The Kingdom of God
Matthew 5, 6 and 7 provide the manifesto of God’s Kingdom. Otherwise known as the “Sermon on the Mount,” in this famous passage Jesus lays out for us the true nature and purpose of God’s Kingdom and it’s reality to us in the here and now.
When you come to Christ, you have a lot of “un-learning” to do. As Christians, we are no longer living for ourselves, but are living to serve God in all that we do. We come to understand that we own nothing, but are merely stewards of the gifts and blessings that God has given to us during our time on the earth. The world is a kingdom of self, and its principles are totally opposite of those that Jesus is talking about in His description of the Kingdom.
Jesus used the parables to describe the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is not a place - it is a life style. Many who anticipated the coming of the Messiah believed that he was coming to liberate Israel from hundreds of years of captivity and bondage. Jesus did come to bring liberation and freedom, but of a different kind. The Kingdom of God - or the Kingdom of Heaven - is living a life that is free of the burden and captivity of sin.
This state of being is not about actions - it is about your heart. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I want you to be merciful. I do not want your sacrifices. If you are bringing an offering to the Temple, but your heart is in the wrong state, then STOP!” This kingdom isn’t about what you do - it’s about your heart. When we come into the kingdom, God “with” us becomes God “in” us. We are reborn, restored and renewed. God washes us clean, but He doesn’t leave us there. He takes us, disciples us, elevates us and puts us on the journey of changing, becoming like Christ and fulfilling the vision He has for us.
We are all on this journey, and at different times and stages of growth. We ARE NOT called to judge the spiritual state of others. Jesus didn’t reach out to the powerful influencers or the religious leaders - he reached out to the lowly, the disrespected, the poor and the lost. Why? He said that we must come to Him as a child and with the faith of a child because a child is TEACHABLE. If we aren’t willing to let go of our preconceptions and worldly knowledge, we will never understand the structure of the Kingdom of God. We have to come as a child, not infected by the evil and selfishness of the world. We have to leave everything behind when we come to Christ and enter the Kingdom.
