Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God. In one important passage recorded in three of the Gospels, the kingdom of God, salvation and eternal life are all equated with each other, and related to following Jesus. In fact, the word for 'life' and 'salvation' are the same in Aramaic.

The rich young ruler asks Jesus: "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life [salvation]?" (Mark 10:17) After his conversation Jesus said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." The disciples were even more amazed and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

To be saved is the same thing as entering the kingdom of God. How do we enter the kingdom of God? We enter by coming under the kingly rule of God, by accepting the claim of God on our loyalty and obedience. It is to live under the authority of the One you regard as your Sovereign or Commander-in-Chief. This requires humility. This is why it is so hard for those of us who want to remain independent, who see ourselves as self-made, and our success the result of our own hard work, and want to remain our own Commander-in-Chief.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." It is not the proud, self-righteous Pharisee who is commended by Jesus. It is the sinner who asks God for mercy (Luke 19:9-14) What are the human conditions for entry into the kingdom of God? It is our response to Jesus himself. He represents and embodies the kingdom of God. We enter the kingdom of God when we enter into a relationship with Jesus. We join his company, his fellowship, his community, his band of disciples. When the apostles preached the good news of the kingdom of God they invited people to repent and believe in Jesus (Acts 8:12).

Salvation means entering into the kingly rule of God and sharing in the life of God. We enter into it, we receive it, we inherit it. It is a foretaste of the life of heaven. Our future destiny is determined in the present. It depends on our commitment here and now to God's messenger of the kingdom.

But all this is gobbledygook, religious jargon, unless there is a work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The kingdom of God is invisible to those who are outside it. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.... No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."<.i> (John 3:3,5)

It is possible to go through life ignorant of the kingdom of God, indifferent to salvation, and confident in your own virtue. You simply cannot see the life of the kingdom of God. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, a member of the ruling council, one of Israel's theological teachers, a leader among his people, educated and cultured, "You are Israel's teacher, and you do not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?" (John 3:10-12) This is why it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. This life and its rewards are just too immediate and appealing even if they do not ultimately satisfy or endure.

We have to become like little children to see the kingdom of God. "Jesus called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'" (Matthew 18:2,3)

You cannot even see the kingdom of God, unless within you is the heart of childhood, and all things are mysterious to the child. The children's world is full of spiritual presences; they never think of God as far away. I do not think that any child would be much surprised if it met God out in the green fields. Flowers speak to them in voices we have lost, the night winds cry to them, the clouds are still peopled countries...Now Jesus wants no disciple to be childish: when we become men we put away childish things. But the childlike spirit, that believes in possibilities, that hungers for a world behind the world, that cannot touch a flower or hear an echo but there comes some suggestion of things mystical, that spirit is the spirit of the Christian. (George H. Morrison, The Incomparable Christ, p.36)

Mark Bauerlein tells how his son helped to save him from atheism. "I had a four-year-old son who posed big questions to me such as "Daddy, where is God?" and something inside stopped me from answering, "Nowhere." One day in late 2010, I took him to Catholic services at the chapel on the Princeton campus. I wanted him to experience the Church as part of his education in history and culture. The chapel is an imposing building modeled on the fourteenth-century English Gothic style, and the architecture did its work that day. So did the Catholic ritual. My son's eyes kept rising up the columns to the vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows. When the priest and servers with their robes and candles passed by, he turned his head slowly to follow the procession step by step. When people lined up for Communion, he shed his customary shyness and pleaded to join them. At that moment, my atheism turned into a sorry lack of sensibility, a lack that I refused to pass along to my son. (My Failed Atheism, First Things, May 2012)

To go back to our initial question - what is there a deep longing for in our day? Where are people looking for salvation today? Is there a hunger in your heart for wholeness, emotional release, security in this world and the next? Does salvation lie within yourself, in self-control, in pursuing your own goals and being devoted to success in this life alone?

Jesus said that salvation lies in the kingdom of God. Eternal life, eternal salvation, is to be found in the kingdom of God. We cannot be saved by ourselves. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man (that is all of us) to enter the kingdom of God. It is impossible for us but possible for God. He comes in Jesus to give us new life, the new life of the Spirit, so, that like children, simply and trustingly, we can enter the kingdom of God. We repent of our pride and self-confidence, and humbly accept the claims of God on our loyalty and obedience. "For the kingdom of God...is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17) Isn't this what we deeply long for?

This message can be viewed live through streaming of this Sunday's worship: www.ameliachapel.com. Ted's blog may be found at the same site.