Looking for the Kingdom of God

We are looking for the Kingdom of God. I don’t know a believer who does not wish that God’s Kingdom were already here on the earth in all its glory and power. This morning I began reading about Jesus’ first coming, beginning in Isaiah 53. What I read stopped me; “Who has believed our message?” (vs 1). The apostle John repeats this in John 12:38, telling us that the prophecy of Isaiah was about the unbelief of the Jews. Grief comes into my heart when I think about a people waiting for the kingdom of God, and their king, and yet they did not believe Jesus was Who they were waiting for. They had the scriptures. Why didn’t they recognize Him?

John tells us that some of the leaders did believe in Jesus but they would not confess their beliefs because they feared that the Pharisees would put them out of the synagogue, and they loved the praises of men more than the praises of God (Jn 12:42-43). It would cost them something to walk with the King in the Kingdom of God, and they weren’t willing to pay the price.

The rest of the people who did not believe in Jesus as the King of the Kingdom of God simply did not recognize Him. They were familiar with the scriptures that depicted their King as an eternal ruler, but not familiar with the scriptures that told of their own unbelief (Is 6:10). Though God sent a great Light to them, they did not perceive Him as the Light of the world. They loved their own ways and understandings better than the Light that was standing before them (Jn 3:19). Concerning the leaders who loved the praises of men and feared the Pharisees, their understanding had become padded with their own preferences and purposes, and this clouded the purposes and provision of God. For one reason or another, most of the people who lived when Jesus did simply did not recognize Him as bringing the Kingdom of God.

To have God’s Kingdom we must recognize that it is more valuable than all our understandings, aspirations, and achievements. It is more valuable than the sum total of our lives and the comfort by which we live. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field, and like a pearl of great price (Mt 13:44-46). Once we recognize the Kingdom, we must “sell out” to obtain it. Our cost for obtaining the Kingdom is laying down our life and our thoughts about how to live it in preference for His. Without setting aside the “padding” on our understanding of what God’s Kingdom is, we will not perceive it, though it is right in front of us. We will be looking for what we want it to be, instead of all that it is.

When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God He described for us what it would be like. This is like a training manual for us, giving us the entrance requirements, or a standard by which we obtain the Kingdom. The purpose for His instructions was that we not repeat the same mistakes of those who did not recognize Him. Further, in the book of Revelation Jesus tells us about the failings of several 1st century churches. He describes where they missed His requirements, and where they met His requirements. These letters to the seven churches are also part of our instruction manual on the Kingdom of God. In addition we are told that all the scriptures are written as an example to us, so that we would believe and enter into God’s Kingdom (1 Cor 10:11-12).

The question is, will we hold onto an image of the Kingdom of God that is contrived by all we want it to be, instead of all that it is? If we do not want to pay the cost of laying down our lives for His Life in us, we will not recognize the Kingdom. We can meet all the requirements of entering into the Kingdom of God only after we recognize it. And we can recognize it only after esteeming that its worth is greater than our own life. Yet those who do so gain Life itself, and walk in the Kingdom of God. Today let us value all that God has intended for us to be and have above all we have ever wanted. Amen.