The Kingdom Message | God is My Source!

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15 KJV.

What was that message the Jesus preached when he began his ministry? Was it that he was the long awaited Messiah or that he was the Son of God? It was message proclaiming the gospel or the good news of the kingdom. The kingdom; what kingdom? Was this to be a new political authority or government? No, this was not a political kingdom but the invasion of God’s rule in the earth. This was the undoing of what had taken place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had created man in his own image and gave in authority and dominion over the earth. Mankind had been given the assignment to tend to the garden and to spread it over the whole earth. Yet, Satan, speaking through a serpent, was able to subvert the plan of God, separate mankind from fellowship with God and gain control of the earth.

With the fall of mankind, Satan thought he had God in a bind. You see, God does not go against his word: ‘My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips”, Psalm 89:34 KJV. But Jesus came, according a divine plan to restore what had been lost and to reestablish God’s rule upon the earth.

John the Baptist was first on the scene to announce the coming kingdom. It was a dramatic moment in the history of Israel as John’s preaching ended 400 years of silence since the last prophets spoke. While announcing the pending arrival of God’s kingdom he called the people to make themselves ready through repentance-a radical change of one’s thoughts and actions. Such a transformation would be necessary to participate in the kingdom.

Jesus went further than John. Jesus announced that the kingdom had arrived: “But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you,” Luke 11:20 KJV. Jesus is the king of this restored kingdom. On many occasion he demonstrated his kingdom’s authority over all natural and supernatural authority. And it is in this kingdom that you and I, those who have yielded their lives to the king, live. But have we realized the full extend of that kingdom in our lives? Are really demonstrating his principles and ideals in our lives? Recall what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Here Jesus presented some very racial concepts such as going the second mile, turning the other check, loaning to those who could not pay back and seeking of God’s kingdom above the need to pursue of food, clothing and shelter.

If we evaluate our lives we will discover that we have fallen short of living according to the ideals of God’s kingdom. Yet, we can change that by studying the principles of God’s kingdom and bringing our thoughts, words and actions into conformity with those principles. Understanding God’s kingdom will certainly change your destiny and the destiny of those around you.