Mankind’s failure through disobedience to his Creator resulted in the loss of his dominion over the earth. He lost his kingdom mandate, his gift of divine power. In short man lost his kingdom. It is important to note here that when man fell from grace, he lost a kingdom, not a religion. He lost dominion over the earth; he did not lose heaven. Therefore, mankind’s search if not for a religion or for Heaven, but for his kingdom. This is why religion can never satisfy the deep hunger in the heart of man. Religion is itself the search. No religion can substitute for the kingdom or fill the vacuum in man’s soul. The hunger of the human heart is for the lost kingdom. A careful and honest look at the biblical Script will reveal that the fundamental message of this greatly misunderstood Book is about a King and a Kingdom.
The Bible is not primarily about a religion or rituals, but about the establishment of a kingdom rulership on this planet from the heavenly realm. It is about a divine project of governing earth from Heaven through mankind. In practical terms, the Bible is about a royal family mandated to colonize earth from Heaven. I believe no one who has ever lived has been misunderstood more than the young teacher who happened to be born, not by preference but by promise, through the line of the Old Testament Hebrew patriarch Abraham – Jesus the Christ. Jesus’ message, assignment, passion, and purpose were not to establish a religion of rituals and rules but rather to reintroduce a Kingdom. Everything Jesus said and did was focused on a kingdom, not a religion. Those, to whom he came first, the Jews, misunderstood Jesus and saw him as a rebel, a misfit, and a fanatic. In their minds he was, at best, a misguided rabbinical teacher spreading heresies that contaminated the teachings and laws of Moses and Judaism. Christians have misunderstood him as the founder of a religion and have transformed his teachings and his methods into customs and his activities into rituals. Many have reduced his message to nothing more than an escapist plan for getting to heaven and his promises as a mere fire insurance policy for escaping the pains of a tormenting hell.
Jesus had only one message, one mandate, and one mission – the return of the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. Jesus’ first announcement found in Matthew 4:17 was the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. His solution to the malnourished and bankrupt human spirit was not a religion but the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, if you are spiritually poor; only the Kingdom will satisfy and fulfill your hunger. The Kingdom is God’s priority and must become our priority if we are to overcome the confusion of religions and the threat of self-destruction.
Taken from Kingdom Principles by Myles Munroe