Matthew 6:33;
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
The study of this text spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ, lends to it, the posing of two or three questions, such as:
- Where is His kingdom?
- What and or Who is the righteousness of God?
In an attempt to answer the first question, the Scriptures tell us in Luke 17:21; nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst(Or is within you).” An understanding of this could mean that the kingdom of God is in our heart. A further look at the scriptures lends credence to this. In the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3 verse 11, reads; He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. The Kingdom of God is forever. 1 Corinthians 13:8; Love never fails (NIV). Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! (NLT). God created everything out of love, rescued the works of His Hand because of love, brings life out of death because of love. God’s kingdom or love is forever. And is located in the human heart but is beyond our perception from the beginning of our life to the end of it, and yet this kingdom is forever. An indication of life after death.
The book of Ezekiel, chapter 11, verses 17-20; “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’ 18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Here we are being informed that getting to the kingdom of God entails certain entry requirements that lies in God’s Hands. God is the One that grants entry, and it is not such that just as every human being having a heart can get to the location of the kingdom of God, there are preconditions and the location is not existing in everyone, it has to be created by God afresh, that is a new heart. This is corroborated in Ephesians 2:8-10; For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Furthermore, John 3:3;5-8; Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” And in Matthew 22:37; Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ And finally, on the issue of location, Colossians 3:15; Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts (see Isaiah 32:17), since as members of one body you were called to peace. The King reigns or rules in His Kingdom, which is located in new hearts given by Him to men.
This brings us to the next question, which is; what is the righteousness of God? Righteousness means a right relationship with God as a result of justification from sin. What kind of righteousness are we talking about and where does it come from, Paul writes in Philippians 1:11; filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. And he expounds on this in Philippians 3:9; and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Being made right with God through Christ enables us to live rightly before Him. The context of this comes from Philippians 3:7-15; But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently that too God will make clear to you.
This brings us to the phrase, “fruit (or harvest) of righteousness”. Proverbs 11:30; The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives (Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God). Furthermore, in Isaiah 32:17; The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. Part of the preconditions of the kingdom of God is the moulding or training or discipline of the citizens, such as stated in Hebrews 12:11; No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. This is corroborated in James 3:18; Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. However, we have in Amos 6:12; Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plough the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness. The phrase “fruit of righteousness” refers to the righteousness of God implanted in us “through Jesus Christ”, causing acts of practical righteousness to flow out of us.
No man is able to produce fruit by his own unaided efforts. They are fruits that come “through Jesus Christ, for apart from him the disciple can do nothing (John 15:5; “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.) and the end result of the fruit produced is good. This is guaranteed and confirmed by Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:17-18; Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
The Christian life is a supplied life, not a produced life. The Christian life must be supplied by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We cannot manufacture, compose or produce the Christian life for ourselves. Our Lord told us this in John 10:10; The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. And in John 10:15; just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. After which, the presence of the Holy Spirit in a Christian brings about the continuous experiencing of love which Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19; And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. And in Ephesians 3:17-19; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Such infilling and the results revealed as fruit in people’s life are always to the Glory of and praise of God. Believers’ lives ought to glorify and praise God, for it is by His Grace alone that sinful human beings can obtain righteousness. Believers are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). God is the ultimate purpose of all. Everything mentioned must be to the Glory and praise of God. Philippians 4:20; To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Romans 11:36; For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
The circle must be completed. Fruits descending from heaven must lift their fragrance back to heaven again. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Matthew 5:16; In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. John 15:8; This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. And John 17:4; I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.
Finally, attempting to answer the question: who is the righteousness of God? That is Jesus Christ. This answer is laid out in Romans 3:22-26; This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Furthermore, we were informed in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that; God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. In addition, this understanding goes further in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31; It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” Jesus is the only human being who has ever had perfect faith in God. the faith the Lord demands from us is real faith, not perfect faith, and faith can be real even if it is imperfect faith, still, we are never to be satisfied with imperfect faith but are to seek growth in our willingness to trust God over the course of our lives (2 Thessalonians 1:3; We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.) We can grow our faith through the study of Scriptures, prayer, and the diligent use of God’s other means of Grace.
References: https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/36961-fruit-of-righteousness
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/christ-our-righteousness/
