THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS LIKE A NET
"Or, God's kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. (Mat 13:47, MSG)Jesus Christ was a great teacher while he walked the earth and he had a knack for conveying his messages in parables. We see him roll out one parable after the other to illustrate and expound his points. In the book of Matthew chapter thirteen alone, Jesus spoke to the people in five powerful parables which he related to the operations of the kingdom of heaven (or the kingdom of God). It is one of these parables that we are going to take a look at in this discourse.
However, as a precursor to understanding this parable, let’s briefly examine the concept of a Kingdom:
The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines a kingdom as ‘a country ruled by a King OR an area where a particular thing or idea is important’. The Microsoft Encarta Dictionary further defines Kingdom as ‘a state or people ruled by a King or Queen OR a realm or area of activity which a particular thing is thought to dominate’. We can therefore conclude that a Kingdom consists of these three fundamental concepts:
ü Country/Area/Realm
ü Supreme Being or Idea
ü Constituents members who can be referred to as the population
With this understanding we can therefore define the Kingdom of God as the realm/area/domain where God and what he represents is supreme or dominant. Consequently, the Kingdom of God can be a place (physical or otherwise) or sphere or field of existence where the will and plan of God is dominant. This means that your family, place of work, professional field, hobby, business, country and etcetera an be the Kingdom of God subject to the dominance of his will. Fundamentally, the Kingdom of God starts with individual Christians according as it is written:
Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display, Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]. (Luk 17:20-21, AMP)
Also consider these verses; Matt 12:28, 21:43 and Mark 12: 28-34.
The eternal plan of God is that ALL THINGS come under the rule of his Kingdom (Rev 11:15) and that is why we have been sent to preach the message of the Kingdom in al the earth. This message is perfectly encapsulated in Matt 28:19-20.
Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." (Mat 28:19-20, MSG)
The above scripture tells us to make disciples (i.e., train to ensure followership) of every nation. A disciple is one that BELIEVES and FOLLOWS the principles of any particular Kingdom. The whole idea is that we should bring people into the Kingdom by making them both believe and follow the tenets of our Kingdom. It is obvious that we are far from achieving this mandate but permit me to ask at this juncture if we who regard ourselves as Christians are disciples ourselves. I however resist the temptation to pursue this line of thought because that is not the purpose of this discourse.
The important question is; if we are to make disciple of all nations, HOW do we accomplish this? A fundamental but often neglected operating principle in this regard was what Jesus was teaching on in Matthew chapter 13 verses 47-48. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a net that is let down into the sea that catches all kind of fish in their multitude. Isn’t this a shadow of our making disciples of all nations? The issue then is, do we function as a net as the body of Christ?
A net is a material that is made o strings, threads or wire WOVEN or TIED TOGETHER with small spaces in between. You see, a net can never be made out of just one thread or string no matter how strong it is. The problem we have had for such a long time as the body of Christ is that we have consistently refused to operate as a net. We do not NETWORK to extend the influence of our Kingdom in every sphere of human endeavour. Whether we like it or not, few of us cannot fulfill the Kingdom mandate: the eye cannot say to the feet ‘I need you not’ (1 Cor 12: 13-27). We have to learn to be positively biased about the Household of Faith.
We need to take over the realms of business and finance, marriage and relationships, politics and governance, education, agriculture, sports, entertainment and media, e.t.c. My friend, you better know that you can not take on the world system all by yourself or you will become an inevitable collateral damage. Generally speaking, the more the numerical strength of people of like-minds; the easier it is to propagate their ideas and principles for the purpose of extending their influence.
My call therefore to every Christians is that we should consciously and persistently seek to collaborate with one another to fulfill our corporate mandate of making disciples of all nations. In whatever sphere of human endeavour you operate, as you rise you must hold the hands of fellow believers and pull them up with you. On a parting note, if you are Christian and your best buddies, friends and associates aren’t from this Kingdom, then you have a big fat problem!
Adisa Oludare
