One of Jesus’ favorite topics to talk about was the Kingdom of God. He spoke about it in all four Gospels dozens of times. Many of His parables were specifically designed to explain what he meant by the Kingdom of God, and the Gospel writers repeatedly described his and their ministry as “bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God.”
While much can be said about the Kingdom of God (many books of theology have been devoted just to it), I’d like to emphasize just four foundational truths:
1- Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God as being near and real, not some far-off theological construct. He didn’t describe it as a principle, but spoke of it as something that actually existed in the world.
2- The Kingdom of God was about people. Jesus spoke of people seeing the Kingdom of God, entering the Kingdom of God, and belonging to the Kingdom of God.
3- The Kingdom of God was about growth and expansion. He repeatedly used parables such as a mustard seed growing into a tree to describe it.
4- The Kingdom of God was exceedingly important and precious. In parables such the pearl of great price he drew word pictures of what a treasure the kingdom was.
So today I want us to remember that the Kingdom of God is real, and as His children we are in it. It is about people and it is about growth. We are its builders, expanding it every day with the acts of love that we do. With every work of love, with every kind word, with every act of service we do today, we are building the Kingdom of God.
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