The Kingdom, Part 1

For some Christians, Christianity boils down to one simple idea: get to heaven. This life on earth is short, sometimes difficult, but as long as I get to heaven in the afterlife, it's all worth it. Eternal life in paradise! Oh, and God's there too! Even better!

For some Christians, the goal of Christianity is less about getting to heaven and more about avoiding hell. Eternal torture? It seems pretty obvious we'd all want to avoid that.

However...

When Jesus walked this earth, he did more than just "get people to heaven." He did more than die on a cross and come back to life, defeating sin and death. For most of his ministry, Jesus taught, mentored, and healed diseases. He provided spiritual and physical healing.

The spiritual healing part makes sense, no matter who you are. We need spiritual healing so that we can get to eternal life, right?

But if eternal life is the only goal of Christianity, why did Jesus spend so much time physically healing people? Why didn't he just forgive their sins and allow them to die? If heaven's the (only) goal, why bother with earth?

The answer begins with the beginning of John's and Jesus' ministry:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:1-2 NIV) 

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17 NIV)

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:23 NIV)

The kingdom has come near. This is the crux of Jesus' ministry, the primary focus. It's where John the Baptist starts, and it's where Jesus starts. And I believe, as followers of Jesus, it's where we should start, too.

But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33 NRSV)

What does Jesus mean when he talks about the kingdom of God? What is the kingdom? Why is the coming kingdom good news? Why do we need to repent?

Those are important questions. And we'll start tackling them in Part 2.