It seems that in our world today everyone has an agenda, and for the most part it has very little to do with the reason for their being. An agenda can be a formal list of things to do in a specific order, or matters that need attention, or personal motivation (an underlying personal viewpoint or bias, i.e., “he has his own agenda”).

God has an agenda also! His agenda is designed with all-knowing wisdom, perfect love, and all-powerfulness. It includes the greatest good for the greatest number for the longest period, for the maximum glory of God. His agenda is called, “The Kingdom of God, or of Heaven”.

We are not left to personal or public opinions to determine what the first things, the main things, the priorities of life are – King Jesus declares it upfront and most emphatically – KINGDOM FIRST! What is God’s kingdom agenda and how do we conduct all of our lives by it? Let’s consider the answers by looking first at:

The Divine Priority of the Kingdom is Specific in its Mandate

The God of the Bible is the God who is great and good, large and in charge, holy and happy, and the God of plenty, of abundance, of wealth, of bounty, of prosperity. The plans that He has for His people are "plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them hope and a future.” (Jerm 29:11). God’s plan, or agenda, is all tied up in the person of His Son, who is the King of Glory, and in the sphere of His kingdom.

Kings don’t offer suggestions, or opine opinions, but instead decree mandates! King Jesus is very specific in His mandate – SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! Jesus came to inaugurate a kingdom, not to establish a religion. His first public proclamation was about the kingdom, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Jesus' constant message was on the kingdom. The central theme of His teaching was the kingdom of God.

A. The Kingdom of God Demands a Choice as to Who or What will have the Exclusive Priority of Our Lives

Matt. 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

1. Whatever we prize the most we will prioritize and pursue the greatest!

The master of our heart may be properly termed the love that reigns in it. We serve exclusively that which we love supremely.

The issue of authority is of the utmost importance because that which is sovereign in an individual’s life is the source of power and the force behind that person’s self-government. That source - that sovereignty - controls the individual’s heart and mind; it directs the thoughts; it determines their values and the stand­ards; it outlines the course of their life; it ultimately prescribes the individual’s actions and reactions – thus their destiny.

2. Whoever’s Agenda We are Pursuing, Reveals the Ultimate Authority in Our Life!

Pastor Tony Evans defines God’s Kingdom Agenda as: “The visible manifestation and application of the comprehensive rule of God in, over, and through every area of life.”

Whose agenda are you following? To what person or concept have you given authority to determine the agenda for the next 24 hours of your life? Who is the boss in your life? Are you trying to get God to bless your agenda or are you seeking to align yourself with His?

The question of Kingship or Lordship is the hinge upon which the door to the whole of the Christian life swings. We can never do the preeminent thing without continually being submitted to the Preeminent One.

The Kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ isn’t and optional extra that you can take or leave. Surrendering to King Jesus isn’t something that you do years after taking Christ as your Savior.

B. The Kingdom of God is the Starting Point for all Right Living and Long-Term Prosperity and Productivity

Matt. 6:33,“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The word seek is in the present tense, which means that we are to go on continuously seeking first the kingdom of God – making it always the priority of our lives and labors.

"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" is the large, overarching command – be passionate about experiencing the saving, purifying, empowering, love-producing, joy-filling- peace-providing reign of God in your life and over all the world. "Thy kingdom come!" – in my life, my family, our church, our country, and over the nations.

What is the meaning of the term kingdom of God?

There are those who teach that the phrase kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven or two separate entities. But my understanding is that the Kingdom of Heaven reveals the place of its origin, and the kingdom of God identifies the Person who runs it.

Our English word is made up of two words, King and Dome. The kingdom of God is the domain of the King. It is living under the dome, the covering, the authority of the King’s rule. The late Myles Monroe defines the kingdom as: “The governing influence of a king over his territory or domain, impacting it with his personal will, purpose, and intent, producing a culture, values, morals and lifestyle that reflect the king’s desire and nature for his citizens.”

The kingdom of God isn’t an impersonal domain presided over by an uncaring ruler, who has a position, but no power, who would if he could, but by Almighty Father. This King is not a manipulative manager, a demanding tyrant, or a big-time bureaucrat, but a Loving Father. The Ruler of the Kingdom is the Father. The kingdom became incarnational in history in Jesus. The kingdom was Jesus message and methods because the kingdom was in Jesus and Jesus was the kingdom. The kingdom was the first message and last message of the book of Acts – 1:3;28:33.

To be born again into the kingdom of God is to receive the nature of a Father’s heart! Life in the kingdom of God is found not in personal origination, i.e., doing my own thing, but in ancient succession – passing on the Father’s heart to the sons. Jesus didn’t pride Himself in being original, but on carrying His Father’s heart and doing nothing that He didn’t see His Father doing

The kingdom involves the formation of a Father’s heart through association with the Father as incarnate in another person. The modern way is to provide a lot of information without transformation. Gen 18:19, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”

Psa 78:5-6, “For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children,”

We must command our biological and spiritual children in the ways of the kingdom of God – it’s vitality, it’s joy, it’s hardships, it’s victory. We must equip them to be world-visionary, world-impacting, co-partners in the Family Firm of Almighty and Sons. We must tell them that the prospects of the future are as bright as the promises of God. We must get them firmly rooted in and accountable to the past, see to that they are truly relevant in the present, and confidently reaching out in anticipation of the future. We must teach them to believe that theirs isn’t the terminal, but germinal generation.

Matt 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Righteousness is a description of God’s character manifest in the way he acts.  God is righteous. Seeking righteousness is recognizing and loving, seeking and welcoming and upholding what is truly and eternally valuable – the Father and his kingdom!

The essential nature of the kingdom of God is divine power, wrapped in love, directed toward recovering the glory of God, and the reconciliation of man to God in a relationship of righteousness, peace and joy. Kingdom first living is to confidently be expecting the continually coming kingdom to be displacing the rule and ruin of the demonic and reversing the curse of sin by the power of the resurrection life of King Jesus! (The kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power - 1Cor 4:20).

How do I rate the level of my prioritizing the kingdom of God in my daily life? The kingdom is first and foremost in my daily life when I am daily walking in the love of God, living in the will of God and obeying the Word of God. If I am truly enjoying a love relationship with the King, then I will be gladly submitting to the King’s rulership and will sacrificially labor in productive kingdom partnership.

Father, thy name be hallowed more fully, thy kingdom come more fruitfully, thy will be done more freely.