The Gospel of the Kingdom

August 29

The world admonishes its own to aggrandize themselves, to ‘look out for number one.’ If you don’t promote yourself, nobody will do it for you. If you don’t make sure the world recognizes how valuable you are, your worth will go largely unappreciated. Because everyone else is furthering his own prospects, if you aren’t managing your interests well, they will be lost in the dust of achievers whose efforts outstrip your own.

As with so much that regards the Christian faith and the mindset it requires believers to bring to the table of ideas, this one is anathema to the Lord who tells us, “…let your light shine before men so they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven,” (Matthew 5:16). Your achievements are not so much to extoll you as to lift God up.

The culmination of the idea of exalting the Triune Majesty is that, “The gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come.” These words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 24:14 convey the entirety of His purpose in coming to earth. He came to lift the Father high in the eyes of the people so they would behold the glory of the One whom He had sent.

When the Lord was high and lifted up, His train filling the Temple (Isaiah 6:1) all Heaven magnified His name. This magnification of His name is the ultimate goal of Calvary. May we who call ourselves His people, who are called by His name, devote ourselves to the lifting up of that holy name among the lost—so they will be saved and He will be glorified as “…the Kingdom (is) preached and …Christ will return.”