Planting the Kingdom
Why did Jesus come to earth? This is a question I have been wrestling with. The easy answer would be because he wanted to save and redeem humanity, he would become the atoning sacrifice for our sins that we may have eternal life, that is to know God the Father as seen in John 17:3. If Jesus simply came to save us through his death on the cross why did he spend the majority of His time on earth talking about His Kingdom come, and how to plant that Kingdom here on earth. Why did he spend the significant amount of his energy in discipleship of 12 individuals. I am convinced that Jesus came to save and restore humanity, but how this salvation would spread to the ends of the earth would be His Kingdom coming through His faithful disciples. In the great commission we see Jesus say, Matt 28:19-20 “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Two things I see pivotal in His command for salvation to come through His Kingdom to the ends of His earth:
1. We must be a people who are willing to “Go” to share the gospel in word and deed in places of darkness. We are to “go” to places where the gospel isn’t. That means places of darkness. I would argue to say that God’s Kingdom is where individuals have surrendered to Jesus as King and they are taking his light and truth seen in the gospel and are breaking and exposing areas of darkness that once were held by Satan
2. The Kingdom is expanded through creating new disciples. What is the definition of a disciple? Disciples make disciples they are reproductive. If an individual claims Christ as Lord and is not multiplying Jesus in others they are not disciples.
I have seen a spiritual culture that has become obsessed with “church” and how to “do church.” When rather in scripture I Jesus who was obsessed with “His Kingdom” and how to plant “His Kingdom”. The truth is we read very little in scripture about how to grow and start a church, but we see that Jesus talks a lot about His Kingdom and how to make disciples. In fact when Jesus began to teach his disciples to pray the very first thing he teaches them is “Our father in Heaven may you be honored, may your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.” Matt 6:9-10. We have complicated things so much with our programs and methods, and have ignored what Jesus really came to initiate. Many spiritual communities have become consumed with growing themselves rather than growing the Kingdom, and the result is the lack of anything supernatural in the their midst.I am afraid that we have become so consumed with ourselves and how to do church, that Jesus has left to build his kingdom and we haven’t even realized he is gone.
What if we decided to “obey all that Jesus has taught us” as seen in the great commission. By simply sharing the gospel and making disciples. Leaving our methods of church and instead we intentionally take the gospel into places of darkness to make disciples. We are called to plant good seed in good soil, maybe we have misunderstood where that Good soil is. Brokenness is the key to fertile soil, and it is often found most in the darkest places. Could it be that simple, could we actually begin to see God’s Kingdom come in our midst through simple obedience to what he actually taught us?
