You may have seen the clip of basketball player Jaden Ivey proclaiming the gospel publicly at a press conference. What an inspiration this young man is to us all! The Holy Spirit gave him the courage to say, “Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. And to any of the world that's hearing this message, the kingdom of heaven is near. Jesus is coming back. We all have to repent of our sins…It’s time to wake up if you haven’t put your faith in Jesus Christ.” Though this young man’s boldness is an inspiration to the church, the message he shared was directed at those who are in the world.
In my last episode, I stated that the church is for The Church. I’d like to clarify this statement with this: the local church assembly is for The Church, the body of Christ. We are told to meet together for various reasons as we await the Day of Christ’s return. Many of us see this assembly of the church as a way to introduce Christ to the world. While I agree that we should invite people to church, Jesus did not say, “Go out into all the world and bring people to the church.” In Matthew 16:15, Jesus said, “Go out into all the world and preach the gospel.” The mission of The Church is to proclaim to the world what Jesus said, first to the people of Galilee and what Jaden said to every American who was watching, “the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
The phrase “the kingdom of God” is first recorded in Matthew 6:33; after Jesus encourages the disciples not to worry or be anxious about their needs, He says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Here, Jesus explains that there is more to life than what we are all seeing, doing, and worrying about.
As the disciples listened, they knew all about kingship. They knew of Adam and Eve, who had kingship over all of creation, the earth, which was full of righteousness, peace, and joy before they fell into sin. They knew that Noah and his family were given kingship to rule just as Adam had, but the cancer of sin still spread. They surely knew that Father Abraham was blessed by King Melkezadeck, who knew that the God of heaven and earth gave him victory over his enemies. Certainly, they had to remember how God, through Moses, led tens of thousands of Israelites from the oppression of the Egyptian King Pharaoh.
As they listened, they knew all about kingship, for they remembered the great King David, to whom God promised to make a great nation. Though for centuries there was sin, oppression, and corruption, the disciples held on to the words the prophets declared: there would be a great King whose kingship would pull them out from under the oppressive rule of foreign kings. A great King from the line of David.
What they didn’t know was that their Teacher, Jesus, wasn’t just a king but the King who would restore the righteousness, peace, and joy on the earth that Adam and Eve experienced at the very beginning. The Kingdom is His, the Anointed One, the Christ, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Perfect Sacrifice! They were listening to the King of the Kingdom of God!
In Matthew 13:31-33, Jesus shared two short parables about the Kingdom of Heaven, also known as the Kingdom of God. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” With these parables, Jesus illustrated to the disciples that they were a part of something much greater than themselves because the Kingdom of God was and is here in the world! As Jesus said to the Pharisees who questioned Him in Luke 17:12, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” We out here, ya’ll, in the world, but not of it! (John 17:11). Walking around with the righteousness of Christ and the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit! (Romans 14:17).
What started with Jesus continued with the apostles, spread throughout Galilee, Judea, and Samaria, and advanced over centuries, reaching every continent of the globe. But there are many who still do not know the gospel. Jesus said in Matthew 13 that God has blessed us with “the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.” Not everyone will receive the gospel, but there are many who will. So, Church, I will end this episode with Paul’s words to the church in Rome but also to us, the Kingdom of God here on earth:
for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:13-15:).
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