What follows are some important concepts on living truthfully and authentically as a disciple of Jesus Christ in the vast arena of the Kingdom of God.
- A disciple must acclimate to the operations of divine providence. God is sovereign and His plans and purposes will prevail.
- A disciple understands that each individual narrative of salvation is only a part of the metanarrative of God’s deliverance and rescue of peoples and nations, the earth and the entire cosmos.
- A disciple recognizes how God has spoken, is speaking, and will continue to speak. God reveals Himself through His creation, in our consciences, and through His Word (Christ and the Scriptures). He superintends and preserves the entire process.
- A disciple engages the sovereignty and salvation of God through prayer. The disciple is assured that God hears, listens to, and answers prayer. The answer may take time to process as it may initially be beyond comprehension.
- A disciple is motivated by the knowledge that Jesus explains God to us, that He went about declaring the incredible news of His kingdom, and that he invites us to participate with Him in bringing His kingdom to consummation and completion.
- A disciple follows Jesus by “taking up His yoke” (His interpretation of truth and reality), by humbly assuming the responsibility of “binding and loosing” (figuring out what it means to be the people of God in our present world and culture), and by responding to Christ’s charge to take this good news to all nations (producing disciples). This is all accomplished via the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit.
- A disciple must continue to mature in obedience and to grow in faith (faithfulness). The disciple becomes more capable, confident, and even creative in witness, as well as more resilient in the midst of suffering and adversity. The lifestyle and language of a disciple should be a living definition of the kingdom and should display the destiny of all who enter this kingdom.
- A disciple is amazed by the eternal nature of the gospel and the kingdom of God. Continual worship is the obvious response!
[stextbox id=”info”]The recent series of blogs come directly from the lesson preparation and class participation of our weekly gatherings called “Reversed Thunder.” Join us each week until November 13th or view the video archives by clicking HERE.[/stextbox]