The Kingdom Consciousness of a True Disciple (part five)
By Jay Wegter
God’s rule has begun in the hearts of believers; and will someday soon fill the earth. As disciples and subjects of King Jesus; we receive this Kingdom—we receive the Kingdom because by His sovereign grace, God had made us subjects of Jesus Christ; the King of Kings—citizens of His Kingdom. In Christ, the eternal God—eternal life—eternal truth walked on this dusty planet 2000 years ago. It was through Christ that God was breaking into our age in sovereign mercy. In Christ, God took decisive action against sin, death, and the devil—the forces which held His people in subjugation and bondage. During His earthly ministry, the context of “The Kingdom of God,” was the means by which Jesus defined Himself, and His work. The message of the Kingdom of God is what Jesus used to set forth and reveal the purposes of God in sending His Son (Matt 12:28; 16:28). Kingdom consciousness means that a believer’s life is to be controlled by the two events of the cross and the resurrection. Living between the cross and the resurrection means the believer’s life is defined by both events in a way that is dynamically connected to both. Romans 5:1-11 contains this “already, not yet” tension—we are already justified; but not yet glorified. The believer does not yet actually reign with Christ over the earth, but does already belong to that new age and rule of life in Him (Rom 5:17, 21). The outworking of the “reign of grace through righteousness to eternal life” is through “Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:21). This is why the role of ongoing faith in the Gospel is so vital. For, the Gospel is our constant reminder of the reality of the present reign of grace and life. We really do participate in the reign of grace and life (v. 17). It is ongoing faith in the Gospel that produces a life-transforming awareness of the reign of grace through our King. Ongoing faith in the Gospel deepens our assurance, hope, and joy in the unshakable fact that the reign of grace cannot be frustrated, no matter what tribulations we face (Rom 5:1-5). Salvation transferred and discharged us from the old era of sin’s reign (2 Cor 11:3; Jn17:3). Believers have been radically identified with Christ in His death and resurrection. The Christian life is defined more by allegiance to a Person (the Lord Jesus Christ to whom all authority has been given) than it is by allegiance to a moral code. Our part in the process of renewal is to keep the eyes of our minds fixed upon things that are unseen (Col 3:1-3ff.). The phrase “things that are unseen” refers especially to the age to come (2 Cor 4:18; Phil 3:8-17). This same fixing of the mind on things above refers also to the “treasure principle.” In other words, where your treasure is, there will your heart (affections) be also (Mt 6:19-21; Col 3:1-3; Eph 4:22-23). We are not to be preoccupied with temporal things, we are to fix our minds upon eternal things (2 Cor 4:16-18; Phil 3:18-19). Our responsibility is to occupy our affections (the eyes of our heart— Ephesians 1:18) on things that are unseen—that is the Kingdom age to come in which the resurrection of our body and glory will be ours. Faith and hope in God’s promises is the key to being renewed day by day. Mind renewal through the Gospel puts our focus back upon what God is doing in us; and what God is doing in history. God never backs off from His purpose to conform us into the image of His Son. Renewal each day means we are to live as a new person in Christ. We are to reject the sins that are totally out of place in God’s people (Col 3:5-9). Our daily task of living to reflect the holy character of God, and living under righteousness (justification) is our preparation to live with God forever in His eternal Kingdom (Heb 12:22-29). When the N.T. describes God’s grace, with that description of His grace comes an explanation of the believer’s identity in Christ, the believer’s mandate to be conformed to Christ, the believer’s relation to the Body of Christ, and the believer’s destiny in Christ. These grace-based spiritual realities are a powerful incentive for Christian living. Thus the Gospel gives us, and instills in us “Kingdom values” that are joined to our hope of resurrection life. Those Kingdom values are lived out by setting one’s mind on things above; considering the members of our body as dead to sin (immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, lying); putting on the new self; putting on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with and forgiving one another; putting on love; letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart; teaching and admonishing one another with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness; being a submissive wife and a loving husband; avoiding bitterness; being obedient children; avoiding exasperation of children; doing your work heartily as unto the Lord. The more our hope is joined to Kingdom thinking—the more it is fixed on the resurrection, the more we will seek an energetic compliance with God’s purposes in Christ. “If we are definitively sanctified by the work of Christ and the gift of the Spirit, ‘growth’ in holiness will mean increasing and abounding in practical expressions of that status, calling and commitment which is already ours by God’s grace” (David Peterson, Possessed by God, p.136). True disciples of Christ live between the cross and the resurrection; therefore they are animated by the “already, not yet” tension of the Kingdom consciousness. Christ rules their lives now, and they live in solid hope of His coming in future glory. Our Kingdom consciousness is to be coupled with Kingdom compassion. Like our Lord, we are to regard the lost as ‘sheep without a shepherd’ (Mt 9:36). Christ’s proclamation of the Kingdom was accompanied by deeds of mercy—demonstrations of compassion accompanied the proclamation of the truth (Doug Main, Cornerstone, Santa Clarita, sermon, 5.20.12). Our Kingdom consciousness must never be reduced to private piety; for the Kingdom is people-oriented—it is about Jesus, the King who is filled with compassion who dies for His own wandering sheep to make them the ‘people of God’ (1 Pet 2:10). We are heralds of the Kingdom and it King who is the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb 13:20). As those identified with the mission of our King, we proclaim the Kingdom and its King, and, we demonstrate His compassion (Ibid.).