BibleProject | How to Seek First the Kingdomنموونە

Where True Safety and Security Come From

Normal empires and kings tell their citizens that safety and satisfaction result when one has money, stuff, and power over other people. Once we have secured ourselves with these things, then we can serve others.

But Jesus, the King of God’s Kingdom, tells us that safety and satisfaction result when we love God and others as we love ourselves. When Jesus says “all these things will be added to you,” he’s talking about drink, food, and shelter—all symbols of provision, fullness, and life (see Matt. 6:19-32). At first, it sounds like he’s talking about a friendlier way to secure, right now, the goods we value above all else. But notice how Jesus tells the crowds that these things “will be” added to you. He’s not promising that this happens quickly.

He’s talking about a long-term vision for whole-world restoration. These things were not all added to Jesus himself during his lifetime. He remained poor and in great danger, even suffering as a victim of brutal murder. But he knew these experiences were not ultimate. Having every possible need met every day appears to be something we will ultimately experience when God’s Kingdom is complete, when everyone everywhere operates and loves according to the King.

Many of us will experience the pain of unmet needs in this life. We may not have the food, medicine, or other provisions we need to survive, even if we faithfully follow Jesus to the end. We may live with justice for all and still receive oppression in return. Some of us will be hurt and have no one to tend to our needs. Jesus' life and words speak to this reality as well. He himself experienced betrayal, poverty, hunger, and violence as he lived in the ways of God’s Kingdom. But he never felt insecure. Throughout the four Gospels, the story of Jesus shows him remaining confident that his life is in God’s hands.

Jesus did not embrace anxious ways of protection or accumulation, and he consistently teaches his followers to do the same (e.g., Luke 12:29-31). He was banking everything on God’s promise and trusting that the way of love is more satisfying, secure, and safe than any other way.

Though we can experience God’s Kingdom in part right now, especially in communities where others are choosing to live like Jesus (think Acts 2), we still suffer in ways that invite us to rely more and more on God’s generous character and his promise to unite his Kingdom with our whole world.

We’ll stop competing with coworkers. We’ll stop fretting about others’ approval. We’ll stop exhausting ourselves to secure a future we cannot control. The more we practice the ways of Jesus and his Kingdom, the more we enter a kind of freedom that helps us see how we are no longer in danger right now.

God’s got us. We are safe, and we are loved.

All of the fragmented and corrupted ways we use to satisfy our deepest needs will come to an end as Jesus renews Heaven and Earth. Jesus is bringing life as we would imagine it in Eden—peaceful, without threats, filled with adventure and generous love. The biblical story shapes our understanding of this Eden-like life to come, imagining an abundant world free from any kind of threat.