The King and His Kingdom
Make no mistake, the most important reason for bringing people into the Kingdom of God is Jesus. We strive to make Christ known to all peoples because He is worthy of the praise, honor, glory and power of all peoples. Because he is King, the world along everyone and everything in it belong to Him. As important as it is that the lost be found, that they be saved from the eternal hellfire, that they find worth and self-esteem in Christ, we must still maintain that the most important reason to bring someone to the Lord is because Jesus is the King.
When Jesus walked the earth healing the sick, raising the dead, and doing all kinds of miracles, his primary message was to announce the coming of a kingdom. He never intended to start a religion or teach a set of morals that would help us get into Heaven. He came to announce and usher in the coming of a kingdom. That is why his first public message was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” (Matt 4:17).
In Genesis, the book of beginnings, when God created the earth He was establishing an extension to His Kingdom. Perhaps we could refer to it as a colony of His Heavenly Kingdom. He created human beings to be the governor and royal representatives of the King in this colony which He called earth. When they fell in Genesis chapter 3, they didn’t lose a religion, they lost a Kingdom. We have been trying to find it ever since.
The reason for which Jesus was sent to the earth was, first and foremost, to reestablish the Kingdom on earth and make a way for human beings to get back into it. When we find our way into the Kingdom we are, what the Bible calls, “saved”. We are saved from the worlds system of religion and government and are brought back into God’s Kingdom where Jesus rules as King. We are not saved into a religion, we are saved from fabricated religion.
A religion is any system of beliefs that consumes persons until they find the Kingdom (this includes humanism, deism, agnosticism and atheism). It is what man does until Christ brings him into His Kingdom. Religion reaches up for God while the Kingdom brings God down to us. Religion teaches people how to leave the earth while the Kingdom equips people to dominate the earth. Religion focuses on heaven, paradise, nirvana and the hereafter, while the Kingdom focuses on this present-day earth. Religion seeks to escape the earth while the Kingdom seeks to influence, impact and change the earth.[1] This is what Jesus was referring to when he said, “the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matt 11:12). It is a question of conquering more territory for our King and His Kingdom, not preoccupying ourselves with the day we will abandon it.
Unfortunately, in our western societies we have no idea what it means to be part of a kingdom or what it means to be subject to a king. Even the well-known monarchs of our day do not hold the same authority and power of the colonial era and ancient times. Therefore, when the Bible refers to Jesus as being “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” it is quite difficult for us to conceive what this would have meant for the New Testament writers.
A kingdom is centered around a king. In a kingdom, everything belongs to the King. Everything one could think of as a possession, even one’s very own life, belongs to the King, and the King can do with these as he pleases. In the Kingdom of Heaven, we exist for the sole purpose of pleasing the King.
We are so far removed from our understanding what a Kingdom is like, that we think of this as a very demeaning way of life. But rather than diminishing our value, this is what makes us truly valuable. We don’t own anything, rather everything we have in our control is a gracious gift given to us by our King; a King who loves us so much that He adopted us into his family and has made us sons and daughters in His royal family. Think of it. A King loved us so much that He gave up His place in Heaven, came to earth and died on a cross to secure our place in His family. We are now considered royalty in His Kingdom. As such, He tells us not to worry about anything.
Yes, that’s right. Our king commands us not to worry about anything. Not our food, clothing, rent, mortgage, car payments, water bills or anything else. In fact, He says that the pagans (that is, those outside His Kingdom) run after these things. But we are to preoccupy ourselves with seeking His Kingdom and His Righteousness and then he promises that our other “needs” will be met as well (Mat 6:24-33). THAT is what it means to live as royalty.
Our King tells us we are to be occupied with spreading of His Kingdom and its righteousness as opposed to our earthly necessities. If you take care of His Kingdom, He will take care of you.
So then, we are free to make His desire our priority. And what is His desire? Our King has given us a Great Commission in which He commands us to spread His Kingdom by making disciples of all nations (meaning all ethnic groups):
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:18-20
If He is your King then that is supposed to be your preoccupation. That is His last and greatest command to us. This is what sums up our love for God and our fellow man (Matt 22:36-39). What use is it if we bless the beggars, give them some money, food, water, clothing, or an education; if we say to them, “God bless you, be in peace” and yet leave them in their lost state outside the Kingdom? Have we really done any good if we take care of their temporary needs but leave them in their eternal broken state without God and without a Savior? Make no mistake, Christ’s Great Commandment to love others as he has loved us finds its fulfillment in His Great Commission. Thus, our first loyalty is to our King, and in living out that loyalty, we make it our priority to make disciples of every ethnic group on the face of this planet.
This has nothing to do with whether we may consider ourselves to be gifted in the ministry of evangelism. It has nothing to do with our level of comfort in sharing Christ with others or our perceived lack of education in this regard. It is much more about whether we consider ourselves a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Are you a subject of your King? If so, then what are you doing about His command to make disciples of the lost peoples? This is a command that applies to all of us, not just a select few.
I am convinced that King Jesus is the solution to every problem in this world. King Jesus is the solution to the world’s problem with poverty, the problem with renegade governments, and with Islamic terrorism. He is the solution to sexual abuse, broken marriages, addictions, and so many other things. And yet as I write this article twenty-nine percent of the world’s ethnic groups have no access to His Gospel message and many have never even heard of His existence. Should it not be our priority to change this statistic? What is stopping us from being active? He is our King and He is calling on all of us. There are no exceptions.
I want to challenge you to commit yourself to do something about our King’s Commission. Perhaps it is to befriend someone who is far removed from the Gospel due to their religion, culture, or ethnicity. Perhaps you can speak to them about Christ, pray for their needs, or give them a Bible. Perhaps you could give financially to a missionary or an organization that is involved in this effort. Perhaps it is simply to pray. Whatever God puts on your heart, I encourage you not to ignore it. Don’t shut out the voice that says you can make a difference. Be a true citizen of Christ’s Kingdom.
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
- Matthew 5:13-16
[1] Myles Munroe. Kingdom Principles: Preparing for Kingdom Experience and Expansion (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers. 2006), p.18-19