The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God/Heaven

The Kingdom of Heaven is not a mythical place. It is the holy dwelling of the Lord Most High. And although we cannot even begin to comprehend its splendor, the Bible gives us beautiful descriptions of the place in which those who have received Jesus will spend eternity.

Let me start this write up by quoting the book of John so we can have a perfect glimpse of the hope of our calling as Christians. John 18:33-36 – ‘Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus and said to him, ‘Art thou the King of the Jews? and in verse 36 Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world: if my Kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my Kingdom not from hence.

As Christians, Jesus’s response to Pilate should always make us conscious that we do not belong to this world. We belong to a kingdom and this should give us hope and we are to ensure that Kingdom should always be at the forefront of our hearts. We are supposed to live everyday of our life with Joy and Peace knowing fully well that God has adopted us and translated us into the kingdom of His son Jesus Christ (Col 1:13), we are to according to Apostle Paul in Col 1 set our minds on this kingdom (things above) as we go about our activities here on earth. What this means literally is that according to our Lord Jesus we are to seek the Kingdom of God FIRST. Seek means we should attempt to desire or attain something. Let me quickly take us through some scriptures from the Old and New Testament that gives us a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God would look like.

Isaiah 11 Talks about the Righteous reign of Jesus as our King from verse 6, we are given a picture…

The wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb,
And the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together,
And A LITTLE CHILD shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed,
Their young ones shall lie down together,
And the Lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And the nursing child will safely play over the hole of the Cobra,
And the weaned child shall put his hand on the Vipers den and not be hurt,
They will not hurt or destroy in all my Holy Mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Psalm 24 verse 3

Who may ascend onto the mountain of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to what is false,
Nor has sworn oats deceitfully,
He shall receive a Blessing from the lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation

Psalm 48

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, his Holy Mountain,
Fair and beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the city of David in the far north,
The city of the Great king.

In Revelation 21 and and 22 the Apostle John gives us a clearer picture.

Then i saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and first earth had passed away. And i saw the Holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed like a bride adorned for her husband; and i heard a loud voice from the throne saying’ see the tabernacle of God is among men and he will live amongst them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be death, there will no longer be sorrow or anguish or crying and pain for the former order of things has passed away.
In Verse 5, God himself said ‘Behold i am making all things new. Also he said Write, for these words are faithful and true, they are ACCURATE, INCORRUPTIBLE and TRUSTWORTHY.

Revelation 21:21 “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass” To visualize the pearly gates of heaven, being formed out of ONE pearl, is unfathomable. Streets of gold, so pure that they are transparent, will extend from the twelve gates. What a beautiful description. When I visualize these images in my head, my soul is filled with Joy and I immediately understand why and how the Joy of the Lord should be my strength here on earth. I remember that Christ in me is the hope of Glory

What did Our Lord Jesus say about the Kingdom of God?

1. Mathew 6:33 we are to seek it FIRST – We are supposed to always live our lives here on earth with principles of a kingdom we hope to one day inherit. Every Kingdom has its principles; every kingdom has its culture. A Yoruba man living in Calabar will still behave like a Yoruba man, A Bini man living in Lagos will still behave like a Bini man. Same way we are expected as Children of God, Born of God, adopted into the family of God through the blood of Jesus to always behave like Jesus who is the perfect image of the invincible God.

2. In teaching us to pray we are to pray ‘thy kingdom come’. As Christians, the more we get close to God in our relationship with him, the more we hate this world and hunger for that promised Kingdom. Jesus admonishes us to pray every day that Gods Kingdom should come. This is because nothing in this world can really satisfy us, but i personally believe with my Spirit, Soul and body that we would be completely satisfied in the Kingdom of God. Our Lord Jesus said, in my father’s house are many mansions. He also said ‘I go to prepare a place for you’. The question we need to ask ourselves is ‘Do we really believe these things’? or we think its ‘a story for the gods’.

3. Luke 18:17 Jesus said I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whosoever does not receive the kingdom of God with faith and humility like a Child will not enter it at all. This verse had made me to literally take time to study closely the simple life of a Child. A child will always trust his dad. All his dad just needs to say is ‘Son, i will buy you an XBOX video game. Even if the Child hasn’t seen the game, he believes and trusts his dad will get it for him. Brethren That’s the exact attitude our Lord Jesus wants us to use in receiving the Kingdom of God.

4. Mathew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and Saying, Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has come near. Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Repentance and belief in Christ leads a person to a spiritual birth that guarantees entrance into the Kingdom. As a believer, the kingdom of God resides within us (Luke 17:21). When Jesus taught that the Kingdom was within the believer, his intent was to teach the believer of the new spiritual realm in which the person now lived. Nevertheless, the Church is a part of the Kingdom of God but is not the totality of his kingdom.

5. John 3:3 Jesus answered him, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born again, Born from above-spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified, he cannot ever see and experience the Kingdom of God.

And in verse 5, Jesus answered, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot ever enter the Kingdom of God.

What does it mean to be born again? I would like to point out that the term is quite explanatory in itself. Having pointed that out, to be BORN AGAIN means to be born a second time. Let me put it this way and use myself as an example. Before i knew Jesus i used to think a certain way and could do anything i wished. But being born again has transfored the way i think because i literally made the Nazarene- Jesus my Lord and saviuor. Hence my mind is renewed and i now behave and act how Jesus wants me to.So i can say i am born a second time by the Spirit of God.

Brethren God loves us so dearly. He created us in his own image Remember? The Story of God is actually a very beautiful Love Story, more touching than any love story that comes up in your mind. Its a story of Love, an Amazing Love, where our own King was brutally wounded and bruised to purchase us with his Blood. A love story Where our own King died for us.

Our Lord Jesus said two thousand years ago that the Kingdom of God is near. How close do we think the kingdom of God is at the moment? Let’s wait for our King, lets live for our Messiah in purity and free from sin and guilt. Let’s enthrone Jesus in our hearts and let him him subdue all that is not Holy and all that is not true. The time to repent and accept Jesus is NOW. Always Always remember how difficult it is getting a visa to a new country, not to talk of the screening at the airport, do we now think God will just allow anybody into his Kingdom? Read closely the books of the New Testament Mathew, Mark, Luke and John and allow the words of Jesus dwell in your hearts and change your world fixing your eyes on THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

Shallom