By Kenneth S. Hemphill
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--As we read the New Testament, we are not left with any question about the importance of the Kingdom of God in the life and teaching of Jesus. His ministry was announced by John the Baptist with the startling words: Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 3:2). And after the time of Jesus' temptation, we are told that He "began to preach" the message of the Kingdom (4:17) -- the clear implication being that His teaching on the Kingdom was not an occasional message, but a consistent message. Even a cursory reading of the Gospels will illustrate this.
And this passion continued to the very end of His earthly life. A passage that often goes unnoticed as it relates to this is Acts 1:3. Luke tells us that during Jesus' last 40 days, He was speaking of the things concerning the Kingdom of God.There can be no question that the Kingdom was the heartbeat of our Lord and should therefore be uppermost in our thinking.
THE KINGDOM –- ITS EMPOWERING
Since the Kingdom of God is about God's rule and reign on earth -- in, around and through His people —- it is apparent that it is a divine activity which requires supernatural empowering. The Kingdom of God was and is about a totally new way to live.
It is comprehensive, involving all aspects of our lives.It is compelling because it exhibits the power of God unleashed in the lives of His people.
The Kingdom of God is about God's right to invade our human existence with His Kingdom authority. For this reason it requires divine dynamite -- the person of the Holy Spirit.The Book of Acts gives us a living illustration of the working of the Holy Spirit through early Christians both individually and corporately. Just as Jesus commanded His followers to remain in Jerusalem until they had received the promised Holy Spirit (1:4-5), we too must never attempt any Kingdom activity in our human strength. If we do so, we will be doomed to failure, caught in the trap of carnal Christianity, enslaved to the Avis "we try harder" syndrome. We cannot produce Kingdom results without spiritual empowering.
For this reason, Empowering Kingdom Growth is not another program challenging Southern Baptists to greater activity. We have demonstrated a tendency to attempt to solve spiritual problems simply by doing more things, but this is counterproductive. Empowering Kingdom Growth is a challenge for each individual and church to focus on God's priorities and allow the Holy Spirit to work through us to produce Kingdom results. We cannot go forward without recognizing the importance of surrendering ourselves to the constant infilling of the Spirit===>CLick headline for complete article and website resources . . .
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