As Christians we frequently ask ourselves:What are the main characteristics of the kingdom of heaven? What to do to reach the kingdom of heaven?
These concerns can accompany us throughout our lives, in the teachings of Jesus we find answers to these questions.
In the Our fatherthe prayer that Jesus has taught us, we find the way to ask the Father, pointing out various aspects that have to do with the kingdom that he presented to us:
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Let your kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
As we see there, Jesus shares with us part of the mystery of faiththe Father is in heaven, may that kingdom come to us that He proposes to us on earth and that is for everyone.
Let’s see what that kingdom to which Jesus proposes to us is like.
The main characteristics of the kingdom of heaven
In many bible passages, we can find how Jesus introduces us to the kingdom of heaven and makes many comparisons. Analogies that allow us to visualize what his kingdom is like, one of them is the parable narrated by Matthew 13:44 in which Jesus compares the kingdom to a hidden treasure that we all want to enjoy.
The Kingdom of Heaven is linked to the person of Jesus.
The kingdom of God is a kingdom that the same God has established and whose ruler is superior to any government on earth. John 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world”. In addition to the supernatural, Jesus refers to the kingdom of God as a kingdom of power, as 1 Corinthians 4:20 presents it to us by stating that it is a kingdom of power and not words.
Another important revealed aspect of the kingdom is character, referring to the form or true nature of that kingdom which is actually what defines or characterizes it.
Well, then, the kingdom is characterized by being a kingdom of justiceWhy is it said to be a kingdom of justice?
In Matthew 6:33 the evangelist points out that God wants us to seek the kingdom of God and his justice, for them we must have a life of obedience to God, act righteously and be subject to the government of God.
A reign of Peace, to have peace is to live fully feeling that the word of God is true happiness.
Another aspect related to the character of the kingdom is joy, meaning that more than happy, we should live joyfully, confident that God is with us and everything is in His hands. If everything is in God’s hands, we lack nothing. all of the Kingdom of heavens has been revealed by the Holy Spirit
The kingdom of God is for everyone
The great novelty that Jesus reveals to us in his message is that the kingdom of heaven is for everyone, that it is given to us for free.
Being our Father, his love is unconditional and precisely because of that great love that I experience for Him, is that I live according to his word, being every day a builder of the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 2:6 “Whoever believes in Jesus will be seated in heavenly places with him, kept by his power and participating in his work”
Through the message of Jesus, the kingdom of God is a way of relating to our brothers, living in a humanized way, in a fraternal and supportive wayhaving God as the only absolute of our life.
The manifestation of the brotherhood of men will make them set out on the path to the Kingdom of God with joy, peace and justice, as Jesus has revealed with his word. The call of Jesus is addressed especially to the excluded and humiliated of this earth. We must give them room in our hearts; that is the proposal of the kingdom of God.
For being the kingdom of God for all, as love proposal to his children, we must live prepared for the arrival of that kingdom.
Luke 17, 20-25 When will the kingdom of God come? “The Kingdom of”
when we are baptizedand during our lives, we live according to the word of godcarrying the message of Jesus in our hearts.
Although we are human and weak, we are taken as Paul says to the Colossians 1:13: “The Father freed us from darkness and took us to the kingdom of his beloved son”