History is - in essence - the narrative of the Kingdom of God.

Note:  These notes will make for more sense if you first study the notes from the Glory of God.

Many Christians in the West are bored. Their spiritual lives could be summed up by the cliche, "Been there, done that,“ After decades of chasing wholeness, healing, prosperity, spiritual experiences, church ministries, and significance, we've settled into passivity and shortsightedness, content to work at winning our neighbors while we "hang on" until the rapture.

This attitude can be summed up by the tee shirt I saw on a young guy in the mall: "Saved, sanctified, Spirit-filled, and ready to go." We have made the tragic mistake of believing Christianity is a bit like waiting at the bus stop. Or - (in the Lord of the Rings Imagery) it's like the sleepy, false comfort of the "Shire." But Christianity is more than that. It is a story that will move us from the Shire into a fellowship of adventure, quest, suffering, battle, and conquest. "Remember, Frodo, even the smallest person can change the course of History." "No one at home would ever believe this, Sam."

Over the past two years I have made a habit of asking believers what they believed was the central message of all Jesus' earthly ministry. Most scratch their head, and then tentatively answer, "Love?" "Forgiveness?" "Heaven?" etc. Only maybe five percent of those I ask this question to are able to are able to confidently say "The kingdom of God!!"

Below are the typical responses I hear from people, followed by the actual number of occurrences in the in the New American Standard version of the Gospels..

wSalvation: 8 times
wSin: 17 times
wForgiveness: 24 times
wTruth: 28 times
wSatan/the Devil: 28 times
wMoney: 29 times
wLove: 43 times
wHeaven: 71 times
wKingdom: 117 times
w(The Father: 226 times!)

In my thirty years as a Christian, I remember hearing only one or two sermons preached from a church pulpit about the kingdom of God.

Recently I did a computer search for "kingdom" in the titles available in a mid-sized Christian bookstore. Zero! And yet there were whole shelves devoted to the "rapture," a word that isn't even used in the scriptures. Something is amiss in the kingdom.

A Riddle: if "the gospel" is the message that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, then how is it possible that beginning in Matthew 4:23, Jesus went about Galilee preaching the gospel three years before he went to the cross?

Jesus began His ministry with the kingdom Matt 4:23 'Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.'

Jesus concluded his earthly ministry with the Kingdom: Acts 1:3 "After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Paul preached the Kingdom until his dying breath. Acts 28:31 "Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."

All the parables are essentially pictures of the Kingdom: "The kingdom of God is like:
 wa mustard seed
 wa net
 wa wedding banquet
 wa treasure hidden in a field.
 wa man who went away on a long journey.....

Exercise: Read Matthew 13. How many references to the kingdom can you find?

"The kingdom is God's total answer to man's total need." E Stanley Jones.

A study was done with baby finches raised for multiple generations in human captivity. Even though the finches had never seen a predator for generations, when the silhouette of a paper hawk was passed over their nest, they shrieked in terror. Why? Because God built the image of the hawk into their being.

In the same way, the Father has built the Kingdom of God into our souls. This is why we are moved by beautiful music, art, stories. It is the power behind great literature and films. The worlds most powerful stories have something in common: They are all woven from kingdom concepts of good versus evil, (Lord of the Rings); heroism and self-sacrificing love (Braveheart, Pirates of the Caribbean), transformation from ugliness and weakness into glory (Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Ugly Duckling), restoration from the depths of despair (Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo), the power of weakness (Radio, Simon Birch, the Mighty). Hollywood isn't even aware that their greatest successes are built on Kingdom concepts. They only know that certain elements make a good story because they vibrate certain chords in our hearts. God tuned those vibrating heart-strings to call us forward into the kingdom.

A Philippine pastor met a group of young men on their way to a Marxist gathering. He asked them what it was about Marxism that drew their devotion. Their answer:
They saw Marxism as:

The church is a colony, a pilot project. The kingdom is the motherland of believers.
The church is a visible community of believers.  The kingdom is a virtual domain of authority .
The church includes people, individual believers. The kingdom includes all of life and culture.
The church is delegated with spiritual authority. The kingdom is delegated broad civil and social authority.
The church is God's family. The kingdom is God's government.

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole loaf was leavened.” Matt. 13:33

“Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?" Mark 4:13

Understanding the Kingdom is the key to further revelation: ("....whoever has, shall more be given. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” Matt. 13:11-12)

What was this “Gospel of the Kingdom” that Jesus was preaching? (Darrow Miller)

1. Because the enemy intentionally obscures it. ”The evil one comes and snatches it away...” Matt. 13:19 (Notice: it is the "word of the Kingdom" that is being sown - and snatched away - in this passage!)

3. Because we have bought into the idea that Jesus is going to return and rescue, ("rapture") us, out of this present mess. It is true that Jesus will return. But must he return again as Savior, or is he going to return as the reigning King? I believe the Scriptures are clear about this. He will come to take possession of a Kingdom.

He must have loyal subjects who will stand with him, and extend his kingdom. This is our part. He has restored His glory in our souls, and He has commissioned us to take His kingdom into all the world. Then he will return to receive his kingdom.

Luke 19:12-15  "He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.  So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.'  "But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.'  "He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it." 

I believe the money in this passage refers to the gifts God has given us, which are to be used for the building-up of His kingdom.

The knights of the round table worked with King Arthur to extend the Kingdom. It was a kingdom of justice, of love and brotherhood, where the "sun never set" and where every day was - by decree - a perfect day. Camelot was a perfect reflection of it's (almost ) perfect king. It revealed the "glory" of Arthur's sterling soul. When people saw Camelot, they were seeing the beauty and perfection of Arthur. And seeing the kingdom vastly enhanced the praise of it's king. But Arthur could never have established Camelot apart from the loyalty of the knights who reflected the character and glory of their king. (An aside: at the end of the story, Arthur was forced to decide between justice (and death) for Gwenovere and Lancelot, or love - without justice - for his wife and friend. Unlike our Father, He had no way of upholding both justice and love. And Thus Camelot perished.)

The thing about the kingdom is that it opens the whole world and welcomes God back into His creation. It enlarges, rather than diminishes the world of the believer. We begin to see him in places beyond the church where we never thought to look for him before: in the workplace, in nature, in education, in the arts and sciences, in poetry, films, and music. It gives us a story line and an adventure to live. It takes us from the Shire and places us squarely in the battle for "middle earth." It's a dangerous, yet exciting place to live. It gives us, (like Marxism gave those Philippine young people), something bigger than ourselves, something worth dying for, a hope for humanity, and a cause that will join us to one another in devoted brotherhood.

And it brings a whole new level of meaning to Jesus' command to "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you." (Matt. 6:33)