Rev. Johnson V.
12th December 2010

Our Lord Jesus spoke frequently about the ‘Kingdom of God’.  This term makes its first appearance in the New Testament and is mentioned in all four gospels. What is the Kingdom of God? How did our Lord Jesus explain it?

The very first appearance of the term is found in Mathew 6:33. The verse says (KJV) “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” The preceding verse explains what will be added to us – food, clothing, shelter (verse 31), all our basic needs. Our Lord Jesus seems to be telling us to stop worrying about our needs. Instead if we seek Him, He will provide. Our God has promised to add blessings to us. He will not balance out our blessings, but will add to it.

Our Lord encourages us to ‘seek’ the kingdom of God. In general, if we already had something, we won’t need to seek after it. We only seek something if we don’t have it, or if it was lost or if we want more of it. If we don’t have a relationship with God, we are encouraged to seek after it. If we have backslidden, we are encouraged to return to our former level and if we already have an existing relationship with Christ, we are encouraged not to be content, but to continually press in, as there is a deeper relationship that we can have with our God.

In order to have a deeper relationship with God, we must know Him better. Sometimes our Lord Jesus does not reveal Himself to us in the way we want or expect. Sometimes we see His glory and faithfulness when we are blessed with a new car or fridge. But we need to move beyond ‘spiritual experiences’. There is a deeper knowledge that we can have of our Saviour and God, through the Word.

Luke 24:13-32, gives us an example of how God reveals Himself to us.

Two disciples were on their way to Emmaus. As they were walking, our Lord Jesus drew near and walked with them. God always shows up when there is unity.

Verse 16, says that the two disciples were kept from recognizing that the Lord Jesus was walking with them. Why were their eyes blinded? The outer eye will see and forget, but what the disciples needed was for their inner eyes to see so that they could have a revelation about Him. In verse 17, the disciples reduced Jesus to a powerful prophet. But He was the Son of the Living God. They needed a revelation of who Christ is, so that they can fully comprehend Him. Our Lord Jesus taught them through the scriptures (verse 27).

• The Kingdom of God is anyplace where Jesus is King.
• The power of the Kingdom is in the words of the Kingdom (Ecclesiastes 8:4)
• We can permanently live in the Kingdom by seeking scriptures and obeying principles, even when we are on this earth.

The Kingdom of God is in our lives. We can live in it by living in obedience to the Kingdom principles. We may face persecutions, but we will also receive our rewards in this life and in eternity.

Many times, we want the blessings but not the principles of the Kingdom. But what we don’t realize is that if God gives us something, it will never be taken from us. When God gives us something, He will add no sorrow to it.