Kingdom of God--Priority

Kingdom of God--Priority                     

Consider what Jesus said about what a Christian’s first priority should be.  Christ said God knows that we have many material needs for life, but He commanded us to…

                “seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;

            and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6: 31-33)

John 3:3 says that we cannot even see the kingdom of God unless we are born again. How do we seek what we cannot see unless we are born again?.  Being born-again (i.e., salvation or justification) is the doorway to seeing with ‘spiritual eyes’ and seeking the kingdom—which comes not with natural observation because it is within (Luke 17:20-21).  Besides seeking the kingdom we must seek his righteousness-- a righteousness that is sought after being born again – after having received ‘imputed righteousness’ or justification. This seeking his righteousness is sometimes called sanctification --living in obedience to God.

Jesus said that 'seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness' should be first priority. That means they should come before seeking material things in life. God promises to provide for us the money, food, drink, clothes and all the material things that we need -- if we put seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first – making that our priority--as it says in Mat 6:24-35 (also  Luke 12:31-32).  

The kingdom of God is not life after death. It is here on earth, and it is now as we are taught to pray in the Lord's prayer (Mat 6:9-12):  "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”…and deliver us from evil and temptation…and so on .... so Christians become more righteous and less sinful.  That is how the kingdom grows. The kingdom of God involves God's people obeying God's commands and teaching others and the nations to obey and do His will on earth (Matthew 5:19;  28:18-20).  The kingdom of God is His will being done on earth, obeying all His commands. The gospel is the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 9:35; Mark 1:14; Luke 16:16; Acts 14:22).

Clarification about the use of  kingdom terms: The ‘Kingdom of God’ and the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ both refer to the same kingdom (here on earth).  Even though the original Greek  words for God (theos: Concordance  word #2316*) and heaven (ouranos : Concordance  #2772*) are different,  they refer to the same kingdom  as shown in two parables taught by Jesus.  Logic says “two things equal to the same thing are equal to each other.”  Matthew uses “the kingdom of heaven” while Mark uses the “the Kingdom of  God” to describe the same kingdom in the parables about the ‘mustard seed’ and the parable of the ‘sower.’  This can be confirmed by comparing words (heaven vs  God) used in the parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13:31-32  and Mark 4:30-32 and in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:3-11 and  Mark 4:3-11.  Therefore, even though different words (God or heaven) for the kingdom are used, they refer to one and the same kingdom of God here on earth.

*Strong’s Concordance of the Bible:

     New Testament Greek Words:

            #2316—theos--God, godly, godward.   

            #3772—ouranos--air, heaven. heavenly, sky.

Reading these parables of the Kingdom of God show that the kingdom is like a seed that starts small and gradually grows to become large, and the kingdom has both godly and ungodly people in it. The kingdom of God (or heaven) is here on earth and it is not a perfectly heavenly place or a perfected existence as in the life after death for Christians. The kingdom grows as Christians obey the Lord’s Great Commission commandment to spread the gospel to all nations and teaching them to obey all of His commands (Matthew 28:18-20).  

The Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom.  It is a spiritual kingdom that is not seen unless born again; it comes without natural observation. (Luke 17:20-21; John 3:16).  It is here on earth now as Jesus said "if I cast our demons by the finger of God, the kingdom of God is come" (Luke 11:20; Matthew 28:18; Acts 2:29-36).  And it started small (like a seed or a rock), and it will continue to grow and eventually fill the whole earth (Matthew 13:31-32; Daniel 2:44).  The Kingdom of God is spiritual because it is a matter of: Who reigns in our hearts and whose will do we perform?  Is it our own will or God's will?  It grows with obedience.  As  Jesus said: “whoever breaks the least of these commandments and teaches men to do so shall be least in the Kingdom of heaven, but whoever shall do them and teach them, shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven”  (Matthew 7:19).  The Apostle John confirms the importance of obedience saying “hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  He that says, I know him, and keeps not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4). To know God is to keep His commandments.

Sources:  King James Bible and Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (with Greek and Hebrew Dictionary) by James Strong, Crusade Bible Publishers, Inc, Nashville, TN.

last revision:  02/19/16