The kingdom I’m referring to is the Kingdom of God both here on earth and in the heavens above. The Kingdom being God’s domain upheld by Jesus Christ through his church.
God’s kingdom also refers to God’s reign on earth and through Jesus, in our hearts. This includes our acceptance of His kingship and our obedience to His rule. We acknowledge that in His kingdom, the first shall be last, the path is a narrow one, the fragile and broken are blessed, we love our neighbour and we rejoice when the lost are found.
Jesus chose a group of men to follow him; ultimately one couldn’t stick with it and betrayed Jesus; he was shunned by those for whom he acted, was seen as the betrayer and found himself in a very lonely place leading to his untimely death. Others whom Jesus chose went onto become Kingdom Men. Men who stood in places of danger, places where Christians were as yet still of an unknown quality; and began to build the church with Jesus as its head.
King David was such a man. He could truly be called a Kingdom Man. Chosen by God to lead his nation. He was a successful ruler of his people. Yes, he did things that were called to account, made mistakes, and grew old and wise in the process.
The bible tells us that “When King David was old and well advanced in years; he could not keep warm even when they put covers on him.” 1 Kings 1:1 (Warning verse 2 does not apply here)
This vital man knew the aging process and just when he thought retirement was around the corner his son Adonijah tried to take the kingdom from him by force. David wanted an orderly hand over of power, Solomon was his choice. Therefore even as he shivered in his blankets King David was still determining the future of the Kingdom. He remained a Kingdom man. As David begins the process of accession of the kingdom, with all its subsequent rights; sitting on the royal throne, governing a nation and its people, commanding armies; representing God on earth David says to Solomon his successor,
“So be strong, show yourself a man and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as is written in the Law of Moses, so you may prosper in all you do.” 1 Kings 2:2-4
Solomon became, and was the new Kingdom Man of God.
As God established Solomon as a Kingdom Man so he was looking into the future and seeing the need for new Kingdom Men.
He sent two Kingdom men to help in the process:
Firstly, there was John (the baptiser) who went about telling everyone that the New Kingdom Man was coming.
Secondly, there was Jesus who truly was the New Kingdom Man. Chosen to represent God here on earth Jesus carried a message that was relevant to everyone that ever lived. His kingdom was not as we understand kingdoms to be, even King David or Solomon’s kingdoms. This kingdom was the heavenly kingdom that Jesus had become the guardian of.
It is the Good News of God’s reign on earth, and consequently His reign in our hearts. It is about His kingship and our obedience to His rule. In His kingdom, sin is forgiven, the poor fed, the blind see, and the leper healed, the dead raised to life; where the first shall be last, those who are lost found, and we rejoice with those whose names are written in the book of life.
To a certain extent it’s a bit of an upside down story because this Kingdom can only be accessed by accepting an incredible invitation. Jesus said anyone can accept an invitation to come into the Kingdom irrespective of background. The normal background check identifies that you have all the right credentials, safeguarding confirms that your eligible, exemplary references provide evidence that you’re on the right track, prior experience helps to ease the way, bribes won’t cut it, medals and titles are of little consequence. The perfect set of qualifications work every time – being sinful and wanting to turn from that sin. Transformation happens when we accept that The Kingdom Man, Jesus, has made it wholly his campaign to open the gates to the Kingdom to as many men as possible without favour or friendship; by accepting this incredible invite, approval is a given, we are transformed and stand before Gods throne as Kingdom Men alongside King David, King Solomon. Apostles John, Peter, Luke, Mark, Paul. Men like Stephen, Barnabas, and so many more. You may already be a Kingdom Man, fantastic!
If not, only you can do something about it. Becoming a Kingdom Man is personal.
Image credit: Pablo Heimplatz via Unsplash
