The Kingdom of God: A True Life and Witness of the Church

By Austin R. Dayal

After proclaiming that God's Kingdom had come near, Jesus died on the cross. This is hard to reconcile with what Jesus announced at the start of his ministry. It can only be understood when we realize the relationship between the Kingdom of God and his death. Jesus said flesh and blood can't inherit the Kingdom of God, but only those who are born of the Sprit, and for this reason Jesus had to die on the cross. Jesus explained this to Nicodemus that only those who are born of the Holy Spirit can enter into the Kingdom of God. He came into the world to make it happen, because without the cross of Jesus there is no fulfillment of the Kingdom. The proclamation of Jesus, his works and his life have strong bearing on his mission. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God had come near. He healed the sick, fed the hungry and gave hope to the poor. He lived a very basic life with his disciples and had no earthly possessions. This was the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. It gave the power back to the people, it gave them dignity and a life of joy and contentment. It was about the wellbeing of the whole community and where the leaders served others. Jesus explained the mysteries of his Kingdom through many parables, which turned the whole concept of the kingdom on its head and only a few were able to understand it then, as it is now. It was a new and unique concept for the disciples to grasp, but after his resurrection when he was with them for forty days, Jesus explained everything to them as recorded in the book of Acts. He instructed them to remain in Jerusalem till they were baptized by the Holy Spirit. Their empowerment which is usually understood in terms of Peter's bold preaching of the gospel was in fact more than that. It was to give them the courage to leave their earthly possessions and relationships and accept the other believers as their new family, where God lived with them and looked after their daily needs, spiritual as well as material. This was a very bold step for them to take. It was more daring than standing up to preach before a large crowd on the day of the Pentecost. The first church in Jerusalem became a place where God's Kingdom had come. They rejoiced together as they shared everything and God did mighty works among them. This would not have been possible, if they hadn’t left their own families and possession to join the new community of God’s people. The church lost the initial impetus that the early Christians had, in the way they lived and preached the good news of the Kingdom, especially during the post-Constantine period when the church leaders were seduced by the wealth that came from the state treasury. The way Jesus, the apostles and the early Christians had lived was completely forgotten or overlooked. The sixteenth century reformation tried to recover some of the important aspect the Christianity but it did not go far enough. At present the church has become its own worst enemy. Some churches are trying to destroy the very foundation of our salvation by denying the existence of historical Jesus. In others the faith in Jesus has failed to translate into a living reality. It judges the world harshly and does not reflect the values of God's Kingdom in its daily life. We need to reaffirm the apostolic faith and the community life of the early church. And become a community of God’s redeemed people who follow the principles of his Kingdom. This is the true life and witness of the church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Nov 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781595558626

Austin R. Dayal

Austin Robinson Dayal lives in Adelaide, Australia. He is married and has two grownup children. Austin has been associated with the ministries of Operation Mobilisation and Student’s Evangelical Union in Australia and overseas. He has published A Life Worthy of the Call through Authentic Books. He currently worships at the Corner Uniting Church, Adelaide. He has a Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Sydney, and he has worked for CSIRO as a research scientist.

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PREFACE

Christianity has been under attack right from the beginning, when a small group of Jews believed in Jesus and formed the first church in Jerusalem. Jesus had forewarned his disciples regarding these attacks. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus had explained how to use nonviolent means for their defence, But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. (Mat. 5:39). He said that God would even tell them what to say when they are brought before a court for trial (Mat. 10:19-20). He told them that the fight is not theirs but his, and he will defend his church (Luke 12:6, 32; John 17:11, 15). I will build my church Jesus said to Peter. The human element is there, but God alone changes the heart of people and brings them into his Kingdom (Acts 2:47). The human beings play a small but significant part in building God’s church.

God raises people and works through them to defend his church. God equips them and directs them by his Spirit. The church is not an institution but his living and thriving body. God has called a people out of the darkness to be his hands and feet. He works through them and then gives them the credit. He is an amazing God. In time past God raised stalwarts whose names are mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews. They were able to do incredible things because of their immovable faith in God. We can add another list of people who came after Jesus, for example; Peter, John and the rest of the twelve apostles, Paul, Luke, James, Stephen, Clement, Polycarp, Justin, Dionysius, Irenaeus, Origen, and Eusebius and many others who lived during the first three centuries.

