THE KINGDOM OF GOD
(Incentives to Pray and Love God)
Weekly Theme: Exploring the Love of God – 3rd post

Luke 12:29-32 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

How do we seek the kingdom of God? First, we must seek to identify its cause.

Jesus is the king of the kingdom. What is His cause? He told Pilate, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37). The angel told Joseph concerning Mary, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

We conclude therefore that Jesus’ cause is to save people from their sins by bearing witness to the truth. This means that His kingdom (a kingdom being an orderly rule) is an orderly rule to promote this cause.

As we said, we seek the kingdom by first identifying its cause. Then second we seek this kingdom by seeking to comply with the rule of the kingdom that has been established to promote this cause. And as we do this the kingdom comes into our lives and we begin to enjoy its benefits.

This rule of the kingdom dictates that we turn from sin because to live in sin is to comply with the kingdom of Satan and advance its cause of trying to combat the truth by promoting falsehood. Yes, the kingdom of God promotes the truth and establishes its rule in our lives and the kingdom of Satan seeks to destroy the kingdom of God in our lives. He does this by trying to get us “to exchange the truth of God for the lie” (Romans 1:25) that there is more promise in sin then in God’s way of truth.

Satan promotes the lie that rejecting God’s rule liberates us to enjoy life to the fullest by allowing us the freedom to do whatever we might be tempted to do. He tries to hide the reality that sin is bad for us and breaks us down because we were not designed to sin. It breaks us down like putting gasoline in a diesel car would break it down. Sin becomes addictive and binds us to its destructive patterns rather than liberating us.

It is time the church of Jesus Christ — the support system for the people of the kingdom — recognizes sin for what it really is. Sin is not some sweet morsel that we awarded ourselves with every now and then for following the diet of being good the rest of the time. Sin is not something to be played with. Sin is poison. It brings death and destruction. As we learn to abhor it and flee from it by the power of God working in us, we are truly set free to live out the benefits of the Kingdom.

There is so much more to be said about the kingdom of God, but we must save this for next week’s posts. However, we recognize that the basic purpose of the Kingdom is to establish God’s rule of truth in the earth and to conquer the kingdom of Satan. Thus we pray as Jesus taught us, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”

Note: Normally the Bible uses the word sin (hamartia in the Greek) in reference to willful, voluntary acts against the known law of God. There are exceptions where the word is used in reference to unintentional acts against God. And we would all have to admit that we are not free from these acts. I am using the word in reference to the first meaning, not the latter.