The Kingdom Of God: The First Priority

The Kingdom of God

“The First Priority”

Matthew 6:33

Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGRLTR-i0d8

We are continuing in our series on the Kingdom of God this morning in the message entitled, The First Priority.” The reason for this series is that we have all these different subjects within Christianity, but nothing that connects them together. We teach on salvation, justification, redemption, sanctification, atonement, heaven, hell, evil, faith, grace, mercy, hope, idolatry, judgment, obedience, and the list just keep on going. 

But as I have mentioned in previous messages, these are just dots on a page with nothing that connects them, nothing to reveal the picture of God’s overall plan and purpose. Yet, in the Bible, there is one connective thread that brings these together, and that is the Kingdom of God.

Today we’ll be looking at what Jesus said about how God’s Kingdom should not only be our priority, but how nothing should come before it, hence, our first priority.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 NKJV)

Jesus brings to a head what He was teaching about, that is, our need not to worry or be anxious about what the world worries or is anxious about. It’s part of a much larger sermon Jesus gave, known as the Sermon on the Mount.

During the sermon, Jesus makes this general statement summing up His entire position, which is the essence of the Christian message.

Now the reason we’re exploring this so intently is because of the confusion that exists about the Kingdom of God and Christianity. Because if we take our understanding from what the newspapers and books say, then we’re going to get all messed up, which is exactly what has happened.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us the essentials of the very proclamation that He stated and that we looked at the other week in our message, “The Kingdom Proclamation.”

There are, however, several general principles that Jesus also brings out in this statement that we need to look at. And at its core, this is what it says.

Gospel Message Differs From Everything Else

The gospel message is different from what humanity thinks and believes is important, and it challenges those beliefs.

Notice what Jesus said just prior to this.

“Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek.” (Matthew 6:31-32a NKJV)

Judaism divides the world into two groups, the Jews and everyone else, those who have the right religion and those who don’t, those who live by God’s law and those who live outside of it. And so, you have two classes of people, the Jews and the Gentiles, or everyone else.

Today, the Gentiles would be considered those who don’t know God as revealed in the Bible. They trust in religion or their own thoughts and ideas about who God is and life in general.

Therefore, what Jesus teaches is altogether different from their point of view. His teaching differs from everything that man has ever thought.

This is a very important distinction, because what it says is that the Christian way of life is different and stands apart from the world.

The next point of emphasis is Jesus’s wording, which reveals that belief in Him is very radical from the world’s perspective. Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” This is the first thing that we should do. It is of top priority and should come before everything else.

This differs from the world’s line of thought. What we could say is that the world is looking in the wrong direction. Humanity doesn’t need to be patched up; instead, we need a radical change, which is what Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” (John 3:7) In other words, humanity needs a brand-new start, which is what we looked at in our last message entitled, “New Birth Required.”

Christianity and Kingdom living should be a way of life. It isn’t a lifestyle or some philosophy of life. Therefore, it demands a total commitment. It doesn’t ask to be understood; rather, it demands to be obeyed.

To know the truth and blessing of Kingdom living, we must give our lives over to it. The Bible says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) We will never know how good the Lord is until we’ve tasted His goodness and the Kingdom of God for ourselves.

Theoretical knowledge will not work. There are a lot of scholars that have a lot of biblical knowledge, but don’t know Jesus. There are also many people who know the Bible better than we do, but don’t know the Lord God of the Bible. And so, Jesus is calling for a commitment, not head knowledge, but a heart relationship.