What think ye of the Kingdom of God?

What think ye of the Kingdom of God?

I suppose, when you read the title of this article, two verses would have immediately sprang into your mind. The first verse would probably be Matt 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”The second verse might be the 2^nd petition of the Lord's prayer found in the same chapter, namely, in Matt 6:10: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Given that our Lord Jesus has not only taught us to pray but also call us to seek God's Kingdom as the first priority, it naturally follows that we ought to know what the Kingdom of God is and what seeking of it pertains. Perhaps by now, you might have thought that such a discourse is totally unnecessary because in your mind you would already possess such knowledge. But is it so? Can you go into the second layer of detail about what the Kingdom of God is and what seeking of it pertains in a single liner? If you hesitate, then you are not entirely clear.

Let us consider what the Kingdom of God is and what seeking of it pertains. First, let's begin negatively and consider what the Kingdom of God is NOT from the context of Matt 6:33. It is clear that the Kingdom of God does not consist in the substance needed for this life such as food, money and clothing and by implication your job and mine. While our job is certainly part of our vocational calling (1 Cor 7:20), it is also not the Kingdom of God per se. This understanding if extended further would mean that, if you are retired, your focus on your grandchildren is also not seeking the Kingdom of God per se. So what is the Kingdom of God which Jesus calls for as primacy of seeking in a believer's life?

To understand what the Kingdom of God consists, we only need to refer to the 3^rd petition and then works ourselves towards understanding what the Kingdom of God consists in the 2^nd Petition. Judging from the first three petitions and working backwards, it would mean when God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven, then his Kingdom would come, then his name would be hallowed! In other words, the Kingdom of God consist of people who will do His will because they have acknowledged God as King of their life. Thus, the seeking of it would mean that we individually are to acknowledge God as the King of our life and therefore to do His will and, by implication as in the Lord's prayer, to exercise our greatest effort, persevering and strennously (which the verb “seek” implies) “to have him (G0d) recognized as King in OTHERS’ hearts and lives” [Hendrikson] so that God's will is done by them on earth. So when God is recognized as King in the hearts of the believers, His righteousness will also prevail. By implication, this means that first and foremost to seek God's Kingdom is to be involved in bringing the Gospel, personally and corporately, to those around us so that they will first believe and then do God's will! Are you convinced that this is indeed so, that seeking God's Kingdom and his righteousness means that we are primarily to be involved in gospeling? This emphasis is indeed congruent with other part of the Scriptures, say in the Great Commission where Jesus commanded us to bring the Gospel to every creature in Mark 16:15: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Secondly, we also need to recognize that seeking of God's Kingdom is difficult. This difficulty is echoed by our Lord Jesus in the same section of the book of Matthew, namely, (Matt 7:13): “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat”. This warning is also found in the parable of the pound (Luke 19:12-27) albeit in a very serious and relevant manner. The nobleman described in the parable is indeed our Lord Jesus, while the “pound” is the word of God. Here the servants are commanded to do business to obtain more gain. When the nobleman returned, he rewarded the two faithful servants who followed the Lord's will and gained more by trading with the pounds while punishing the wicked servant, who kept the pound buried, did nothing to obtain more gain, but instead complained that the nobleman was unreasonable! It is therefore a very clear and present warning for all professing Christians who have the Word of God (you and me included), that if they did nothing with the Word of God entrusted to them to win more souls, who will bow before God as King in their lives, and who in turn will use the Word of God (pound) to win others too, thus making gain in the Word of God (pound), then they would suffer the same fate at the end as the wicked servant!

Finally, we can take comfort, if we are found in “fellowship in the Gospel” (Phil 1:5). As taught us in the book of Philippians, Paul is confident that God has begun a good work in the Philippian Christians and that God will ensure that they will persevere to the end until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6). This confidence in the Philippians, that they indeed possess true faith, can be traced to their partnership with Paul in the work of propagating the Gospel! Let's take this Lord's Day to examine our understanding of God's Kingdom and how we can be involved in the seeking of it individually and corporately, which our Lord Jesus bids us do, till toils and cares shall end.