For nearly three and one-half years, Jesus the Christ preached and taught about the Kingdom of God-a kingdom that only born-again individuals could see and/or enter into. Jesus the Christ’s Good News about the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven) was the Good News about Himself: Jesus the Christ, the One who is the heavenly Son-God-Savior-King-Lord-Head who fulfilled the Perfect Will of His Father by becoming the God-man who sacrificially gave His life (died on the cross) in order to pay (atone) for this world’s sins. Furthermore, this God-man taught mankind this Good News about the Kingdom of God and Himself mostly through parables, and from His parables the hearers learned that the Kingdom of God only had ONE sovereign King who had dominion over every created heavenly and earthly creature.

Just like an earthly sovereign king or queen is automatically lord of his or her subjects, Jesus the Christ, who is Heaven and Earth’s sovereign King, also automatically is the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Since the definition of Lord is someone who is the owner of EVERYTHING and EVERYONE in a kingdom, simply because he or she has complete power and authority over all of the kingdom’s resources, including its citizens whose service and obedience are due him or her, then just as it is important for citizens of earthly kingdoms to worship their kingdoms’ kings or lords, it is important for the Kingdom of God citizens (Christians) to worship their Lord, King and Savior who is Jesus the Christ.

As born again (Holy Spirit regenerated) saved individuals who are ambassadors (authorized representatives or messengers) for their Lord and Savior, these citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth also have the essence of the Kingdom of God in Heaven dwelling in them. That essence consists of holiness, righteousness, mercy, love, grace, peace, joy, faith, goodness, kindness, gentleness, humility, self-control, divine truth, wisdom, power and authority, which the citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth are to demonstrate to this entire world. Additionally, the citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth are to make disciples of the brand new Holy Spirit rejuvenated and saved believers. In other words, citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth (Christian believers) are entrusted stewards who faithfully must increase the Lord’s Kingdom on Earth in His absence.

Jesus the Christ makes this last point comprehensible in His parabolic teaching on the Ten Servants (also called the Parable of the Ten Minas, or the Parable of the Talents). In Luke 19:12-15, Christ says:

A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called   together ten servants and gave them ten pounds of silver to invest for him while he was gone. But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say they did not want him to be their king. When he returned, the king called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what they had done with the money and what their profits were. (NLT)

In these opening verses to the parable about the Ten Servants, the nobleman (a common citizen who is uncommonly wealthy) is Jesus the Christ, the God-man who, after having fulfilled His initial purpose for coming to Earth, now is returning to Heaven where God will anoint and crown Him Lord and King of God’s heavenly and earthly Kingdoms, and then anoint and appoint Him as Head of the CHURCH. Before Jesus the Christ, the nobleman, leaves for Heaven, He gives ten of His servants a mina (100 denarii). Seven of the ten servants (who represent the Pharisees and their Jewish followers) rebel immediately, because they refuse to accept Jesus as their Lord and King. However, by the end of this parable, the remaining three servants (Christians) give an accounting of their stewardship to the nobleman (Jesus the Christ) who now has been elevated to the positions of Lord, King and Head. This new Lord, King and Head of the earthy Kingdom of God soon finds out, though, that only two of these three remaining servants have been productive!

The moral of this parable is that believers’ Christian life must involve their service and obedience to Jesus the Christ, because He has been anointed and appointed by God to be Lord (owner) of everything and everyone in the Kingdom of God in Heaven and on Earth. The Apostle Paul confirms this Divine Truth when he writes:

Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. Because  of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11, NLT)

Consequently, believers’ Christian living must involve their godly worship of Jesus the Christ, because He not only has been anointed and appointed worthy to manage God’s heavenly Kingdom’s spiritual resources (wisdom, knowledge, understanding, spiritual gifts, power, authority, the holy city, and the angelic hosts), but also has been anointed and appointed worthy to manage God’s earthly resources (land, water, vegetation, money, material goods, and all creatures). Therefore, just as earthly kingdoms’ citizens have to bow down and worship human lords or kings, Christian citizens of the Kingdom of God on Earth also must bow down and worship Jesus the Christ the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Moreover, this anointed and appointed Lord-King-Head is the Lion of Judah who is coming back to Earth again to rule and reign here with His saints.

That’s right! Just like the nobleman in the parable about the Ten Servants returns as a king and lord who is ready to reward his servants for the profit they gained on his mina, Jesus the Christ, who is the crowned, honored and glorified Son of God, is coming back with His reward in his hand for the lackadaisical and hard-working servants, as well as for the dissenting unbelievers.  Therefore, Jesus the Christ not only deserves to be honored and glorified by all of mankind, but also deserves to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth by His Kingdom of God on Earth citizens, and these true believers’ worship means that they must express their reverence of, respect/admiration for, and devotion to Jesus the Christ with EVERYTHING that is within them, which is the whole essence of the Kingdom of God.