“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17) Hollywood likes to make portrayals about our Christian faith in movie themes. The problem is that most of the time they focus on abuses or scandals but miss the real biblical emphasis. Jesus spoke regularly about the kingdom of God and likened it to many different things. He used the everyday language from the culture of the first century. He spoke of the experience of fishermen, farmers, and merchants to communicate the simplicity of His kingdom.
The Holy Spirit prompted the Apostle Paul to mention the Kingdom of God in his letter to the Romans. He brought out three simple but profound truths; righteousness, peace and joy. Righteousness can be simply explained as our ‘right standing with God.’ Nothing is more important than for men and women to repent of their sins and place their trust into Christ’s atoning sacrifice. We enter a relationship with God, not through water baptism, church membership, good works or special deeds, but through surrender of our hearts to Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Peace is the ‘inward tranquility that comes from a right relationship with Christ.’ This inward peace is not based upon outward circumstances or pleasant surroundings. Instead, it springs forth from our heart when we are confident that Jesus is in control of our life. Wicked men can threaten us or seek to bring us harm. However, they can not touch our peace when we have laid our life into the caring hands of Christ.
Joy in the Holy Spirit is the ‘inward happiness that springs from our relationship with Christ.’ Like peace, it is not based upon outward circumstances but flows from a heart that is surrendered to Jesus. Joy gives us God’s supernatural strength to face every trial that life throws our way. It provides us with the perspective that our heavenly Father has our best interest at heart. He is a Good, Good Father, and His love for us is one that gives us the deepest fulfillment known to man.
God’s kingdom should never be confused with brick and mortar, or stained glass windows and choir robes. Instead, it is the inward qualities that are available to all who place their trust and faith in the finished work of Christ. Religion attempts to guide us to focus on the outward things of possessions, social influence, or cultural affluence. However, God’s kingdom goes deeper. It is the living reality of God’s work and fellowship in our hearts.
We must guard our hearts and the hearts of our children from thinking that the ‘Church’ is a physical address and building. Let us be careful to tell a needy world to look at God’s definition and realize that the issues of a surrendered heart—righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit—are what make up …the Kingdom of God!
