Kingdom Pursuit (1)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6.33

Primary emphasis
Can there be any doubt that when Jesus said, “Seek first”, He was speaking of what must be the number one, overarching, all-pervading priority and pursuit in the life of every believer? Not just the first pursuit of the week, as in why we go to church, but the first pursuit at all times, every day, in everything.

As Jesus went about preaching and teaching during His brief earthly sojourn, the Kingdom of God was His primary emphasis. He preached the Kingdom on hillsides, along the roads, and in homes and synagogues throughout Palestine. His parables are rich metaphors exploring the nature and importance of the Kingdom of God. We simply aren’t paying attention to the gospel accounts if we come away from them thinking that anything other than seeking the Kingdom of God must be our primary pursuit at all times.

But what is the Kingdom of God? And how should we go about to seek it? For unless we know what we’re after, and how to go about gaining it, we shall not be able to fulfill Jesus’ command to seek first the Kingdom and righteousness of God.

The Kingdom of God
To be brief, the Kingdom of God is the rule of King Jesus which He has now brought into the affairs of men and nations. The Kingdom of God – the rule on earth of King Jesus – is present; yet the Kingdom of God is always coming, as Jesus implied by teaching us to pray for the coming of the Kingdom (Matt. 6.10).

Throughout the Old Testament God ruled all creation and its peoples, as He has from the beginning. Yet He kept His distance, so to speak, and allowed Satan, the Father of Lies, to blind the world and shroud it in the darkness of unbelief and sin. Satan was always God’s servant during those many years, and could only do what the Father allowed him (cf. Job 1, 2). God gave Satan a long leash, so much so that, not only were God’s chosen people, the Israelites, blinded to His will for most of their history, but the rest of the world was plunged into paganism, idolatry, violence, and mayhem.

But with the coming of Jesus, everything changed: “‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ’” (Rev. 11.15). A new order has broken into the lives of men and nations; a new King has ascended His eternal throne; a new power, in the Person of God’s Spirit, is unleashed in the world; Satan is bound (Matt. 12.22-29), though still dangerous (1 Pet. 5.8); Christ is building His Church (Matt. 16.18); and the Holy Scriptures now provide the map and manual for a new people with a new mission and purpose.

Advancing nowTo be sure, the full coming of the Kingdom awaits the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. But now, and for 2,000 years, the rule of Christ on earth has been advancing against the wiles of the devil, the opposition of men and nations, and the lies and half-truths of the best of human thinking. As the Apostle John observed in his day, the light of the Kingdom is advancing and the darkness of sin and unbelief cannot overcome it (Jn. 1.5; 1 Jn. 2.8).

The Kingdom of God is advancing as the Church pursues her mission and her members take up the daily challenge of seeking the Kingdom of God as their primary pursuit in all their activities.

Where the Kingdom is advancing, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit burst into bloom like spring flowers. No wonder Paul said that all who take up this calling will find favor with God and be a blessing to their fellow men (Rom. 14.17, 18).

Like a growing stone, the Kingdom of God expands and grows within and through each one who has made the Kingdom turn (Dan. 2.44, 45). And its growth and progress in and through us is directly proportional to the effort we make in seeking the Kingdom and righteousness of God.

Nothing more importantThere is nothing more significant that you or I can do than seek the Kingdom of God. But oh, what challenge and struggle lie ahead for all who embark on this path! The obstacles are many; the enemy of our souls continues to prowl and stalk about; and even well-meaning friends, who claim to be Christians, are not convinced that seeking the Kingdom should be anything more than an article of faith.

But God means it to be a way of life, our primary pursuit while we are in this earthly tabernacle; and we do well to heed His Word and take our place in this glorious, all- transforming reality.

Next steps: Suppose a young believer asked you about this matter of “seeking the Kingdom.” What would you tell him? How would you counsel him to get started in this most important priority? Share your thoughts about these questions with a Christian friend.

T. M. Moore
Additional Resources

This week’s study, Kingdom Pursuit, is the fifth of an eight-part series on The Kingdom Turn, and is available as a free download. T. M. has written two books to complement this eight-part series. You can order The Kingship of Jesus by clicking here, and The Gospel of the Kingdom by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.