In the more recent times there were people like; John Wyclif, John Hus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, William Wilberforce, D.L. Moody, William Booth, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone, A.W. Tozer, Eberhard Arnold, Sadhu Sunder Singh, Billy Graham, Dr Francis Schaefer, Dr Nagai, Watchman Nee, Stanley Jones and many others who were raised by God to defend his church. This is not an exhaustive but a representative list. We can add thousands of other names to this list and still it won’t be complete, because God has used innumerable ordinary people for his ministry.

The evil powers are on the rise and the time has come for Christians to stand and defend the true faith. We need to identify the way enemy is trying to destroy the faith. Our faith in the Jesus and his work of our salvation is crucial. If the content of our faith and its implication for our lives is changed or diminished in any way, it will affect the church immensely.

The Kingdom of God is central to understanding the purpose and the mission of the church in this world. Most often Kingdom of God is seen as a rule of God over the whole world. The theme of God’s Kingdom runs through the entire gospel records, and Jesus told many parables about the Kingdom of God to illustrate its main features which are closely related to the wide-ranging issues of the church. The Israelis often thought their kingdom was synonymous with God’s kingdom, which is partially true, because it has much wider and far reaching implications. It encompasses all the nations of this world as well as the invisible world. Israel of course has a special place within its context. At one time in history God was their King and he ruled over them thorough the judges and prophets.

What is the Kingdom of God, is a much debated but often misunderstood issue. The people of God believe that God is the creator and the sovereign ruler over the whole creation. The idea of not recognising him as the creator originates from Satan, who wanted to become God. When Adam and Eve chose to follow Satan’s advice, they had the similar ambitions. The source of the denial of God’s sovereignty can be traced back to the fall of humankind. Satan rebelled and incited human beings to do the same. Therefore, the modern-day atheists are just affirming the age-old rebellion against God - there is nothing original about their assertion.

A group of people or a community that recognises God as sovereign and leads a life that honours God’s statutes is the Kingdom of God. The hallmark of his Kingdom is justice and peace among his people, which is only possible when we believe in Christ and are cleansed from all our sins. Jesus said only those who are born of the Spirit can enter the Kingdom of God, because flesh and blood can’t inherit his Kingdom (John 3:5-6).

Jesus’ mission was about establishing the Kingdom of God in this world. He proclaimed it at the start of his ministry and lived according to its values. Jesus’ death and resurrection paved the way for the human beings to participate in his Kingdom. The early church understood it and adopted a similar lifestyle. Today God wants the same response from his church.

INTRODUCTION

The gospel of Matthew records, From that time on Jesus began to preach, Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven has come near. (Mat. 4:17). It is quite significant that Jesus began to preach The Kingdom of heaven has come near at the start of his ministry. Jesus continued to preach the good news of the Kingdom throughout his ministry. The good news was that the Kingdom of God had come near. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is for the poor (Mat. 3:5), he taught his disciples to pray for the Kingdom to come (Mat. 6:10) and asked them to first seek His Kingdom (Mat. 6:33). Jesus went around through all the towns and villages of Israel preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God (Mat. 9:35). He declared that the Kingdom of God had come to them because he was cleansing their land by the power of the Holy Spirit (Mat. 12:28). In the gospel of Matthew alone God’s Kingdom is mentioned forty-nine times. Jesus taught them the mysteries of God’s Kingdom throughout his ministry (Mat. 13:11). There are seventeen parables in Matthew’s gospel out of which fourteen parables are about God’s Kingdom. The forgiveness of sins is vital for our salvation and without it we can’t enter God’s Kingdom, but it is not the full story. The proclamation of Jesus that Kingdom of God has come near is the gospel. The good news is that we can be a part of God’s Kingdom by believing in Jesus. This is what Jesus preached throughout all Israel (Mat. 4:23; 9:35). We have tried to focus on the repentance and forgiveness, while neglecting the Kingdom of God and its implication for our lives. It has resulted in a very narrow view of the gospel which is only limited to the personal salvation. This lopsided view of the gospel has produced a fragmented body of Christ which is a very poor representation of God’s Kingdom. We have been saved to live together as a family of God’s people, without it the purpose of our salvation on this earth remains unfulfilled.

