Kingdom Culture: Part Nine
Sometimes we forget that Jesus was Jewish and His primary purpose was to save the Jews: He is their Messiah. It’s only through that same mercy and grace that we Gentiles were included in this plan. Early in His ministry Jesus spoke of that future kingdom that’s reserved for believers, Jew or Gentile:
… for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God. Luke 13:28b-29
How can I be sure of a reserved seat in this future kingdom? As Jesus spoke to the religious leaders of His day He speaks to us as well; it’s about personally knowing Him.
Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter. On Judgment Day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws. Matthew 7:21-23
The Kingdom Culture a believer experiences is not just for now but it’s an eternal kingdom limited to those who truly know and follow Jesus. You can’t just call yourself a Christian and assume you have a reserved seat; it’s a kingdom life of repentance, forgiveness, serving, and victorious living through Him.
However, whenever kingdom living becomes a life of legalism, dependance on rules rather than relationship, you actually shut the door and lock people out.
What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. Matthew 23:13
Luke adds, ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge’. The key to open the door to the Kingdom of God, present and future, is knowing Jesus; there’s no other way.
The parable of the wicked tenants from Matt. 21:33-44 emphasizes the value of producing fruit in your life as evidence of being a true follower:
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. Matthew 21:43
Just before Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time He told a story about a king who gifted his servants to further his kingdom, left for a time, and returned to check on their investments. Read the story (Luke 19:11-27) to see if you truly desire Him to reign over your life and you’re using your spiritual gifts as an investment in His Kingdom Culture; the more you invest the more you’ll be given. Will He say, “Well done” to you?
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