daily lives.

Our response to sonship. When we wholeheartedly confess our faith in the Fatherhood of God, we thereby declare our devotion to doing of our Father’s will. And Jesus taught that the Father’s will is love. When a lawyer asked Jesus to identify the greatest commandment in the law he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mk 12:30). Just as a devoted human Father truly loves his children, God loves us with a perfect Fatherly affection. Our natural response to realizing God’s love begins with loving Him in return.

Brotherhood. Brotherhood follows inevitably from Fatherhood and Sonship. If God is our Father and we are all His children, then we are all brothers and sisters to one another. And God’s will is that we love our brothers and sisters as we love ourselves. Jesus taught that the second greatest commandment in the law is that You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt 22:39). In this commandment Jesus expands the neighbor concept to embrace all of humanity. To love others is to desire their good, and to willingly serve them. Jesus taught his followers to practice a religion of loving service.

The family of God. Since the kingdom of God consists of the Father and his loyal children, the kingdom of God is also the family of God. Thus, it should be clear that Jesus’ kingdom is not merely a church or an institution; it is a divine family. This family of God is entered through faith and forgiveness, bound together and ruled by love, and characterized by obedience to the Father’s will. These three virtues are fundamental to life in God’s spiritual family.

Faith. Faith, simple childlike belief that God is our Father, is the doorway to the kingdom. Through His forgiveness, God accepts our faith as the price of admission into His family. But for us to personally receive and experience this forgiveness we must first forgive others. This is why Jesus taught us to pray Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Mt 6:12). To truly forgive others we must love them as we love ourselves. And from that love flows moral conduct, the righteousness of the kingdom, expressed in our daily lives.

Obedience. Doing the Father’s will is the law of the kingdom. Such obedience is more than outward rule-keeping. It is an inner surrender to the Father’s indwelling spirit that yields the fruit of the spirit in our daily lives. Paul identified some of the fruits of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5: 22-23). Of course there are many fruits of the spirit; they include service, temperance, long-suffering, loyalty, fairness, honesty, hope, trust, devotion, tolerance, mercy and ministry. Increasingly showing forth the fruits of the spirit in our daily lives is the proof that we have been born of the spirit and that the Father’s will is ruling our hearts.

Love. Love is the rule of living in the kingdom–supreme devotion to God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus taught the family pattern of love: the Father loves His children; the children love their Father, and they love one another. Before leaving the earth Jesus made this love the unmistakable mark of discipleship: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (Jn 13:34-35). This I command you, to love one another (Jn 15:17).

Summary. In summary, before the coming of Melchizedek and the great and terrible day of the Lord, God will send a new Elijah to turn the people back to Him and His righteousness. This new Elijah, who is also a new John the Baptist, will call the people to return to Jesus and his original gospel teachings: God is our loving heavenly Father and our part is to do His will, to love Him supremely and our neighbors as ourselves. Faith with forgiveness opens the door to God’s kingdom, obedience guides our steps, and love shapes our lives as members of the Father’s divine family, the kingdom of God.

Conclusion. This concludes episode 71. The next episode will explore the special mission of the coming Elijah to restore the decline of love in modern families.

 

 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download