Mark 1:10 tells us what happened when the Lord Jesus came up out of the water: “And immediately, coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens being parted, and the Spirit as a dove coming down to Him.” Before this time, the Lord Jesus already had God the Father within Him as the essence of His being. After His baptism, God the Spirit descended upon Him. Therefore, within Him the Lord Jesus had the divine essence, and upon Him He had the Spirit of God. As the One with the Father within Him as His essence and the Spirit upon Him as the power for His move and work, He began to minister. In His move, His work, the Lord Jesus was not a person merely of morality or ethics, and He was not a person of religion. Rather, the Lord Jesus was a person absolutely of God.
After His baptism, with the Spirit upon Him, the Lord Jesus was a person absolutely of God inwardly and outwardly. Inwardly He had God the Father as His essence; outwardly He had the Spirit of God as His power to move, act, minister, and preach. In this way He became not a person of culture, religion, or merely ethics or morality, but a person of God.
In His move on earth, what did the Lord Jesus do? Did He teach ethics or morality? Did He emphasize religion, culture, or education? Did He tell people to keep the Ten Commandments given by God? These are not the things the Lord Jesus did in His move. He was altogether in another kingdom, the kingdom of God. He was not in the kingdom of law, morality, ethics, religion, or culture. He was wholly in the kingdom of God.
What is the kingdom of God? We may be so bold as to say that the kingdom of God is actually God Himself. Let us use the animal kingdom as an illustration. The animal kingdom, of course, is composed of animals. If there were no animals, there would not be an animal kingdom. The principle is the same with the kingdom of man. The kingdom of man is mankind. In a similar way, the kingdom of God is God Himself.
The Lord Jesus was a man of God. Whatever He did, whatever He preached and taught, the way He behaved and ministered—everything was in the kingdom of God.
Confucius taught ethics, and he was in the kingdom of ethics. Ethics is good, but it is not the kingdom of God.
Moses emphasized the keeping of the law, and he was in the kingdom of law. This kingdom is also good, but it is not the kingdom of God.
Aaron the high priest taught the people the proper way to worship God. Thus, Aaron was in the kingdom of the priesthood. This too was good, but it is not the kingdom of God.
When the Lord Jesus came out to minister, He did not teach ethics, the keeping of the law, or the priestly service of God. He lived, moved, and acted in the kingdom of God. As we have seen, the kingdom of God is God Himself.
In 1:14-45 we see the contents of the Lord’s gospel service: preaching the gospel (vv. 14-20), teaching the truth (vv. 21-22), casting out demons (vv. 23-28), healing the sick (vv. 29-39), and cleansing the leper (vv. 40-45). These are not matters of ethics, morality, culture, philosophy, or religion. These are the ways the Lord Jesus served God. He served God by preaching the gospel, teaching the truth, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper.
The Bible does not say that the work of the Lord Jesus was to preach the gospel, teach the truth, cast out demons, heal the sick, and cleanse the leper. Instead, the New Testament indicates that this was His move. After He was baptized and after the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, He moved in the way of preaching, teaching, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper. When He moved into Galilee, He preached. When He came to Capernaum, He taught. He also cast out an unclean spirit, and later He healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Furthermore, in His move in His ministry He met a leper and cleansed him.