The Kingdom of Heaven – Part 6
During His ministry Jesus always cared about others. He healed the sick, He resurrected the death, He forgave the sinners, He fed the hungry, He freed the demon possessed, and most important He died so all of us could have eternal live. We can say that the establishment of the Kingdom of God began with good deeds.
The definition of good deeds or good works (as found at dictionary.com) is:
- Acts of charity, kindness, or good will. This expression, also put as good work, originally had the theological meaning of an act of piety.
For Jesus ‘good deeds’ are important:
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:16
When people see our good deeds God is glorified. However, good deeds alone are meaningless for God unless they come from a heart of love.
Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name’ And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ – Matthew 7:22-23
God doesn’t want us to do good deeds so we can show off. Good works have only one purpose: to help those in need.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” – (Matthew 25:31-46)
God does not need good works. But when we serve others we are serving God. The same way, if we don’t serve others, we are not serving God. Jesus said “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Lets do our part in the establishment of the Kingdom of God by serving others.
If you would like to begin a discussion on this teaching please do so by accesing the topic about the Kingdom of Heaven our forum site http://forum.forachangeonline.org/
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