Mark 1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Some observations:

• Jesus states that the time is fulfilled, not that it will be.
• Jesus preached the gospel itself; this runs contrary to the idea that we didn’t really get the gospel until Paul wrote Galatians or Romans. In other words, the gospel was being preached before the cross.
• The good news is that the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus’ call was to believe this was true, and to join it.
• This lends credibility and a much more natural reading to the concept that the gospel is the proclamation that Jesus is Lord (hence the “kingdom” language), and that individual salvation is a part of, but not the whole picture, of the overarching story of redemption.