COMING OF GOD’S KINGDOM?
Are you looking for the kingdom of God to come with power? Jesus told a gathering of people: “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power” (Mark 9:1)?
The Pharisee looked for Jesus to establish his kingdom on earth when he came (Luke 17:20). Like the Pharisee, some today may believe that Jesus failed to established God’s kingdom on earth when he said he would. The Lord cannot lied–He established his kingdom on earth as he said he would (Isaiah 55:11; Matthew 24:35).
UNDERSTANDING GOD’S KINGDOM
Jesus told his disciples he sometimes spoke in parables– sayings that could have more than one meaning–so that his followers could understand things of the kingdom, but that others would not understand (Matthew 13:10). The biblical Word of God says the natural man or unbeliever cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God, for they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). Only those born again of the Holy Spirit can rightly understand the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).
Speaking more clearly about the kingdom, Jesus said “my kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). The Lord spoke of a kingdom of subjects who are in the world, but not of the world. The Bible reveals that Jesus’ subjects would be empowered by the Holy Spirit who dwells in their hearts and minds (Luke 17:20-21; Romans 14:17). The spiritual kingdom of God came with the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as Jesus said, while some of those who had listened to him were still alive (Acts 1:8; Act 2).
GOD’S KINGDOM ON EARTH
The following scriptures refer to a spiritual kingdom of God on earth, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who works in the minds, hearts and spirits of the Lord’s believers:
MATTHEW 4:17. Jesus began to preach, “repent for the kingdom of God has come near.”
LUKE 16:16. The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist; since that time the kingdom of God is preached.
JOHN 3:3-8. To be part of the kingdom of God you must be born again of the Spirit .
LUKE 17:20-21. The kingdom of God cannot be seen with the eyes, because the kingdom is within you.
ROMANS 14:17. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
ACTS 1:8. Jesus told his disciple just before he went back to heaven, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is comes on you.” (Acts 2).
The Holy Spirit convicts people of their sins and causes them to turn to Jesus Christ for their salvation (John 16:8): All have sinned and the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through the atoning blood and death of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23; 6:23; John 3:16). All who repent and believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are born again of the Holy Spirit into the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-8). The Holy Spirit endows born-again believers with power.
GOD’S KINGDOM IN HEAVEN
The scriptures below refer to the part of God’s kingdom which in heaven:
MATTHEW 6:10. Jesus taught his disciple to pray: Our Father in heaven, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
LUKE 15:18. In the parable of the “Prodigal Son,” the son said to the father, “I have sinned against heaven.”
JOHN 3:13. Jesus Christ , the Son of God said he was “the one who came down from heaven.
GOD’S UNITED KINGDOM
All who repent and believe in Jesus Christ are members of God’s kingdom on earth. Jesus said he was going away to heaven to prepare a place for his followers. And the Lord said he would come again to receive his people on earth to be with him and his people in heaven forever (John 14:1-3; Acts 2:38).
Are you ready to live in God’s heavenly kingdom forever?
