Key text: Matt 13:34 – 36
““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.””
1. The Nature of the Kingdom
The kingdom of God is God’s active ruling power. This is what God does as King to establish his kingdom on earth.
The kingdom of God was the central focus of Jesus’ teaching in the first 3 Gospels, e.g. on prayer, “your kingdom come” (Matt 6:10; Matt 4:23; Mark 1:15; Acts 1:3 etc.).
The kingdom of God was accompanied by various signs that expressed the presence of God, e.g. Matt 11:5 “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”
It is the nature of the kingdom of God as liberating from the tyranny of all evil that makes its message “good news”.
As such, the kingdom of God is essentially communicable.
2. The Rediscovery of the Kingdom
The discovery of the kingdom of God is unexpected.
It happens in the marketplace world of work, not in some limited “holy place” into which special people have privileged access.
God’s kingdom encompasses all over which he rules, not just those who recognise his authority (Ps 2:8; 110:1; Rev 19:16).
When the kingdom is discovered the result is joy and undivided passion (Matt 13:44 – 46).
This is because a new kind of wealth is found that demonetizes every other currency – money, approval, position…….everything other than a relationship with the King of the kingdom is discarded. “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Phil 3:7 – 8).
3. A New Vision of God
What is being discovered is the surpassing excellence of Christ ruling in the purity of his person.
It is Jesus who brings in the kingdom, not any human effort of organisation. The Jesus found in the marketplace has “no other name” (Acts 4:12) e.g. Baptist, Calvinist, Protestant, Pentecostal.
Jesus found in the marketplace is the only King and Shepherd of a single flock (John 10:16). This means a rediscovery of the unity of the body of Christ (Eph 4:4 – 6).
The beauty of the presence of the Lord will become more and more overwhelming, spilling out everywhere. Many others will make this greatest of discoveries – the eternal kingdom is freely given.
What was most precious to Jesus?
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” (John 14:10 cf. 5:17; 10:25, 37).
Jesus sensed that the one who created the world, spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, gave the Law to Moses….formed him by the power of the Spirit in his mother’s womb…lived in him and was his Father. Father in the deepest possible intimacy indwelling all he did.
This revelation is the key to a remarkable global transformation, a true grace awakening that God is bringing to pass across our planet – this time not in the cloisters of the gathered church (cf. Luther etc.) but in the everyday world of the marketplace. In the marketplace, where everything is seemingly based on performance, men and women are beginning to realise that as the children of God they do not work for God but they do their works “in God” (John 3:21 cf. Col 3:3; 1 John 3:24).
4. Discipling the Nations
Jesus is raising up today a grass roots movement answerable directly to himself. This rediscovery is happening in the world of the marketplace, because in Christ its goal is the discipling of nations (Matt 28:8-20) and those who are in the best place to do this are not professional Christians (so-called “full time” pastors and missionaries) but those who are already immersed in the world.