The
Kingdom of God Is Divine
The
word for kingdom is taken from basileia,
the word for king, and simply means "the reign of the king."
It means all of the territory of His realm.
The
king is God; His territory includes the whole cosmos. But the
question of the ages is this: Is your life part of the territory of
the reign of this King? It is important to remember that the kingdom
of God did not start with Jesus' appearance; it just made a giant
leap forward. The kingdom of God has always been. God has always been
on the throne.
"The
Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules
over all" (Psalms
103:19).
Wherever
God is, there is His rule and reign. If you will not submit to His
rule and reign, the kingdom of God still exists. If you resist the
Spirit of God who is moving upon your heart, the kingdom of God will
still exist and the intent and purposes of God Almighty will go
forward.
God
ruled through creation. The heavens obeyed Him, even when man did
not. The beasts of the earth, the winds and waves and the heavenly
bodies obeyed Him.
God
ruled through providence. God was working all things together for our
good and especially preparing a people, the Hebrews, to bring forth
Messiah for the world.
This
prayer changes the world through a conviction that God must be
glorified in your heart and in the hearts of others.
Jesus
came healing and teaching. When He cast out demons, He said,"But
if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you"(Matthew
12:28).
Every
person healed, every demon cast out, every word spoken to sinners was
an advancement of the kingdom of God in the world. On the cross,
Jesus, the Son of God, shed His blood for His people -- all of those
who would ever trust in Him -- and on the morning of the first day of
the week, Jesus arose and the King inaugurated a resurrection that
would extend to all of His people. At the ascension, our King
ascended, and we are told that He ever lives to intercede for us.
It
is no wonder that people are still confused about the kingdom of God
today, for so they were when He came.
Once,
having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would
come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your
careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it
is,' because the kingdom of God is within you"(Luke
17:21,
).
Did
you hear that? Jesus said that "the kingdom of God is within
you." It is not a physical kingdom first. It is not about land
or armies or money or earthly power. In fact, the King of this
Kingdom won victory on a cross. Some of the greatest subjects of the
Kingdom have been killed for their faith in this King, and today many
of them look old and weak and small in the eyes of the world. The
Kingdom starts within you and grows out from there.
Paul
wrote, "For
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present
darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
places" (Ephesians
6:12).
Lucifer
is said to be the ruler of this world. We are not saying that Christ
is not King of kings and Lord of lords or that His sovereignty is in
any way diminished. We are only admitting that there is another
kingdom.
There
is a struggle in your heart; there is territory unclaimed by Christ
even in the lives of His people. Though Satan cannot have your soul,
he seeks that one territory to hold. But Jesus is the bondage
breaker. The kingdom of God is greater than the kingdom of Satan.
Christ calls each of you to see the seducing city of man, the kingdom
of Satan, in your own life and to turn from it and run to Him.
The
Bible also tells us,"...The
reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the
devil"(1
John 3:8).
In
Matthew
12:22-29 Jesus
was attacked by religious leaders for casting out demons. It was
charged that He had a demon. Jesus shows the absurdity of such a
claim by saying that a kingdom divided cannot stand. But then Jesus
goes on to talk about one who enters a house, binds a strong man
(Satan) and plunders the house. In this, clearly, Jesus is the one
entering the kingdom of Satan, binding Satan at the cross, and
plundering his kingdom.
Before
Christ, Satan was loose upon the earth and the earth was held in
darkness. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again, the church was
unleashed into the world with the gospel, and Satan was bound. Today
there is no place, no man and no situation that is a lost cause
because Satan, the strong man, is bound and Christ is loosed in
Satan's former kingdom, gloriously plundering it by setting men free!
Each
time Jesus healed a demoniac, liberated a soul enslaved to Satan, or
encouraged a saint to go on and share the gospel in this world, He
was plundering Satan's house. Today, every time a woman is shown
God's grace and she receives forgiveness of sins, the kingdom comes.
Every time a child, nourished in the gospel in his own home, comes to
see that this gospel is not just Mom and Dad's salvation but his
salvation, the kingdom comes.
But
you say the Bible says that Satan goes about like a roaring lion! And
you are right. We all know it in our personal lives. But we also
read,"...the
ruler of this world is judged" (John
16:11).
When
we pray "Your kingdom come," we are also praying for the
fulfillment of the kingdom by the return of Christ and the
restoration of all things. The Lord said, "Then
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any
sea" (Revelation
21:1).
"He
who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then
he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and
true'" (Revelation
21:5).
"Then
comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after
destroying every rule and every authority and power" (1
Corinthians 15:24).
The
very fact that Jesus instructs us to pray for the kingdom to come
shows that His rule and reign in our lives and in our world is
dependent upon our prayers. This is revolutionary in its self, but
true. The kingdom will come through prayer itself. God ought to be
able to bring in His kingdom without me, and He can. But he desires
that I pray for it. Prayer becomes the engine of the kingdom of God.
We
have learned what the Bible says about the kingdom of God and how
this one prayer is literally changing the world. But this prayer is
also the gospel for you who need forgiveness. It is the prayer for
you, believer, whose soul has unconquered territories -- citadels of
resistance -- that must give way to the loving rule of Jesus Christ.
The teaching of the kingdom is imminent, immediate, personal, and
urgent and requires your response today.
Joshua,
the leader of Israel, had seen the opposing kingdoms and was
concerned that Israel be faithful to God.
"Now
therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in
faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the
River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your
eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve.... But
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua
24:14-15).
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