What is the Kingdom of God? What does building the Kingdom mean? How does one work in the Kingdom? If you were asked those questions today, how would you answer?I'm sure that some people would answer that the church is the Kingdom, and building the Kingdom involves growing church attendance and membership. Many would define working in the Kingdom as volunteering expendable time to church activity, mostly taking place within the walls of a building and the confines of a service. Those answers may involve good things to do, but is all of that correct?
To truthfully answer all of these questions, we will have to look to Jesus. God did not define His Kingdom to us in the old covenant, nor has He revealed His Kingdom to us through church doctrines and traditions. Instead, God revealed His Kingdom to us in the person of Jesus Christ. As He walked this earth, what did Jesus say and what did He do that revealed the Kingdom to us? We must explore Scripture, which enlightens us to the teachings and the life of Christ, developing in us a solid understanding of the Kingdom.
In my first book, The Characters of Christmas: God at Work in Our Lives, I write about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the angel Gabriel's message to her from God. It will do us good to look at a portion of what the angelic messenger communicated to Mary. Gabriel said, "'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end'" (Luke 1:28-33).
God had a marvelous work to do in Mary; He revealed to her that absolutely nothing is impossible with Him. I discuss in my first book how that work in Mary is relevant to the work that God is doing in us in our day, as He also favors us. In The Kingdom According to Jesus, I start off by bringing to your attention, God proclaiming through Gabriel, that the Kingdom is established in Jesus, and His Kingdom will never end. His Kingdom is infinite. It always has been and always will be—just as Jesus.
(The above is excerpted from the book, The Kingdom According to Jesus, by Gregory A. Johnson. Copyright © by Gregory A. Johnson. All rights reserved. Click here for a complete list of books, authored by Gregory A. Johnson)Beloved, please know that God favors you. In these difficult days that we live, my prayer is for God’s Kingdom to reign in you, being revealed through your actions. It will as you follow Jesus, keeping your eyes fixed on him (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Know that you are loved,
gaj
