On This Day: Living and Loving the King of God’s Kingdom

   In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:1-3)

   I have had faith in Jesus Christ from a young age. This has grown from my earliest childish understanding, through my teenaged years of learning attachment, and on into maturing in “the obedience of faith”. Along the way, I have learned so many things that have helped my faith keep growing stronger.

   One of those big things was learning that the detailed descriptions of Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection were proclaimed and written about while many of the participants in those events were still alive. We can’t be eyewitnesses to Jesus’ activity from back in the day. But the fact that men like Luke would give so many details of what Jesus did and taught while people could talk to those involved, affirms that we have the “orderly account” of real life and can trust these writings as the very word of God.

   So, when Luke transitions from his “orderly account” of Jesus’ life and ministry up to the time of his ascension back into heaven, it stands out to me what he felt should be front and center in our thinking as he introduces us to Jesus’ work through his early church.

   Most notably, I was drawn to the emphasis that Jesus was “speaking about the kingdom of God.” This means that the gospel “of the kingdom” was not something Jesus taught to Israel only during his earthly ministry. His emphasis on the kingdom of God during those 40 days of resurrection appearances means that this is as much part of everyday church life now as it was then.

   What we call “the Great Commission” summarizes the “commands” Jesus gave the apostles. Matthew gives this focus:

   And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

   This means that going out into the nations to make and baptize disciples is all about the kingdom of God. That’s what the kingdom of God does, it extends the kingly authority of Jesus Christ throughout the world, calling people to repent, be baptized, and join the kingdom.

   Luke’s account of Jesus’ commands to the apostles was:

   “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:46-49)

   Jesus sending his disciples out to the nations was the calling of his kingdom. Jesus is the King. We are his servants. We are his body. We proclaim to the nations the “good news of the kingdom” because we want them to repent and join us in living for Jesus Christ in these perverse times.

   My encouragement to you is, please consider how well you relate to Jesus and his word as “speaking about the kingdom of God.” Everything he teaches you from his word every day is to help you (and me) “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and pursue our kingdom-experience of the “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

   My wife and I both lament that we were not taught a “kingdom of God” mindset growing up in churches, during our Bible College years, and in our ministry ever since. The North American gospel is not the gospel of the kingdom, but the gospel of the individual. This is why churches are so child-centered (what God’s kids want to do, not what Father is doing).

   I do not have all the answers, and I grieve the damage done by people slandering us as being in a cult just because we prefer home church to all the institutionalism around us. But there are promises of God for those who seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and Luke’s spotlight on Jesus speaking about his kingdom must give us courage to do the same today in the hope of joining his work to seek and save the lost.

   The bottom line is that Jesus is “King of kings, and Lord of lords,” and our love for him as the King of his kingdom should override anything the world, the flesh and the devil have in mind for us today. And, by faith, we will have the victory in Jesus’ name.

 

© 2025 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)