THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM
Luke 4:43
But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also,
because that is why I was sent.” NIV
Jesus spoke more about the Kingdom of God than He did of any other topic in the gospels.
The Kingdom of God is meant to be the very centerpiece of the Christian life. We know it is a Kingdom that cannot be shaken (1), it is not of this world (2) and it indwells us (3). Wherever Jesus went, He proclaimed the good news of this Kingdom (4). He also encouraged us to make our pursuit of the Kingdom of God our top priority (5) and to ask our Father for His Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. (6) If we advertised we were having a Kingdom conference, it would be well attended. After all, there is something inside every believer that knows that this is what we were created for. |
So what do you think living in the Kingdom actually means? Is it a greater awakening to God’s plan and purpose for humanity? Absolutely! Is it a greater empowering of the church on planet earth to be manifestation of signs, wonders and miracles? Without question!
Every attribute of the Kingdom is spectacular. Every gift, every ministry office, every good work that we do under the direction of the Holy Spirit… all God ordained and blessed. But are these expressions of the Kingdom the actual substance of the Kingdom?
I think this is where we can get distracted if we aren’t careful. I like to call these expressions of the Kingdom, ‘shiny objects’. They are beautiful, valuable and necessary but they were never ever meant to be the object of our pursuit.
If we don’t perceive the Kingdom from The Trinity’s perspective, we will be surely derailed in our pursuit of it. If we assume the broken values of this orphan world are the same values of the Kingdom, we will be sadly mistaken.
In Matthew 18:1-5, Jesus told His disciples that the greatest in God’s Kingdom is a little child. In Matthew 11:25-26, Jesus declares that His Father hides the Kingdom from the wise and reveals it to little babies. And in Luke 18:15-17, Jesus says that the Kingdom belongs to little children.
God’s Kingdom isn’t revealed through the strong, the wise and the rich. (7) It is actually counter intuitive to everything we have been taught. Would you be willing to ask God to redefine your understanding of His Kingdom and embrace it as it is and not how the broken systems of this world define it to be?
Every attribute of the Kingdom is spectacular. Every gift, every ministry office, every good work that we do under the direction of the Holy Spirit… all God ordained and blessed. But are these expressions of the Kingdom the actual substance of the Kingdom?
I think this is where we can get distracted if we aren’t careful. I like to call these expressions of the Kingdom, ‘shiny objects’. They are beautiful, valuable and necessary but they were never ever meant to be the object of our pursuit.
If we don’t perceive the Kingdom from The Trinity’s perspective, we will be surely derailed in our pursuit of it. If we assume the broken values of this orphan world are the same values of the Kingdom, we will be sadly mistaken.
In Matthew 18:1-5, Jesus told His disciples that the greatest in God’s Kingdom is a little child. In Matthew 11:25-26, Jesus declares that His Father hides the Kingdom from the wise and reveals it to little babies. And in Luke 18:15-17, Jesus says that the Kingdom belongs to little children.
God’s Kingdom isn’t revealed through the strong, the wise and the rich. (7) It is actually counter intuitive to everything we have been taught. Would you be willing to ask God to redefine your understanding of His Kingdom and embrace it as it is and not how the broken systems of this world define it to be?
(1) Hebrews 12:28-29; (2) John 18:36; (3) Luke 17:20-21; (4) Matthew 24:14; (5) Matthew 6:33; (6) Matthew 6:10; (7) 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.