Matt. 13:33-35 (NIV)
33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.
35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”
The parables that Jesus always used, were stories with a hidden meaning. Jesus taught using parables because the people He was speaking to were not ready to receive the truth. And this truth was about the Kingdom of God. He preached about the Kingdom all His life.
God, being the King in heaven desires to establish a Kingdom on earth and He wants what happens on earth be as what happens in heaven.
The word Kingdom in Hebrew is ‘basilea‘ and it means sovereign authority or dominion. God wanted to use man to establish this authority and so, He gave man the instructions in Genesis 1:26-28: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it… have dominion over…” However, because of the fall in the garden of Eden, man lost dominion, and authority when he was deceived into handing them over to the serpent/devil.
This original sin by man has consequences that are felt by all of us to this day. The pain and sufferings we see, watch and hear about every day are not caused by God, but by man. Because man was given dominion over the earth but got tricked into surrendering the dominion to Satan; the consequence is the pain and suffering we experience.
Salvation is meant to restore man back to his place of dominion. A huge mistake that we Christians sometimes make is to think that God saved us just to take us to heaven. Yeah, we will go to heaven and our place in eternity is guaranteed. But God also intends that His kingdom is first established here on earth.
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed (really small seed) which when put in a good environment, can germinate and grow into a very large tree on which birds can live on. By this, it influences its surroundings. ~ Matthew 13:31
The Kingdom of God is also like yeast that is added to dough and permeates through. And because of this yeast, the dough rises. This is how we, members of God’s Kingdom should influence all that come into contact with. A Christian should always try to be an influencer of the world. And by the world, I mean those you’re in contact with. Your friends, workmates, and family. They are your world.
Finally, when each of us does our job to influence our world, then the influence of God will start to be felt on earth. We become influencers by our faith and by the way we do things that bring honor to God’s name. All this, as we await the ultimate manifestation of God’s kingdom that will happen when Christ returns.
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