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A Kingdom Born of Love

billcohen33

God is creating His kingdom. The kingdom we first caught a glimpse of in the garden. The kingdom Jesus came to introduce us to, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” (Matt. 12:28). This is the eternal kingdom of His love. When we are born, God breathes the breath of life into our bodies, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7). This first birth is of the flesh and was God’s choice because He loves us and wants us to willingly choose to be part of His kingdom, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:15-17). You might think of the concept of "dead man walking," for God knows the future. This means He knows who will follow Him into eternity, and who will die the second death, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Jn. 10:28).

           

God knows we are not able to earn our own salvation, so He had to come down to show us the way, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (Jn. 14:6), by offering us the choice to be born again into the kingdom of God, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn. 3:3). We can choose to be born of the Spirit and enter His kingdom, thus following Him into eternity, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (Jn. 3:6). However, only when we learn to love, as He loves us, will we be born again of the Spirit, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (Jn. 3:6). This rebirth takes us on the journey from living in the flesh to living by the Spirit, a process God calls sanctification, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” (2 Thess. 2:13). If we are unwilling to go through the sanctification process, we do not believe Jesus is the Son of God.

           

His kingdom is being formed by volunteers who are choosing to be born again. Once this step is taken, we begin the sanctification process by renewing our minds, and our lives begin changing. If our lives are not changing, we are not reborn of the Spirit. It is the fruit of our rebirth that allows us to know we are reborn. Faith undemonstrated is fruitless, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?” (Jam. 2:20-21). This is how we know, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1 Jn. 5:2-4).

 

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” (1 Jn. 4:16). Once we understand how great His love is for us, His law of love leads us to Christ’s sacrifice, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8). And, our focus changes, from seeking the selfish abundant life this world offers, to seeking His kingdom and His righteousness, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33).

 

He then calls us to be salt, to flavor this world by becoming examples of the abundant life, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” (Matt. 5:13), and light, pushing back the darkness enough to lead others to Him, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16). We cannot be salt and light if we are unwilling to do the work He calls us to, which leads us to love everyone, including those whom we see as our enemies, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” (Matt. 5:44).

 

He wants us to spread His Gospel of peace to all the world, “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” (Eph. 6:15) and “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mk. 16:15). He wants us to be His witnesses, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). We cannot be witnesses when we are spewing hatred and legalism. God has given us a choice, and He wants us to give others the same freedom to choose, rather than becoming stumbling blocks, no matter how long it takes, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9).

 

God created us, and He knows we are lost without Him, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy … For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” (Ps. 103:8, 14). He knows we would not seek Him on our own, as the Israelites proved over and over again, “And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:” (Ex. 32:9). We would instead create gods who would tell us what we want to hear, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” (2 Tim. 4:3), gods who would allow us to do whatever we want. We are just too selfish to have created the selfless God of creation, “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matt. 22:39). Instead, we have created gods to control others, harsh gods who would punish people for their disobedience, this is the god the Pharisees brought us. Our selfish desires have brought us tribes, nations, and denominations. These divisions create all the wars and misery we have witnessed throughout history. This is not the kingdom God is creating. His kingdom will be united, abiding in love, and filled with servants, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (Jn. 17:21). The world is watching what we say and do. What do non-Christians think when they hear we are Christians?

 

God does not want us to follow false gods who lead us to our own death. So, He sent Jesus to show us how to deal with this world’s sins and selfishness. While on the cross, Jesus completed the life the Father assigned Him, fully demonstrating His willingness to bear the pain and suffering of this world to save us, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (Jn. 19:30). God’s plan provides a way for us to escape to eternity. To access His plan, we must believe in Jesus and accept that we need to be patient enough to allow God’s timing to work out in our lives. It is Jesus alone that leads us to eternity; we cannot add anything, as Paul taught Peter and the Judaizers. Despite the lies of this world, we must stand firm in the truth, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;” (Eph. 6:14). He has a purpose for each of us willing to fulfill it.

 

Jesus’s death introduced His new world order, one where those who had been unwelcome are now welcome, a world without force, where reigning means serving and everyone is loved, “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:26-28). Jesus came as a humble servant who was willing to die for us. If only our earthly leaders would follow His example.

 

Rebellion comes from our denial of God’s freely given love. We can witness this today in every part of our world, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” (1 Jn. 3:1).

 

When a member of the Sadducees came to ask Jesus a question, Jesus denounced him for his lack of knowledge regarding the scriptures, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” (Matt. 22:29). Religious leaders who memorize scripture, but refuse to understand the Spirit of God’s law of love are leading us away from God, “But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matt. 11:42). Jesus demonstrated this when He called the religious leaders of His day hypocrites and vipers, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7).

He has dire warnings for disobedient followers and false prophets, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt. 7:21-23). This world is trying to push us away from God.

 

God wants us to understand that we will experience abundant life now and for eternity when we follow His way, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10). What is the abundant life, and how does it compare to the selfish abundant life this world promotes? This world wants us to believe that the big house, fancy car, and fame is the abundant life. But are they? At one of our small group meetings, we talked about the abundant life, and one of our members said, "This is the abundant life." A small group of people studying God's word and loving each other despite our differences. We serve and help each other when needs must be met.

 

This is the abundant life the first-century church lived, and the fruit it produced was bountiful. That church grew from a small number to over sixty percent of the Roman Empire, even though they were being persecuted and killed by that very same empire. They grew because the Christians loved and cared for everyone, even Romans. This is what Jesus calls us to do. This is the life God has promised us, the abundant life. This is what eternity with Jesus will be like; and it will be without tears, pain, and suffering. We will then count it all joy, as we should now, since the things of this world are not worth comparing to the glory to come, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (Jn. 2 Cor. 4:17-18). What good is gaining the whole world if we give up His kingdom and the treasurers of abundant life? “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mk. 8:36) Let us always thank God for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

God has placed us in unique places throughout this world. This blog is about sharing His Word; please share it with those you believe would be blessed by hearing it. Bless you! If you want to receive the Quarterly Newsletter, email us at bill@reasoningwithgod.com. If you want to read past blogs, go to https://www.reasoningwithgod.com/blog.


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