By Not Known
The kingdom of God was central to the words and deeds of Jesus.
The kingdom of God relates to God’s saving rule through his appointed king,
Jesus. Through Jesus, God defeats our enemy of sin and death and brings us
under his lordship or rule.
Jesus’ preaching announced the coming of God’s kingdom and summons people
to enter it. His teaching explained the kingdom life and applied it across a
wide range of life’s activities. His miracles powerfully demonstrated the fact
of the kingdom and showed its heavenly form – a world where there is no
death, disease, demons or want.
This kingdom is also Jesus’ business with each of us- We sometimes act as
though we can pick and choose when it comes to Jesus- We adopt this or that
element of his teaching and want this or that kingdom blessing.
This ‘pick and choose’ is just not on, Jesus is either the saviour and Lord of all
we are or he is saviour and Lord of none of us. We are not in charge- He is. We
are either citizens of his kingdom or we are not. We cannot have a dual
citizenship with the kingdom of God and the kingdom of our own ego or some
other God. All this is clear as we read through the gospels and catch something
of the totality of his calls on those who chose to follow him.
It is timely to encourage one another to self-examination of our response to
Jesus and his kingdom. Do we submit to Jesus and his way in its totality or do
we try to fit him into the kingdom of our own ego?
The kingdom of Jesus defined his mission. It should also define the church’s
mission. Today’s Bible passage (Luke 9:1-6) shows Jesus giving the 12 their
marching orders. They were to preach the kingdom and heal, just as he did.
They were to do so in the power and authority that he gave them. They would
be rejected as he was rejected. They were to trust God’s promsion for their
needs just as he did.
This is another point for self-examination as a church. At every sevice we sing
the words; your kingdom come. Your Will be done on earth as in heaven. It’s
one thing to sing these words but another to have them at the heart of every
church activity.
Let’s learn from Jesus’ kingdom focus. Let’s keep his kingdom mission as our
mission.