Fruitful Living
Kingdom of God (Part 1)
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
INTRODUCTION
The concept of the Kingdom of God, also known as the Kingdom of Heaven, is a central theme in Christianity. It refers to the reign or rule of God over all creation, both in the present and in the future. The Kingdom of God is not limited to a specific physical location or realm, but rather encompasses the spiritual and moral realms where God’s will is acknowledged and followed.
OLD TESTAMENT
God rules sovereignly over all His works as King. He desires His rule to be acknowledged in a bond or relationship of love, loyalty, spirit, and trust. Not surprisingly, then, one of the central themes of the Old Testament is kingdom through covenant.
This theme is revealed on the first page of Scripture, when God creates man in His own image. According to the grammar of the original text, ruling over the creatures in verse 26b is a result of creating man in the divine image. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals.”
The fact that mankind is male and female prepares us for the command to be fruitful, and the fact that mankind is the divine image prepares us for the command to rule over the creatures.
The fact that mankind is male and female in and of itself has nothing to do with the divine image. Instead, we should understand the divine image according to the background of the ancient Near East, where the setting up of the king’s statue was the equivalent of the proclamation of his dominion over the area in which the statue was erected. Accordingly, man is set in the midst of creation as God’s statue. He is evidence that God is the Lord of creation. Man exerts his rule not in arbitrary despotism but as a responsible agent, as God’s steward. His rule and His duty to rule are not autonomous; they are copies. Hence, the concept of the kingdom of God is found on the first page of the Bible. Adam begins to rule the world under God by naming everything created on the earth, just as God ruled by naming everything created in the heavens.
Careful attention must be paid to the language of the promises given to Abraham in Genesis 12 that are later incorporated into the covenant made in Genesis 15. The first promise that God gives to Abram is that He will make him a great nation. The last promise is that in Abram, all the clans or families of the earth will be blessed. God speaks of Abram as becoming a great nation through three considerations:
1. The term “nation” emphasises a people as a political entity defined by cultural, ethnic, geographical, or social factors.
2. In 12:3, the nations of the world are not called “nations” but rather “clans” or “families”. The term family emphasises a people with no real political structure and in which no system of final governmental headship or rule operates.
3. The background to Genesis 12 is chapter 11. There we have the history of Babel, where we see complete confidence and naive optimism about human achievement and effort. Man is at the centre of his world, and he can achieve anything. This philosophy comes under divine judgement. By contrast, Genesis 12 presents us with a political structure brought into being by God, with God at the centre and God as the governmental head and ruler of that system.
In other words, we have the kingdom of God brought into being by the promises to and covenant with Abraham.
When Abram’s family does become a nation, God initiates with them the Sinai covenant or law of Moses as a means for the people to be rightly related to God, to each other as God’s true humanity, and to the creation as His stewards. Therefore, the covenant is the means for establishing His Kingdom. The book of Judges proves that although each person did what was right in his own eyes, nonetheless, the Lord ruled over His people as King. Later, God rose up a king after His own heart and made a special covenant with David. The Davidic Covenant was God’s king seeking to bring the people of God, and indeed all the nations, under this rule made explicit in the covenant. Thus, the king was the mediator of the covenant and the means of extending God’s rule.
When the people failed to abide by the covenant, the prophets and the wise men were sent by God to call the people back to the covenant, the terms of God’s rule. Zephaniah, for example, based his warnings on the covenant as found in Deuteronomy.
Zephaniah 1:2: “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” says the Lord, and Deuteronomy 32:22: My anger blazes forth like fire and burns to the depths of the grave. It devours the earth and all its crops, and it ignites the foundations of the mountains.
Moreover, the literacy structure of Zephaniah is chiastic, with chapter 2:11 as the centre of the book: “The nations on every shore will worship Him, everyone in its own land.” Zephaniah’s theology, then, can be summed up by the theme, kingdom through covenant.
Although the prophets sought to bring the people back to the covenant, the Sinai Covenant (the law of Moses) failed to achieve the goal of establishing God’s kingdom because it did not and, in fact, could not guarantee the obedience of the people of God. Hence, the prophets begin to speak of a new covenant in which God’s rule is guaranteed by an obedient people. As the failure of the Davidic line of kings became evident in history, the hope for a future king came more and more to the fore, along with the promise of a new creation—new humanity in a new heaven and a new earth.
The Old Testament ends (in the Hebrew Canon) with Chronicles, a book that focuses on good kings as the ideal of the future Messiah, in whom Yahweh will be truly Lord over His people and over all His creation. So the last words of the Old Testament call for a temple builder from among the people to make this hope a reality—likely the Messiah Himself.
“This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of you who are his people may go there for this task. And may the Lord your God be with you!” (2 Chronicles 36:23)
STAY BLESSED!
By Dr. Joyce Aryee, the author
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4. Correct the falsehood
If someone misrepresents Muhammad (pbuh), teach people who Muhammad (pbuh) really was.
Tell them about his mercy.
Tell them about his justice.
Tell them about his patience.
Tell them about his forgiveness.
5. Report genuine offences
Use lawful channels.
The Muslim does not become the police, prosecutor, judge and executioner.
