I was recently preaching a message about how Jesus used this phrase the moment He began His ministry. The kingdom represents God’s rule and reign, or you could say God’s way of doing things. Repent in this context really is Jesus saying “change your thinking” or begin to see the kingdom of God in the way it was always intended. It was this gospel or good news that Jesus brought to the world.

As I looked at a way of explaining what Jesus was trying to put over I thought of it in the terms of an old recipe book. Think of it as a big book with many wonderful recipes but for generations people had been restricted to one page because the rest had been forgotten over time. So all they knew was how to make stew and dumplings. Now, I think I chose that because dumplings happen to be my least favourite food in all the world. I am sure many of you enjoy it but it is not for me. I have even tried Uzbekistan dumplings served in Russia by two lovely old ladies but I just could not eat them and had to find a way to hide them so they were not offended as they proudly brought out plate after plate. Who says being on the mission field is easy.

Having said that think about what it would be like if for generations you thought that was the only food you were allowed to prepare and eat. You would be feeling pretty bored and life would not be much fun. Then one day someone comes along and brings the rest of the recipe book. This book shows you could have been eating prime rib or chicken or curry or eggs or fresh fruit or whatever else is your favourite food.

At that point you would realise that you had been deceived all these years.

Well, that is exactly what happened in the Spirit when Jesus began His ministry. He started to show the world what they had been missing while they were in bondage to the religious tradition that had kept them locked up for years.
Here comes Jesus making the fulness of the kingdom of God visible. He went into homes telling them the truth, healing their bodies and giving them a clear picture of how much their Father God loved them and cared about every area of their life. Compared with what they had been told it must have been a stark contrast.

It is not surprising then that they flocked from all over to see and hear what he had to say. They were so attracted to the real thing.

The sad thing is that we still need to be the ones revealing the whole “recipe book” to the world. In each generation there are those held in darkness and tradition be it in the church or the world and they need to see the fulness of God’s kingdom demonstrated to them in both word and power.

Think about this and ask yourself afresh. Will I go and be the one to bring the light of Jesus wherever I go?