What is the one thing that people know you by? In other words, most people might know you by what you do for a living, what you like to do as a hobby, what good you have done, or even regrettably by the mistakes that you have made. I think people associate me with my willingness and passion for ministry and evangelism. There are other things that are in my life, like I love gardening, all things Star Trek, music, vintage Klipsch speakers, and technology. However, more than any of those things I love ministry and working in the Kingdom of God. It’s the most rewarding and the most challenging. It’s really what I am most about.
Lately, I have been reading through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John I have noticed Jesus’ central message.
(Side-bar: You should make it a goal to read through the gospels often. Like every few months read each one front to back.)
Jesus’s central message was all about the Kingdom of God/Heaven. Many times his sermons and conversations were sprinkled with the phrase “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Mark 1:15; Matthew 4:17; Luke 4:43). These words are stated over 50 times in the gospels. While the disciples struggled to understand that the kingdom would not be a just physical kingdom on this earth but one that transposes over to the spiritual realm Jesus’ message remained steady. Jesus’ plan was to bring about the everlasting Kingdom/church on this earth and His will is for us to be in it.
When Jesus preached this message it was not an unheard-of thought. The message about the Kingdom of God should have been triggered in the minds of the Jewish leaders and listeners. While they were looking for someone to sit on the physical throne of David. They understood the Kingdom of God to be solely physical. In the Old Testament, the people of God looked to other nations and strived to be like them in setting up their own government. They wanted a king and sought to establish one while all the while God wanted to be their King.
When Jesus speaks of the “Kingdom of God” during his ministry, He was, the spiritual King of God made physically present on earth. Jesus understood the Kingdom to mean the people that would follow Him and become citizens in the Kingdom/church. Presently, one can be in the Kingdom/church that was established on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). In the future the kingdom will not be on this earth for the earth will be destroyed. and those who are “found by Him in peace, spotless, and blameless” will be rescued to be placed in the “new heaven and new earth”(2 Peter 3). The church will make its heavenly home in a new dwelling place that God has prepared.
It should challenge us to consider if we are a part of the Kingdom of God. It’s where we will find salvation as those who are baptized into Christ have been added to the kingdom. Are you in the kingdom/church?