“I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”— Luke 4:43 NKJV; …Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”— Mark 1:14-15 NKJV
Jesus preached the coming of a new era of God’s eternal rule marked by the closeness of the kingdom of God to the people. In fact, the very physical presence of Jesus Christ brought the kingdom of God near to the people and to us!
The kingdom of God can be described as the realm, domain or territory where God rules and is acknowledged as King. The domain of God’s rule covers the entire universe, nations, peoples, tribes and tongues. We, however, know that not all ‘kingdoms of this world’ acknowledge the rule and Kingship of God over them. When we receive Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we’re in effect acknowledging the rule of God over our life and proclaim Him as King.
God’s kingdom was the focal point in Christ’s ministry, the only message He focused on while He was here on earth — “… ‘I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.’” Luke 4:43 (NKJV)
Jesus, in teaching His disciples how to pray said, “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” Matthew 6:10 (NLT). So, when we pray “may your kingdom come…”, we are effectively making a declaration for Christ’s sovereign rule to be established on earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus never instructed the disciples to preach any other message other than the kingdom of God. When He resurrected, He appeared or showed Himself to the apostles for a period of forty days. In that time, He spoke and thought them about the affairs of the kingdom of God. “ … of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:1-3 (NKJV)
Jesus instructed His followers back then and by extension to us today, to make the kingdom of God a priority. He said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
The problem with Christianity today is that we’ve missed the concept of Jesus’ teachings and messages. We have instead overconcerned ourselves with the kingdoms of this world and the “kingdom of self”.
If Jesus’ focus was the kingdom of God, I’m beginning to wonder what sort of messages are being preached in majority of churches today!
We will explore this more in the next blog.
Stay blessed,
LaraLex
Hills and Valleys 