A Christian Guidebook: Who Is a Christian? (6)
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” John 20.21
A unique people
Christians are a unique people. As disciples of Jesus Christ, committed to learning Him, we understand that one overarching calling directs our lives: we are called to the Kingdom and glory of God and to seek His Kingdom and righteousness first and always (2 Thess. 2.12; Matt. 6.33).
To that end, Jesus has transferred us into His Kingdom from the kingdom of darkness, self-centeredness, and wrong belief in which we formerly lived. Now our lives are to be characterized by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14.17, 18). Jesus is our King. We are His people and subjects. We practice the life of Jesus unto the glory of Jesus in everything we do.
Practicing the Kingship of Jesus is not reserved for some special class of Christians who are good thinkers, excellent speakers, talented artists or musicians, or able to support Christian endeavors by their time or wealth. All who call themselves Christians heed the calling to His Kingdom and glory, seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, and practice the righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit as the driving force of their lives.
Christians may be more or less consistent, efficient, and mature in such matters. But true Christians aim at these ends, work to improve their time and their love for Jesus, and assess their lives in terms of their progress in practicing His Kingship.
A Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ and a citizen of His Kingdom.
People with a mission
We do not expect the lost and wrong-believing people of our world to rise to such a high and holy calling. After all, they are, as we were, dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph. 2.1-3). They do not worship God, are ensnared in the lies of the devil, and follow a course of ultimate self-interest in everything they do.
But King Jesus has really Good News for confused, anxious, uncertain, broken, and needing-to-be-broken sinners.
That Good News was the same as what Jesus Himself proclaimed: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt. 4.17). Jesus began His ministry proclaiming the “at handness” of the Kingdom of God. That was the dominant theme of all His teaching and good works. It was the vision that sustained Him as He hanged on the cross (cf. Heb. 12.1, 2; Ps. 22.21b-31). The Kingdom was the gift He received upon His ascension to glory (Dan. 7.13, 14). It is the gift He has bestowed upon His disciples in the Person of His Holy Spirit (Dan. 7.18; Acts 1.8).
And it is for the progress of that Kingdom that we have been saved, set apart, and sent to the world.
As God sent Jesus to the world, Jesus sends His disciples—every Christian. We are a people with a mission. Our mission is to “bring near” and announce the “at handness” of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Good News of the Gospel is that the Kingdom is at hand; that our victorious Savior and King has gained the eternal Kingdom by His life, death, and resurrection; and that He is the door to His Kingdom for all who believe in Him and desire to be set apart for His Kingdom and righteousness.
The message with which Christians have been entrusted, and which we both live and proclaim, is not merely that our sins can be forgiven and we will go to heaven when we die. The message is that the Kingdom of God has come, and King Jesus is calling you to enter it by believing in Him and taking up His calling to follow Him and be His disciple.
But where?
Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is within or among us (Lk. 17.21)—right where we are, as we are going about our daily work, in all our conversations and all our deeds. Paul explained that, in imitation of Jesus (1 Cor. 11.1), he demarcated a “sphere” of activity for seeking the Kingdom of God (2 Cor. 10.13-18). Just as Jesus had been sent to a particular place, people, culture, and time, so too with the apostle Paul. And like each of us as disciples of Jesus.
Our “sphere” includes the places we go, the people we engage, and the responsibilities and roles we fulfill. Dallas Willard, in his book The Divine Conspiracy, explained that we could think about this sphere in terms of the reach or extent of our active will. Wherever we can exercise our will to say or do whatever pertains to our Kingdom mission, our sphere extends there. We can pray about our sphere. Learn more about the people and culture of our sphere. Prepare to show Jesus in our sphere, talk about Him, and bring His grace to bear on the lives of the people we meet as we are going about our daily calling and mission.
Working our sphere—if you will, our Personal Mission Field—is how, like Jesus, we show and declare the reality of the Kingdom of God that is “at hand.” We encourage our fellow Christians as we pursue our mission and we bring hope, truth, and life to a dying world as we declare that the Kingdom is at hand and the King is its Door.
Christians are a people on mission for Jesus and His Kingdom.
Search the Scriptures
1. Read Matthew 28.18-20. What did Jesus mean by “as you are going”? How does this mandate instruct us in the work of the Kingdom?
2. Which of Jesus’ Kingdom parables most speaks to you about the greatness and joy of the Kingdom of God? Why?
3. Read Acts 2.36. What does it mean to say that Jesus is “both Lord and Christ”? How does that relate to your mission in the Kingdom of God?
Next steps—Preparation: Have you identified your Personal Mission Field. Watch this brief video, download the worksheet, and get started right away.
T. M. Moore
Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Three resources can help you in realizing more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God. Our books The Kingship of Jesus (click here) and What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? (click here for the book or here for the free PDF) explain the rule of King Jesus in our lives and world. The Kingdom Turn (order the book here or the free PDF here) goes into greater detail about what it means to practice the Kingship of Jesus.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
