“And this gospel OF THE KINGDOM will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14 (emphasis added)

There are a lot of names and descriptions of God in the Bible. We are taught to think of God as Father, Messiah, Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. We learn that he is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. But do you know what the most common description of God is in Scripture? He is absolute monarch: the King. Jesus commissions his disciples to carry the gospel “of the kingdom.” What does he mean by this and how should it affect our vision for evangelism and missions?

Americans struggle with the concept of kingship. Our government was founded primarily upon the principle that no human individual has the right to rule over everyone else. We enjoy a lot of freedoms that have historically been foreign to much of the world. We pay taxes to the government, but a king does not have the right to come and take whatever he wants. We have property rights and freedom of speech. We can publicly discredit the actions of our government if we choose to do so. If you tried that in medieval Europe, you would soon find yourself being made a public example—of what not to do—at the end of a rope or the foot of a guillotine.

Since we are so independent and opposed to the form of government where kings rule over us, we may have a hard time understanding what the Bible means when it calls God our king. When Jesus speaks of “the kingdom,” we will be easily confused if we try to think of it with an American mindset. But the concept is very important. The New Testament mentions “the kingdom” about 100 times, making it a central theme in Scripture.

When the Bible speaks of God’s kingdom, it does so in two ways. First, in a more broad sense, the kingdom primarily refers to a reality that exists within the entire created universe. Everything that exists is under the eternal rule of God. There is no square inch of the universe that is beyond God’s control. We usually describe this fact simply by saying that God is “sovereign.” The Bible teaches God’s absolute rule in both the Old and New Testaments.

Psalm 103:19: “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.”

Colossians 1:16: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

This needs to be more than just a theological statement for us. We need to wrestle with the reality that God is sovereign. He owns everything we think we own: our homes, our wardrobe, our free time, and even our iPod. He owns everything about us.

Think back to our gospel outline from the previous article. The fact that God is our king relates to every step of the gospel outline. He made us and owns us. He expects us to conform to his law, but we rejected his rule in sin. Jesus Christ alone fulfills the requirements of the divine law and honors completely the will of his Father. Only by faith in him are we saved from the punishment we deserve for our rebellion. This means admitting our rejection of God’s rule and acknowledging the true King once again. That is the cosmic drama we are all caught up in. The issue is God’s rule and we are the rebels apart from Christ.

But this is not all that Jesus means when he speaks of the gospel of the kingdom. Earlier in his ministry, the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray. He responded with what we now call “The Lord’s Prayer.” In it Jesus says, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” What does Jesus mean by this? Didn’t we just learn that God rules over everything? Yes, but there is a difference between the reality of the kingdom here and its reality in heaven. In heaven, God’s rule is honored and everything he commands is done without question. On earth, this is not the case. God is in control of all things. He is the king of the earth. But many people still refuse to accept his rule. In their sin, they reject their Creator and seek to rule their own lives. The hope is that one day both the heavens and the earth and every creature in them will truly worship God. This is what Jesus means when he speaks of God’s kingdom coming.

That God is the king of the universe is a fact. But many people on earth refuse to acknowledge him as such. And so God has chosen to reveal to us through Scripture a lengthy historical process that he is using to establish his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

In the Old Testament, God’s kingdom was primarily limited to the specific nation of people known as Israel. Back then, God asserted his kingship on the earth by blessing that nation over and above all the other nations. Israel became the staging area from which the kingdom of God would one day spread to all nations and people groups.

Israel as a nation repeatedly rebelled against God’s rule, and God announced that he would exile them and afterwards bring about a kingdom that would include both Jews and Gentiles. The prophets began to speak of One who was coming into the world who would make this possible.

Isaiah 52:15: “So shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.”

When we get to the New Testament, we discover that this worldwide kingdom began with the incarnation of Jesus Christ. He came and announced with John the Baptist that the good news of the kingdom was at hand. The Jews expected that to be fully realized in their day, but Jesus taught that the kingdom would not immediately come in its fullness. Instead, his ministry marked the beginning of the final stage of history. The first coming of Jesus marks the inauguration (think: crowning ceremony) of the kingdom of God. He taught that the kingdom would continue to grow and manifest itself in the world. This is ultimately what he is referring to in Matthew 24:14.

What we now live in is referred to as the continuation of the kingdom of God. It will reach its ultimate end when Christ returns in glory once the Gospel has gone out to all nations.

All of this should have a huge impact on our evangelism and missions. First, we should see that we are caught up in a story that is much bigger than our own personal salvation. As believers, we carry with us the only truth that is able to end the rebellion in the world and point people to their true King. People must hear the truth of the Gospel and respond to it for the kingdom to spread. Our goal should be the same as God’s. We should desire to see his kingdom come more on earth as it is in heaven. This will only happen through the spread of the Gospel. In fact, Jesus won’t come back until this has been accomplished on a grand scale. Talk about motivation!

Also, the message of the kingdom is not simply a few religious truths that we throw into our lives to spice things up. The kingdom influences everything! I love the way a pastor named Tim Keller explained the effects of the kingdom message when he taught on cultural renewal:

The doctrine of the kingdom tells us about the re-entry of God’s ruling power through Christ’s death and rising. If every part of the world is broken by sin, then the goal of Christ’s salvation—the restoration of God’s ruling power—must be the renewing of every part of creation. Hearts, relationships, communities, and practices are healed and “re-woven” with one another to the degree that they come under the authority of Jesus, through his Word and Spirit (Psalm 72; Colossians 1:16–20; and Ephesians 1:9–10). Redemption is much more than simply saving souls. It will ultimately entail the complete healing of creation, including social justice, the reunification of all humanity, and the end of physical decay and death (Is 11:1–10). But even now it means bringing the health and coherence of Christ’s lordship back into every aspect of human life. The Christian church is to be a new society in which the world can see exhibited what family life, business practices, race relations, and all of life can be under the kingship of Jesus Christ.

Thinking of evangelism in this way allows us to make connections with people in the midst of their brokenness. We can provide truth in the context of their personal struggles with unbelief, whatever they may look like. As you become friends with people, you can begin to notice the ways in which they are in need of the saving grace of Christ, and you will be there to offer them the message that you hold so dear. You can point them to the One who can make things right.

This also allows us to treat many cultural endeavors seriously, even if they don’t appear to be “religious.” Evangelism and missions can become more than just strictly communicating religious truths verbally, though that is very important. Any act of restoration demonstrates that Christ’s kingdom is at work and growing. This makes your calling as students, employees, athletes, musicians, or anything else important to God’s kingdom.

Also, be encouraged by the sovereignty of God. We will not accomplish all this alone. God is the one who is moving things along by his Spirit. He commands us to participate and uses us along the way. But it is Jesus who saves, not you or me. Further, God’s kingdom is a spiritual reality in this age and will not be brought about by human governments or leaders. In the next article, we will look more closely at our important role as instruments in evangelism and missions, trusting in God’s Word and Spirit to change the world.

Mike Winebrenner is Director of Student Ministries at Christ Presbyterian Church in Olive Branch, MS