Entering the Kingdom of God
I have been thinking recently how most evangelistic preaching seems to focus on getting people “born again”. I am not saying that this is totally wrong, but there is only really the one reference to this in the New Testament when Jesus speaks with Nicodemus in John 3. The New Testament seems to talk more about “entering the kingdom of God” which it refers to around 14 times. Now, it is clear from the passage in John 3 that we do need to be born again (or born from above) in order to enter or see the kingdom of God, but the focus should surely be more on the purpose of being born again rather than than the being born again itself?
The purpose of being born again is to enter the kingdom of God and Jesus and the apostles spent a lot more time talking about the kingdom than they did about being born again. The danger of just preaching that we need to be born again is that this becomes little more than a “ticket to heaven” when the true Gospel message is about entering the kingdom of God here and now. When we are born again and enter the kingdom we receive eternal life here and now. And the Gospel of the kingdom is an invitation to enter into God’s rule and reign both in this age and in the age to come. The Good News of the kingdom is an invitation into God’s story and an opportunity to partner with Him in its fulfillment. And that is what we should be “preaching” to those who haven’t yet put their trust in King Jesus. Being born again is not the goal; entering the kingdom of God is.
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April 26th, 2005 at 12:35 pm
Hi Sam,
There is a natural emphasis on being born again in order to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3) and I understand how some people could look at that as the ticket, or the fire insurance, and leave it at that, which I agree would be wrong and thus a wrong emphasis if left alone. But there is really more to it than just punching the ticket.
When we are born again, an essential transformation is taking place and we become a new man (2 Cor 5:17; Eph 4:24), in which sin is curtailed and the nature of God may be formed (1 Pet 1:23; 1 John 2:29).
God has also broken down the middle wall of division between Jew and Gentile (Eph 2:15); In the same process He has broken down the racial differences between black, white, and every other race. He has actually made one new race of man from them all: the children of God.
I know it’s not your intention to downplay being born again, but to show that it’s the start of the journey and not the end in itself. So we need to look at the journey as well, which is a good point.
It’s like a marriage being a journey, but it started with a wedding. But some people get so fixed on planning the wedding, and maybe the vacation that will follow, that they don’t really put enough thought into the lifelong committment that will follow — which should have been the real point they never lost sight of.
By the way, congratulations on your recent marriage!