What Does It Mean To Be More Like the Kingdom?

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

–Matthew 6:33

At Mission ONE, we seek to make the world more like the Kingdom of God, but we’re breaking down what that looks like for us as we work with indigenous partners, bring about restoration, and glorify God.

What Does the Bible Say?

 

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

–Matthew 6:10

 

We see references to the Kingdom of God all throughout scripture.

We know that God is the creator of all things and the extent of his realm is over the whole world. Since the Kingdom of God is wherever God reigns, the Kingdom of God is everywhere.

However, as followers of Christ, we’re to worship him and recognize his reign and anticipate his return. When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, we asked them to pray that God’s Kingdom would come to full fruition here on earth.

The Kingdom of God is found in his sovereign reign—in his desire to redeem and deliver his people and then finish his work through the complete universal restoration.

While the Kingdom of God is established here on earth, it is not yet complete. We are to not only pray, but actively participate in moving our current world to be more like the Kingdom of God—to proclaim the gospel and restore the world to goodness, truth, abundance, and peace until his return. We are to bridge the gap between what is and what is to come.

“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore…The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.”

–Isaiah 2:4, 32:17

 

“Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

–Acts 1:6-8

 

“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”

–2 Corinthians 13:11

 

How Are We to Bring About the Kingdom of God in Anticipation of Complete Restoration?

At Mission ONE, our vision of a world restored to the Kingdom of God looks like:

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother.”

–Deuteronomy 15:7

 

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

–Colossians 3:12-14

 

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

–1 Corinthians 1:10

 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

–Romans 15:13

 

“[Jesus] stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’”

–Luke 4:17-19

 

“She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.”

–Proverbs 31:16-17

 

“and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable.”

–1 Corinthians 12:23

 

“To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

–2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

 

We know that when people all over the world have access to physical and spiritual restoration, they are creating systemic and generational change that will not only transform their lives, but their entire community for years to come.

We’re honored to play a part in making the world more like the Kingdom of God because we, like you, are in patient and hopeful anticipation of complete and total restoration.