The proclamation of Jesus that Kingdom of God has come near is the gospel.

Jesus not only preached about the Kingdom but said very clearly, … this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Mat. 24:14). Jesus’ announcement that the Kingdom of God has come near was the good news then as it is now, and it will be for the future and without the Kingdom there is no good new. After the resurrection, Jesus was with his disciples for forty days and during this time he talked to them about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). The details are not recorded in the scripture, but it is likely that Jesus continued to explain to them the parables about the Kingdom of God.

All the above evidence indicates that the Kingdom of God and its implications for our lives is central to the gospel Jesus preached. He came to usher in the Kingdom of God into this world. From a human point of view, things did not go as expected and his Kingdom was realised in a way that many people could not understand. Even today some people struggle to reconcile Jesus’ death with his announcement that the Kingdom of God has come near. Jesus did not become the King, but instead he was crucified and killed. This hardly seems a successful outcome of his ambitious proclamation. We would be right in our assertion if Jesus did not rise-up from the dead on the third day. It was his resurrection that gave a new meaning to the mandate he gave to his disciples. They were asked to go and proclaim the good news that Jesus has destroyed the power of evil that had kept them bound in fear. Now there is nothing to fear, as Jesus has overcome death. Therefore, anyone who believes in him will be forgiven, and they will be able to lead a new life, observing the values of the Kingdom within the church community. This new beginning is based entirely on Jesus’ sacrifice. No one could have imagined that the powers and principalities of this world could be conquered by the cross of Jesus, ushering in the new Kingdom in the church.

After his resurrection Jesus gave the task of proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom to his disciples, who were ordinary fishermen. This was an onerous commission, but Jesus had already done the crucial work necessary for the establishment of his Kingdom. Jesus’ death and resurrection were the vital parts of God’s plan to create a new people fit for his Kingdom. The forgiveness of sins was an essential part of the plan which would not be possible if Jesus had not died on the cross and risen again. The spiritual birth and new life depended upon this fact. The expectation was that by witnessing the new life of the disciples many people would be drawn to Christ. The small group of disciples who left everything and began to live by the values of the Kingdom experienced its restorative power among them. (Mat. 5:16; Luke 12:32). The rest of the world will have to wait for the return of Christ when God’s Kingdom will be established over it in all its glory and power, but for now it was limited to the little group of Jesus’ disciples.

This was a big twist that very few Jews of Jesus’ time were able to grasp. Why their Messiah had to die was hard for them to understand. But as the scripture says that God’s ways are different to our ways and his thoughts are much higher than our thoughts. Only those people whose hearts were open to his new ways could grasp the incredible wisdom of God and they were able to accept that the all wise God must have a good reason behind Jesus’ death and resurrection for the establishment of his Kingdom. The disciples believed in his wisdom, and God was able to accomplish something extraordinary through ordinary fishermen. Their testimony and life has influenced millions of lives over thousands of years. There are more than two billion Christians in the world today who are a testament to their incredible life of faith in Christ.

This was possible because of their unshakeable faith. Faith in God is vital and necessary for the life and witness of his people. His power can work in a mighty way when people trust him fully. Jesus had told them, I will build my church; the disciples understood this and participated in this huge task as his humble co-workers. They were ordinary fishermen, but their perception of God’s plan was exceptional, because of their faith in the wisdom of God. The Spirit of God lived with them and guided them in everything they did. They were ordinary uneducated people, and this too is significant. Jesus did not choose anyone from the literate intelligentsia of the Jewish society, because God uses humble hearts rather than proud minds.

The way Jesus lived and preached about the Kingdom of God gave the disciples a model to follow. When thousands of people believed on the Day of Pentecost; the disciples started living together as a community because this is the way they had always lived with Jesus and it came naturally to them. They began to live together and shared everything as they had done before, when Jesus was with them. They clearly understood that the best way to counter the kingdom of this world was to live a new life following the principles of God’s Kingdom, which they had learnt while living with Jesus. We think it is very difficult to live as a community but for them it was a no-brainer. They knew that loving God and loving one another was the best way they could demonstrate the transforming power of God. The community of God’s people where the divine love ruled supreme enabled them to live in peace and harmony. The divine love is the essential ingredient that unites the people of God to create a new entity, which is called the body of Christ.

