Page 110 - TH130 Kingdom of God A4 Final

The Kingdom of God

lays down the basic rules and principles governing life in an earthly
kingdom, the Sermon on the Mount lays down some fundamental rules
and principles governing life in God’s heavenly kingdom.

Three key sayings of Jesus seem to get at the heart of what He is
teaching in His sermon:

• “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good
deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
• “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and
the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom
of heaven” (5:20).
• “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well” (6:33).

You would do well to memorize these three passages.

Citizens of the Kingdom

Sometimes our shallow understanding of what it means to be a
Christian affects the way we view
the kingdom of God. It further
affects the way we approach the
Our understanding Sermon on the Mount. We often

of Christianity affects think of salvation in terms of the
“plan of salvation.” In this context,
the way we view the we talk about “praying the sinner’s

kingdom of God. prayer” and “receiving Jesus into our
hearts.” Certainly, these concepts
convey certain redemptive truth.
Nevertheless, they are only a partial
understanding of what it means to become a citizen of Christ’s kingdom.

Not only has a truly born-again follower of Christ received Jesus into his
heart and been saved, he or she has seen the kingdom of God (John 3:3),
and they have entered into it (v. 5). They are now citizens of a new
kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. And they must now live as full citizens
of that Kingdom. They must order their lives according to its ideals and
precepts. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus deals with some of these
essential ideals and precepts.

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