Advancing the Kingdom. What does that mean? In my opinion, the Kingdom of God may be one of the most overlooked and misunderstood topics amongst believers. The word "kingdom" is taken from two words, king and domain or dominion. It is the King's domain. It was the first gift given to man (Genesis 1:26). It is the first thing we are taught to call on in Jesus' instruction on prayer (Matthew 6:10). It is the first thing we are to seek in this life (Matthew 6:33). It was the first message that both Jesus and John the Baptist preached (Matthew 4:17) and it is the most mentioned topic by Jesus in the Gospels! Yet today, many believers have very little understanding of it. It was because of the Kingdom, that Jesus said He was born and the reason He was crucified (John 18:37).
In Matthew 16:19, Jesus gave the church the keys to the Kingdom and declared that what we would bind on earth would be bound in heaven and what we loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. This conveys a kingdom principal that Jesus alluded to in His teaching on prayer in Matthew 6:10, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."It is in this instruction that we really begin to see our role in advancing the Kingdom. Our role as believers should be to implement, usher in, endorse and advance God's will in the earth as it is in heaven!
In seems that everybody has an agenda these days. Our nation and the world are as divided as ever over various policies, beliefs and ideologies. However, as Christians, we should be united in one effort; to advance the culture of the Kingdom of God in earth! Our's should be a Kingdom agenda and its time we offer our allegiance and surrender to our King, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ!
Just as God ordered Samuel to write the order of the Kingdom in a book and give it to Saul, Israel's king (1 Samuel 10:25). We have been given His Word that we might know His will, plan and order. Our purpose as believers is the advocate, support and advance the will of God as recorded in His Word. This is no new concept but sadly it may have become a forgotten one. Our nation's first president, George Washington, said, "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."
We should all be less concerned with taking sides in the various world views that face us and more concerned with alligning with the One who isn't returning to take sides, but to take over! We shouldn't view our world and see how we can change the Kingdom mandate to fit into it. But rather, we should live and advance the Kingdom mandate in order to change the world! In the coming weeks, I will be sharing thoughts on how we can biblically advance the culture of the Kingdom and change our lives, family, communities, nation and the world for the glory of His Kingdom!
