Kingdom Pursuit (7)

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4.20-24

Sanctification
Christians are called to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness as their highest priority and primary pursuit in life.

The Kingdom of God itself is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, as we have seen. It makes sense, therefore, to believe that wherever we are laying aside the ways of the world and putting on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, there the Kingdom of God is being found and is advancing, and we are becoming that peculiar people who walks in the Spirit of God rather than the spirit of the age.

This process is called, “sanctification,” and it is a work of grace. God, by His Word and Spirit, works within and through us to make us increasingly fit for His Kingdom (Phil. 2.13).

But while sanctification is a work of God, it’s one that we must engage as well, “working out our salvation”, as Paul put it (Phil. 2:12), in fear and trembling before the Lord.

The disciplines of sanctification
Sanctification is the heart of our pursuit of the Kingdom of God. The harder we work at this, in every area of our lives, the more we will find that our outlook, attitudes, priorities, and practices begin to reflect the very character of Jesus. Through sanctification we are actually “putting on Jesus” and, as we become more like Him – as He increases in us and our old self decreases (Jn. 3.30) – we reflect more the reality of the Kingdom of God to the watching world.

What, then, does the process of sanctification involve on our parts?

Put another way, what must we be careful to attend to each day, so that God, Who as at work within us, can advance us along in the Kingdom turn, shaping and transforming us into children fit for His Kingdom?

Sanctification begins in the Word of God, where, through reading, meditation, and study, we submit our minds to be formed by the worldview of Scripture, open our hearts to the searching scrutiny of the Spirit, and dedicate our consciences to following the Lord’s agenda rather than our own. If we will not make reading and study of God’s Word the bulwark and launch pad of each day, then how shall we expect the power of that Word to do its work in or through us (Heb. 4.12)?

As we read the Word we must seek the Lord in prayer, that He will hide His Word in our hearts and bring forth the fruit of it in our daily lives. Also in prayer we praise and glorify the Lord, thus reinforcing our vision of Him and His Kingdom, and bring out lives before Him, so that they might be oriented for Kingdom-seeking during the day ahead.

Sanctification also involves being silent before the Lord, listening for Him to prompt us to action, disclose any previously hidden sins, or guide us in specific paths of repentance and renewal. This waiting on the Lord in prayer, staying silent before Him, is very hard to do. But we will have a hard time hearing the “marching orders” of our King if, in our time together with Him, we’re always jabbering on about what matters to us.

Reading and study from Christian writers of the past and present can also help us to learn what the righteousness of Jesus requires in our families and marriages, how we must exercise stewardship of our treasure and our lives at work, in a community, as citizens of this nation. Reading and study take time, time we’ll have to plunder from some other activities in our lives – such as watching too much television.

Too much TV, or too much time spent in video games and Internet surfing, won’t sanctify and fit us for service in the Kingdom of God. And if we are going to take up the task of seeking that Kingdom, then some of these familiar hindrances will have to go.

Serious business
Seeking the Kingdom of God is serious business. But it’s also extremely rewarding, immensely satisfying, and wholly exhilarating to know that God Himself – even our King, Jesus Christ – is at work within us, willing and doing of His good pleasure (Phil. 2.13).

If you can see the Kingdom – if you will nurture a compelling vision of what it is and what it looks like in its coming – then you can pursue it in all the ways we have been considering. Seeking the Kingdom of God will utterly change your life and fill you with new vision, joy, hope, and strength to fulfill your calling as a citizen and ambassador of Jesus Christ’s eternal realm.

If you’ve made the Kingdom turn, the pursuit of the Kingdom and glory of God is now your full-time calling.

Next steps: Meet with a prayer partner or other Christian friend to discuss and pray about ways you can help one another in pursuing the Kingdom of God.

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.