6. Protect the innocent
If one Christian insults Islam, do not attack another Christian who knows nothing about it.
If one Muslim makes an offensive statement, do not blame all Muslims.
7. Restore peace
After the controversy, bring responsible Muslim and Christian leaders together.
Talk.
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Clarify.
Forgive where forgiveness is appropriate.
And rebuild trust.
Ghana must not become a battlefield of religious provocation
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
Let us look around Ghana.
Muslims and Christians have lived together for generations.
We have Muslim fathers with Christian in-laws.
Christian mothers with Muslim sons-in-law.
Muslim and Christian business partners.
Muslim and Christian neighbours.
Muslim and Christian classmates.
Muslims and Christians serving together in the military, police, public service, universities, hospitals, markets and businesses.
This is Ghana.
We must protect this peace.
Religious freedom is precious.
But religious freedom comes with religious responsibility.
A microphone is not a weapon.
A pulpit is not a battlefield.
A smartphone is not a licence to spread hatred.
A viral video is not a fatwa (religious decree).
And anger is not evidence.
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A word to Muslim scholars
To my fellow Imams and Islamic scholars:
Allah has placed a trust upon our shoulders. You are the best of generations selected for the guidance of mankind. Quran chapter 3:110.
When people are angry, we must calm them.
When people are confused, we must educate them.
When people want revenge, we must teach justice.
When people want violence, we must remind them of Allah.
Our microphone should extinguish fire—not pour petrol upon it.
The Prophet said:ِ
لَيْس َ الشَّدِيد ُ بِالصُّرَعَةِ، إِنَّمَا الشَّدِيد ُ الَّذِي يَمْلِك ُ نَفْسَه ُ عِنْد َ الْغَضَب
“The strong man is not the one who can overpower others; rather, the strong man is the one who controls himself when angry.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 6114; Sahih Muslim, 2609)
This is strength.
Self-control is strength.
Restraint is strength.
Wisdom is strength.
Justice is strength.
A word to Christian preachers
And to our Christian brothers and sisters, especially those who preach:
We Muslims deeply revere Jesus (peace be upon him)
He is not an ordinary man in Islam.
He is ʿĪsā ibn Maryam عليه السالم, a mighty Messenger of Allah.
The author is the Chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Expert.
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When Paul tells us that our “attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,” he had summarized in the previous two verses what such an attitude was: selflessness, humility, and service. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” – Philippians 2:3-4.
In other words, the attitude a Christian should reflect is one that focuses on the needs and interests of others. Without question, that does not come naturally to us. When Christ came into the world, He established a whole new attitude to relationships with others. One day when His disciples were arguing among themselves regarding who was to be greatest in His kingdom, Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” – Matthew 20:25-28. Jesus is teaching us that, when we become preoccupied with our own things, it can cause conflicts and other problems with people we know. Instead, God wants us to have an attitude of serious, caring involvement in the concerns of others.
Paul speaks more about this Christ-like attitude in his letter to the church in Ephesus: “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.– Ephesians 4:22-24. Many religions of today, including the New Age philosophies, promote the old lie that we are divine or that we can become gods. But the truth of the matter is that we will never become God, or even a god. Satan’s oldest lie was promising Adam and Eve that, if they followed his advice, “- and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5, NKJV.
Each time we try to control our circumstances, our future, and the people around us, we’re only demonstrating that we want to be a god. But we must understand that, as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want us to try to become gods. Instead, He wants us to become like Him, taking on His values, His attitudes, and His character. We are meant to “be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” – Ephesians 4:23-24.
Finally, we must always keep in mind that God’s ultimate goal for His children is not our comfort, but the transformation of our minds into the attitude of godliness. He wants us to grow spiritually, to become like Christ. This doesn’t mean losing our personalities or becoming mindless clones. Christlikeness is all about transforming our minds. Again, Paul tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” – Romans 12:2.
It is God’s will that we develop the kind of mindset described in the Beatitudes of Jesus – Matthew 5:1-12, that we exhibit the fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22-23, that we emulate the principles in Paul’s great chapter on love – 1 Corinthians 13, and that we strive to pattern our lives after Peter’s characteristics of an effective and productive life – 2 Peter 1:5-8.
Establishing our actions in righteousness
Every person is commanded to live up to divine standards.
a. In the words of Jesus
“ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect” – Mt. 5:20, 48.
Every person in the world is required to live up to that standard. You say, “You’ve got to be kidding!” No, I’m not. You are obligated to live up to that standard with a pure inside as well as a right outside. But you say, “I can’t!” You are absolutely right. That’s why we are given the solution…
b. In the words of Paul
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;– Rom. 3:10, 21-22a.
Though you can’t obtain on your own the righteous standard Christ set, you can receive His righteousness if you are one of those who believe. Isn’t that great? God set the holy standard. And when you acknowledge that you can’t live up to it, He says, “My Son is not only the Lawgiver, but He is the Redeemer as well, who makes it possible for you to live on that level.” Beloved, it’s a fantastic thing! The standard is so high we can’t obtain it. But Christ met that standard and imputes to us His righteousness. Oh, what a blessed thing!
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