Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords and has called us to ‘reign’ with Him. What do Christians need to know to ‘reign’ with Christ?

The King and His Kingdom

 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Matthew 4:17

Jesus began His preaching ministry after John baptized Him and the devil tempted Him. His message was clear –

  • Repent – μετανοέω, metanoeó, to change one’s mind or purpose (think differently after being with)
  • Kingdom – βασιλεία, basileia, royal power and authority, sovereignty (the realm in which a king reigns)
  • Heaven – οὐρανός, ouranos, visible or spiritual heavens
  • At Hand – ἐγγίζω, eggizó, come near, come close, extremely close

Jesus came from Heaven to earth to change hearts and minds, to change the way people thought about spiritual things. He was King of His Kingdom. He was Sovereign and had royal authority. His Kingdom was a spiritual Kingdom, though it would one day expand to become the earthly Kingdom prophesied in Scripture. His Kingdom was extremely close, possibly because He was on earth as King or because God views time differently than we do. A thousand years is as a day to the Lord (e.g. 2 Peter 3:8; Psalm 90:4).

People are often confused about the Kingdom of the King. The Jews who Jesus preached to in the early 1st century had their difficulties understanding it. So did the Roman prefect (governor) of Judea –

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, Are You the King of the Jews?’Jesus answered him, ‘Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ John 18:33-37

Jesus was King, but His Kingdom was ‘not from here.’ The Lord’s Kingdom is from Heaven. That’s the location of His Kingship. He was born (to the virgin Mary) to ‘bear witness to the truth.’ People would have no idea about what kind of Kingdom the Lord was King of except that He came from Heaven to earth to tell them the truth about it.

Changing Minds

The ministry of King Jesus on earth was to ‘change minds.’ The people’s thinking about God’s Word was wrong. Jesus came to change their thinking. The people’s thinking about salvation was wrong. Jesus came to change their thinking. The people’s thinking about their spiritual position was wrong. Jesus came to change their thinking.

The need for ‘repentance’ is as true today as it was two thousand years ago. The fact that many church leaders no longer preach a message of repentance goes to show how bad things have become within Christianity. Without the message of repentance – what message do you have? People cannot be saved without a change of mind, a change of thinking. People cannot think of salvation as ‘adding’ something to what they already believe. Salvation is based on repentance and we are commanded by our Lord to preach it!

Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:46-48

The Lord’s apostles preached repentance before conversion (salvation), so why has much of the modern ‘church’ stopped preaching it? I ask that to our shame –

Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Acts 2:38-39

But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3:18-21

Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. Acts 17:29-31

You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:18-21

Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Ac ts 26:19-20

And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:3-4

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 2 Corinthians 7:10

Until pastors and teachers return to the preaching of repentance, we will not see God’s great blessings upon His people. We cannot preach a ‘partial’ message that makes people feel good about themselves and expect God’s Spirit to move powerfully among us. Jesus and His apostles have made it abundantly clear that preaching a message of ‘repentance’ toward God is foundational to His moving among us.

Obeying to Reign

‘Training to reign’ with Christ begins with obedience to His commands.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen. Matthew 28:18-20

Free eBooks

You can download the first 13 chapters of this series here.

You can download chapters 14 – 24 of this series here.

You can download chapters 25 – 30 of this series here.

You can download chapters 31 – 39 of this series here.

Next Time

We’ll take a deeper dive into the importance of obeying our King next week as our special series, ‘Train to Reign,’ continues.

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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