What is it that we would like to receive from life? What do we expect to accomplish? Most of us, it seems, are endeavoring to find happiness in one way or another. Perhaps some of us are seeking to satisfy some ambition. Or it might be that we find pleasure in serving our families, in bringing up our children and in doing the best we can with our daily work. This is not enough, however. There is a certain measure of selfishness in serving ourselves, and there is indeed selfishness in serving our children. If we look at the world with it problems and anxieties, with vast numbers of people undernourished, at its political problems and the threat of strife and warfare, it is certain that we must come to the conclusion that some of the things we are looking for are insufficient. If we really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (and it is to be hoped we do), if we endeavor in some measure to think about Him and His ways of Truth, and to listen to the words that He has spoken to us, then we shall believe those words. And He has told us quite unmistakably to seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to us (Matthew 6:33).
Seek first the Kingdom
Seek ye First the Kingdom of God. During the last war it was necessary, both in the United States and in Britain, to have a system of priorities. There were certain things to be done First. It was said of Winston Churchill that he had on his desk a tray on which was a note, “immediate, to be done today”. So far as we are concerned there are certain things to be done Today, not to be put off until tomorrow. It is urgent that we begin to think seriously about the things we are looking for, and to compare our way of life with the words of Jesus Christ concerning the Kingdom of God. He said: “Seek ye First the Kingdom of God”. Just what do we think the Kingdom of God is? Is it something that exists today, did it exist in the past, or is it to be set up in the future? If we think about the prayer that the Lord gave to His disciples (the Lord’s Prayer as it is commonly called), we will call to mind His words: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. From these words we can readily see that the Kingdom of God must surely be something to Look Forward To. That is just what Jesus said when He was here. He said that the Kingdom of God is like unto a nobleman who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. Now the Lord Jesus Christ has done just that. He is the nobleman of that parable, He has gone into a far country, into heaven with His Father. He has received from the Father all power in heaven and in earth, and He is Coming Back. He is coming back because the Scriptures tell us that when He returns the Kingdom of God will be established upon this earth. The Apostle Paul, when preaching about these things, said, in the 17th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles that God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Verse 31). There is a day in God’s calendar, an appointed day, when Jesus Christ will return to this earth and establish the Kingdom of God. It hardly seems possible to read the Scriptures without being convinced of this fact. That will be the day of the New World, the new age when God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. Christ will be here, He will be God’s appointed King. He will reign from Jerusalem, God’s beloved city, His law shall go forth from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. That is the day when the will of God, the will of the Heavenly Father (if such He is to us) will be done throughout the earth, and the new world. Now when the Lord Jesus Christ is made King in this earth (and He will be made King, in that very city where He was despised and put to shame), He will have with Him a goodly number of princes, or associate rulers. We can hear their song in the Book of Revelation when they sing: “Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). These are the new men for the new world. In this day in which we live, God is choosing by His Word of Truth a select number of people to be with Jesus as rulers in His kingdom. That call is coming to us now, God is calling us through His Word of Truth. Whoever we are, wherever we are and whatever we are doing, at This Moment we might become new men for the new world. To be new men for the new world we must take hold of the Word designed for the new men, the Bible.
Do we read the Bible?
Are we reading the Bible regularly? Is it by our bedside? Is is something that read and think about? Is it something that we study so that we can understand and believe it? If so, we have picked up the code of the new world, God’s directions for the new men. At this very moment, let us decide to heed what God says in His Word when He directs us to “seek first the Kingdom of God.” Let us get ready for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. If God tells us to Seek the Kingdom of God, it means that we will not find it until we do seek it. It is not something born within us, it is not something every man has. We must prepare our hearts before we can understand the plan that God has for this earth. The return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth is God’s appointed purpose. All the Scriptures testify to this fact, the Old Testament, as well as the New. The prophet Daniel in the Old Testament says concerning our day (and let us remember that it IS concerning our day) that “in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: . . . but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44). That is the day when the Lord Jesus Christ will be King of Kings, and Lord of Lords — that is His appointed mission. It is not merely a matter of the Lord Jesus Christ reigning in our hearts now, though truly He must do that, but it is our being prepared for the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ by being new men. The Lord God does not merely wish that we would become better men today, He wants us to be new men for the Kingdom of God.
How to become a new man
How shall we become new men? By being born again; by this Word of Truth that God has given to us. There was a man to whom Jesus Christ spoke about these things when He told him that ” Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The man was so puzzled and troubled in his mind that he asked how a man could be born when he is old. There is a way, however, in which we can be reborn. The Apostle Peter and the Apostle James, in speaking about these things, tells us that the way to be reborn is by the Word of the Kingdom of God. We must become acquainted with the Word of God; we must get to know the purpose of God; apply our hearts to it; seek it; look for it; pray about it; think about it; read about it whenever we have a moment (and we should make time for this important purpose). As soon as it is possible for us to do so, let us read the Gospel of Mark. It is a short gospel, only sixteen chapters, but as we read it, let us take to ourselves some of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, in order that we might become new men.
In conclusion, here is the promise of the personal return of Jesus Christ. Within seconds of His leaving the earth God said, through His angels sent to the apostles: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Let this sink deep into our hearts, He is coming back Personally, and will set up His kingdom on this earth. Let us ask ourselves, are we seeking the things of this world, or are we looking for the Kingdom of God? Do we want to be new men and be ready to meet Him? If we do want to meet Him, let us start Today to search the Scriptures and follow in the way He has laid out for us.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One