Kingdom: Basics

“For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God’s power” 1 Corinthians 4:20
The Kingdom of God. A phrase that Jesus keeps talking about again and again through the gospels. But what is it? What is it all about? And what does it mean for us, here and now, today?
Those are big questions. Some of the most important questions we need to answer. Because once we start to comprehend what the Kingdom of God is, and our role in it, everything changes. We can’t carry on the way things were before. Once we become Kingdom people, everything gets turned upside down. Our priorities will change. Our attitudes will be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We will find a security we never had before, a freedom like none we have ever experienced and we will find our values transformed. We will crave for different things, better things – treasure that last. Our focus will shift upwards and outwards.
Because this isn’t just some hypothetical issue. This isn’t something to debate and discuss and ponder and consider. This is something to live out. To experience. To share. This is something to grasp hold of, to wrestle with and to let God’s word change us as we realise what it means to be citizens of the Kingdom. This crazy, upside down Kingdom where the least are the greatest, where to die is to gain, where to be a disciple you must first pick up a cross. A Kingdom which will never end, with a King who welcomes us as a brother, who loves us with an unfailing love, and who values us enough to lay His life down to rescue us.
This Kingdom isn’t just something to look forward to. It isn’t some far off future thing. It is both here and now and also yet to come.
This Kingdom isn’t for those who have it all together, for those who have been doing this for a long time and have all the answers. It is for those of us who are weak and heavy burdened, who know we can’t make it on our own, because the promise of the Kingdom is that we are not on our own. We have God’s mighty power helping us. We have His healing available to us. We have His forgiveness poured out for us. And ultimately, we know the end of the story. We know victory is coming for the Kingdom of God.
And because the Kingdom isn’t just about head knowledge and fancy talk but living by God’s power we need to spend some time looking at what it looks like. What it means to be a citizen of the Kingdom. What the Kingdom values and principles are. What the power we have available to us is. And how the Kingdom will expand and bring hope to the ends of the earth. So we are going to spend some time going through the book of Matthew, looking at what Jesus has to say, as He is something of an expert on the subject. This is only the beginning of a journey. Are you ready to join us?
To Ponder:

• When you hear the phrase “the Kingdom of God” what do you think of?
• What are you currently craving for? What are your desires?
• Do you think they match up with Kingdom priorities? Why or why not?