Having a kingdom mindset is absolutely necessary if we want to live a life that is pleasing to God. The topic of the kingdom is a key theme in the New Testament. Most of the references to the kingdom use the phrase the “kingdom of God”. However, the phrase the “kingdom of heaven” is also used when referring to the kingdom.
In order to understand how important it is for Christians to develop a kingdom mindset we need to consider the following.
- The kingdom of God is found 66 times in the New Testament.
- The kingdom of heaven is found another 32 times, all of them in the gospel of Matthew.
- The term kingdom is found 154 times in the New Testament; 119 times in the four gospels.
- Jesus used the term kingdom 93 times alone.
I think it is safe to say that the kingdom of God is a very important concept in Scripture. The importance of the kingdom of God is what led me to title my book on education Kingdom Education. I did this because I saw in Scripture that God’s highest priority for every believer is for him/her to know, understand and experience His kingdom every day of life. My reasoning for such a bold statement is found in Jesus’ own words:
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness… Matthew 6:33
This verse makes it clear that Christians are to seek His kingdom more than anything else in life. Pastor James McMenis recently made this point in relation to this verse.
Whatever or whoever you put first in your life, controls every other aspect of your life.
When you add this to what Jesus said when He taught His disciples to pray, you see how important the kingdom is to God.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10
From this second verse, we could say that God’s kingdom exists wherever His will is done. This means that I can experience the kingdom of God to the degree that I obey His will (His Word). So, how does a Christian develop a kingdom mindset? If we want to develop a kingdom mindset, we must fully understand the concept of the kingdom of God.
Recently I was doing some study on this subject and watching some teaching on the kingdom of God presented by Disciple Nations Alliance (DNA). This organization’s emphasis is that Jesus is King, and His primary agenda is to advance the Kingdom of God by discipling all nations. In the video I was watching, one of its founders shared what he referred to as the essentials of a kingdom. There are four key essentials that must be a reality if a kingdom is to exist. These essentials are:
- There must be a king.
- There must be subjects over whom the king rules.
- There must be laws and ordinances by which the king rules over his subjects.
- There must be a realm or territory over which the king rules.
As I thought about these four essentials of any kingdom , it clarified my thinking related to 
the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God must be characterized by the following essentials.
- God must be the king.
- Christians must be God’s subjects over whom He rules.
- God rules His kingdom through laws and ordinances.
- My life (my heart, mind and will) must be the realm or territory over which God rules.
If I want to develop a kingdom mindset, I must:
- Accept God as king over everything – including my life.
- Realize that I am to be subject to the rule of the king, who is God.
- I must know His laws and ordinances and then obey them completely.
- Submit my heart, mind and will as the territory over which God has complete authority.
The third essential of God’s kingdom stated above makes it clear that God rules His kingdom through His laws and ordinances. That means I must know His laws and ordinances. I believe that there are two sources where I can find God’s laws and ordinances. These two sources are the two books that God has written.
The first book that God has written is one that every person actually reads every day. This is God’s book of creation. In this book we find God’s physical laws or, what we could call, His creation ordinances.
It is interesting to realize that everybody obeys these ordinances of God. Even lost people know that if they ignore or disobey God’s creation ordinances, it can bring disastrous results in their lives. The most obvious one of God’s creation ordinances that every person obeys is His law of gravity. If man decides he doesn’t have to obey this ordinance and decides to walk off a 10 story building, the consequence is most likely death. As a former chemistry teacher, I taught various laws that are found in creation that we better pay attention to. My students accepted these laws and were willing to obey them without question.
The second book God wrote is the Bible. In this book we find God’s moral laws and ordinances. Since the same God wrote both books, we must understand that both His creation ordinances and His moral law are there for our benefit. We should also accept the truth that if we ignore or break His moral laws and ordinances, we will experience disastrous consequences.
It is amazing how even lost people know that God’s creation ordinances, when obeyed, allow them to accomplish some amazing things. Yet, they criticize and mock God’s moral law found in His Word. What boggles my mind even more is that we, as Christians, don’t give the same amount of value to God’s moral law as we do to His creation ordinances. In fact, many Christians today are willing to face the devastating consequences that comes by ignoring God’s moral law. Or maybe they think they can avoid the consequences by merely asking forgiveness.
If Christians were to develop a kingdom mindset and accept the four essentials presented in this article, it would change every aspect of their lives. It would impact our personal lives, our marriages, our families and our churches. If God reigns in all of life, it would even change how we educate our children. It all depends on our mindset. Do you have a kingdom mindset? If so, how has it changed how you live?
Very well said, Glen.
The other interesting fact is that when even non believers follow biblical principles for everyday living, things like loving their spouse faithfully and unconditionally and disciplining their own children according to the guidelines of scripture they usually receive at least temporal blessings. After almost 40 years leadership in missional (i.e. open enrollment) Christian schools, I’ve seen that reality played out again and again. But tragically I’ve seen far too many instances where Christian families have fallen apart and their children turn away from the Lord because they ignored God’s principles, choosing to seek first some other kingdom.
Glen I like your thinking.
Dave
Your insights are amazing. Salvation isn’t for when we get to heaven but for here and now! The first book – creation – is general revelation and reveals that there is a God but it doesn’t bring us to salvation. It is the second book (the Bible) that is special revelation because it is His words and they bring us to a relationship with Him so that we make Him king of our lives. It is interesting that Jesus told us in the great commission where the rules come from: “teach them to obey all I have commanded you. . . ” One with the kingdom mindset is being transformed into the image of Christ through the renewing of his/her mind which is a result of the work of the Holy Spirit illuminating the Word (Scripture). The creation mandate is one way to bring this a reality in subject areas as is reflecting on Creation-Fall-Redemption (His Kingdom here on earth) – Glorification.