This seemingly small group of vulnerable people was a big threat to the worldly powers because it demonstrated an alternative lifestyle that was brilliant in its simplicity and its effectiveness. A community that provides a life of contentment with meagre resources destroys the myth of the materialistic life which is based on greed for more things. The rulers of this world don’t mind, as long as Christian lifestyle does not pose a threat to their deception. The new lifestyle of the early church was a big threat to the established order and they did not take kindly to this challenge and came down heavily upon them. The disciples also knew that the best defence against persecution was to stand together as a community under God’s protection, because Jesus had promised them that power of hell shall not overpower his church (Mat. 16:18). They were not looking for safety in numbers but in the power of God that rested over their community. The promise of God that Jesus was the Emmanuel or God with us was realised in a very real way (Mat. 1:23). It is impossible to overcome the evil pressures of this world if we do not live as a community with God the Father living with us.

The church which is a community of God’s people, demonstrates the values of his Kingdom by following the principles Jesus outlined in the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-7). These teachings are not lofty ideas but achievable standards, because Jesus said, But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. (Mat. 7:26). The early church followed these teachings for many centuries which made their testimony effective and powerful.

What God desires most from his people is complete trust in him and full obedience to his expressed will. He is then able to do incredible things that may astound the world. God bestows his grace upon his people so that they may be able to show his life changing power to the world, by living together in peace, loving and caring for one another. This is the revolution that took place in Jesus’ time and continued for many centuries thereafter. Their faith in God and their obedience enabled ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things.

It is obvious from the above deliberations that Jesus did establish his Kingdom albeit differently. Through his death and resurrection Jesus provided a way by which sin and its impact could be removed from human life. This enabled people to enter his Kingdom. Sin is the cause of all ills which prevents people from entering his Kingdom. It destroys peace and harmony between people and Jesus dealt with this curse on the cross. This is the good news that God wants his church to proclaim and demonstrate by its life. The Kingdom of God is where people live according to his will. Jesus taught his disciples to pray to their heavenly Father and express their longing for His Kingdom in these words, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Mat. 6:10). The community of God’s people is the place where God’s will is done and where his Kingdom has come.

There are quite a few very important lessons that we can learn from the life of Jesus. First, Jesus did not depend upon money. Second, he forbade the use of violence. This separated His Kingdom from the kingdom of this world. Third, Jesus also denounced the religion that the Pharisees had developed for themselves. They had reinterpreted God’s Law to conform to their greedy lifestyle. Jesus exposed their deceit in the Sermon on the Mount and told his disciples that unless their righteousness exceeds the fake righteousness of the Pharisees they can’t enter the Kingdom of God. Fourth, Jesus never took up issues of justice and poverty with the Jewish leaders or Roman authorities. He himself lived a life of righteousness and poverty and preached about the Kingdom of God to those who would listen to him. By following Jesus’ example, the disciples stayed away from fighting with those in power, over these issues, because people in power are blinded with pride and won’t listen to God’s message of justice. The ensuing protracted fight with them can also be an undesirable distraction. In fact, the gospel is bad news for the kingdom of this world because its values are in stark contrast to what they believe in. The disciples learned these important lessons and didn’t get embroiled with the world on these issues, but their communal lifestyle challenged the social structure of the world.

Sadly though, all through church history human beings have tried to misconstrue Jesus’ message of the Kingdom and have failed to live by its values. The church stumbled in the fourth century when it started accepting money that came from the state treasury during the post-Constantine period. The church gradually became rich and powerful and Popes began to exert influence over the state affairs. At first, they were king makers and then they became king themselves. This made the church indulge in two things Jesus had asked his disciples not to; money and violence. Tragically the followers of the cross became bearers of the sword. They left the path Jesus and his disciples had followed for many centuries and inadvertently started serving the mammon of this world. The Kingdom of God is not about taking on the world and fixing its problems but living by its values. The early church had shown clearly that the Kingdom of God was about living in a community and adhering to its values. The uneducated fishermen were wiser than the educated self-assertive people who came after them.

The Jews may have failed to understand why their Messiah had to die, but the Gentile Christians having the advantage of hindsight and the help of the Holy Spirit, which the Jews did not have; should have known better.