Lesson 13 - August Fourth Week
The Kingdom of God for the Believers
Background Reading:
Luke 9:2; 10:7-12; 17:20-25; Matthew 6:9-10; Mark 1:14-15; Acts 8:12; Hebrews 12:28
Devotional Reading:
Matthew 6:25-34
Central Verse:
“For the kingdom of God is not meat nor drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Romans 14:17, KJV
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17, NLT
Key Terms:
Joy– A feeling of great pleasure or happiness that comes from success, good fortune, or a sense of well-being.
Advent– The coming of Christ as a deity, the Son of God.
Kingdom– The eternal kingship of God; the realm in which God’s will is fulfilled.
Introduction:
The Kingdom of God is said to be the everlasting realm where God is sovereign and where Jesus rules forever. The book of Romans tells the believer that the Kingdom of God is not meat nor drink; it is not carnal things, nor tangible things that a person can purchase at a store, but it is righteousness, peace, and joy. It is those things that can only come from the Holy Spirit. It may include gladness and happiness, which is found in joy, but it is joy unspeakable and full of the glory of God. It is a peace that surpasses all human understanding and flows out of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit on the inside working on the outside of man, and it is found within the heart of a believer.
Scripture shows believers that God is the undeniable ruler, the supreme being of the universe: “The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all”(Psalm 103:19).
Discussion:
The Kingdom of God is righteousness. It is the quality of being right in God’s eyes based on God’s laws and standards. Righteousness is a gift from God to believers through Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His Son, Jesus, to all who would believe on Him and accept Him.
Christianity.com says that righteousness, by human standards, is defined as “the quality of being morally true or justifiable.” Justification is made according to the conformity of behavior with the regulation (or constitution, in the context of a nation).
In its deeper spiritual meaning, righteousness is the quality of being right in the eyes of God, including character (nature), conscience (attitude), conduct (action), and command (word). Therefore, righteousness is based upon God’s standard because God is the ultimate lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22).
Righteousness is a God-centered attribute that cannot be obtained by any human effort. God tells the believers that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. There is too much difference between the two. Righteousness is a God thing, and it is not about mankind at all. People cannot measure up to God’s righteousness in any way, shape, or form. People do not have to strive to be righteous. We must accept the will and the mind of God by faith. Works do not attain it because it is a gift from God. Jesus told the believer to pray to His Father in Heaven and ask Him to allow His Kingdom to come here on Earth as it is in Heaven.
What the Kingdom brings to a believer is much more than what we can receive here on Earth. On Earth, believers strive to have food to eat, shelter, and clothing, which are just temporal things that will fade away. But the Kingdom shall last forever, throughout eternity. Righteousness exalts, builds, and sustains, because it is everlasting.
Jesus advised the believers to seek the kingdom of God before we seek anything else. Most believers are seeking more, and most have expectations for our lives to be happy, to succeed professionally and personally, to be healthy, to overcome limits, and to live a better life. Well, Jesus said if you seek the Kingdom of God—the righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit—everything else that you need will be added to your life. God wants every believer to be happy, complete, and prosperous in every area of our life, God knows that apart from Him, the believer’s life is incomplete.
The Kingdom of God is peace, tranquility, harmony, security, prosperity, or well-being. It is a desired status in relationships between God, mankind, and oneself. Peace is so important in the Kingdom of God that the believers were told to follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord. He told the believers to go after peace, pursue peace, and find peace, for where there is peace, the blessing of the Lord abides. Jesus is the Prince of Peace; He is what everyone seeking for the Kingdom of God needs and desires (Isaiah 9:6). This peace will keep the heart and mind of the believer secure. So, as the believer seeks the Kingdom of God, we must believe, receive, and embrace the advent of Jesus Christ. Let the peace of God rule in your heart (Colossians 3:15).
The Kingdom of God is joy, which is a choice; the believer must choose to be content and satisfied as we go through trials and negative circumstances that normally would not be a time of joy and contentment. But with the Holy Spirit, the believer receives power to do what seems impossible. The Holy Spirit will give the believer a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. The Kingdom supplies joy in the midst of sorrow, creating hope when the believer sees no tomorrow. Because the Holy Spirit gives joy, it is not based on human actions, so human actions cannot shake joy out of believers’ lives.
Conclusion:
So, as believers, seek the kingdom of God and know that it can be found. If a believer believes in God as Scripture has said, we will find that the Kingdom of God is within ourselves. The Holy Spirit will walk and talk with them. The Holy Spirit will make Himself known in every possible way, and the believer can say, “This joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me, and the world can’t take it away. God is the originator of true joy.”
So, we seek not food and clothes, but a city, the place Jesus calls home—His Father’s House, the place whose builder and maker is God. The place where we can spend eternity, the Kingdom of God, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Questions:
1. What is the Kingdom of God?
2. Who can have the Kingdom of God?
3. What makes up the Kingdom of God?
4. Why is righteousness a part of the Kingdom of God?
5. Why is joy a choice?
Essential Thought:
It’s alright to seek things
that will comfort you,
but make sure you have
the Comforter first.