Kingdom of God

The most powerful agent God has released in the earth to manifest and establish His Kingdom is the Church. Jesus reveals his plan to establish the Church in Matthew 16 when he proclaims to his disciples, "on this rock I will build my church". In that very same conversation, Jesus tells his disciples he is giving them the keys to the Kingdom! The church is the Father's primary expression of the Kingdom of God on earth. But through the centuries, the connection between the Church and God's Kingdom has not always been clear. Is the Church a synonym for the Kingdom of Heaven? Is the Kingdom of God the ultimate destination of the Church (heaven)? It is vitally important to know the answers to these questions.

Throughout the life of Jesus, He only preached Kingdom. Nothing else. In the Lord's Prayer, methods, service modules and gender inequality have absolutely nothing to do with Kingdom. Just so, in Matthew 6, as Jesus taught about praying for the Kingdom to come, He also included in His teaching (verse 33) about seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness (implying walking in His Ways) then the rest will be added (life, hope, joy, and strength and spiritual prosperity). Therefore, it is clear: We need to seek the Kingdom above all else, but we can only walk in the manifested reality and glory of the Kingdom once we walk by Spirit, implying surrendering first our kingdom, laying down our crown and denying the Self. If we seek His Kingdom, then our kingdom (our ways, agendas, ideas) need to die as well. What we believe to be truth, or the right way, or the correct path, needs to be surrendered as we seek the true way of the Lord, which is the Way of the Kingdom. Jesus said He is the Way, Truth and Life, meaning He is the WAY of the Kingdom, and if we seek the Kingdom then we need to follow the Lord Jesus in Spirit and Truth. Ps Riaan Engelbrecht is the founder of Avishua Ministries, the vice-president of Lighthouse Ministries International and the station manager of Lighthouse Radio. His ministry deals primarily with the prophetic, but he also has a passion to teach the Truth of the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom for only the Truth of the Lord sets us free (John 8:32). He is also a qualified and seasoned journalist.