Kingdom Reality 1: The Priority of God’s Kingdom
Matt. 6:25-33
Big Idea: As we await the coming of the Great King, we ought to live with his kingdom as a priority in our lives.
The Kingdom of God is God’s authority and ability to rule over any and all realms within the created order and beyond in order to bestow the blessings of his good and gracious kingdom on unworthy subjects for the purpose of displaying his glory to all peoples.
10 Kingdom Realities:
- God’s Kingdom takes __________________________.
Matthew 6:31–33 (ESV) — 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
2Thes. 3:6-12
Proverbs 6:6–11 (ESV) — 6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
If God provides for those things in the created order that he hasn’t given the abilities to work or toil or clothe themselves, how much more will he give to those who he has given the abilities to work and toil, and plant and sow, and spin and create. So much more.
“God providentially works through human beings in their diverse callings, and this is the outworking of his love for his creation. According to Luther… the economic order is a vast network of loving and serving, giving and receiving, in which God is present and in which Christians live out their faith.”
Gene Veith; Working for Our Neighbor
1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV) — 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Epizeteo vs. Zeteo
Matt. 6:25-33 is not teaching that we ought to seek God’s kingdom as opposed to our earthly responsibilities, it is teaching us that we ought to pursue one in service of the other. That is to say that we ought to be about our earthly business as a means to advance God’s heavenly business.
God is calling you to use your vocation as a vehicle for his kingdom.
2 Peter 3:11–13 (ESV) — 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Questions to Consider
- What has God called you to do throughout the week? How might you use that as a vehicle to be about God’s business?
- What are the challenges you face within your daily calling to advance God’s kingdom? How is God calling you to trust Him in the midst of those challenges?
- Can you name specific individuals that God is calling you to invest in as you live out God’s daily calling on your life?
