{"id":1544,"date":"2017-06-01T14:16:14","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T12:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pellissier.co.za\/faith\/?p=1544"},"modified":"2017-06-01T14:16:14","modified_gmt":"2017-06-01T12:16:14","slug":"gods-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pellissier.co.za\/faith\/2017\/06\/01\/gods-kingdom\/","title":{"rendered":"God’s Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesus was talking to a large crowd and his disciples (Mark 8:34<\/a>) when He said that some of them would see God’s Kingdom come with power. I can just imagine how excited they must have been – this is what they have been waiting for all along!<\/p>\n

\nMark 9:1 (WEBBE): 1<\/sup>He said to them, \u201cMost certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste death until they see God\u2019s Kingdom come with power.\u201d<\/font>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Pharisees certainly heard about this too. Most of the Pharisees didn’t understand Jesus’ teachings, because they were so radically different from what they were accustomed to. So when they asked Jesus about the Kindgom, they had a worldly Kingdom in mind.<\/p>\n

\nLuke 17:20-21 (WEBBE): 20<\/sup>Being asked by the Pharisees when God\u2019s Kingdom would come, he answered them, \u201cGod\u2019s Kingdom doesn\u2019t come with observation; 21<\/sup>neither will they say, \u2018Look, here!\u2019 or, \u2018Look, there!\u2019 for behold, God\u2019s Kingdom is within you.\u201d<\/font>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus answered them that God’s Kingdom can’t be seen with worldly perception. As Matthew Henry puts it in his Commentary on the Whole Bible:<\/em> “For it has not an external show, as other kingdoms have, the advancements and revolutions of which are taken notice of by the nations of the earth, and fill the newspapers; so they expected this kingdom of God would do.”<\/p>\n

So how then would the “Kingdom come with power” if it is not a worldly kingdom? When the disciples were asking Jesus (just before He was taken up to Heaven) when the Kingdom would come, He explained that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them.<\/p>\n

\nActs 1:7-8 (WEBBE): 7<\/sup>He said to them, \u201cIt isn\u2019t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. 8<\/sup>But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.\u201d<\/font>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even though God’s Kingdom is not physically established everywhere on Earth yet, we have received power by the Holy Spirit. This is normal for a child of God – somebody that has been translated out of darkness into the Kingdom.<\/p>\n

\nColossians 1:13 (WEBBE): [The Father] 13<\/sup>who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love,\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus was willing to pay such a tremendously high price, not just so that we can go to Heaven some day, but in order to make it possible for all believers to receive the Holy Spirit right now.<\/p>\n

\nJohn 14:12-17 (WEBBE): 12<\/sup>Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father. 13<\/sup>Whatever you will ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14<\/sup>If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it. 15<\/sup>If you love me, keep my commandments. 16<\/sup>I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, that he may be with you forever: 17<\/sup>the Spirit of truth, whom the world can\u2019t receive; for it doesn\u2019t see him and doesn\u2019t know him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.<\/font>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What should the Kingdom look like in our lives?<\/p>\n

\nRomans 14:17 (WEBBE): 17<\/sup>for God\u2019s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Power, righteousness, peace, joy. Yes, those are all things that I want! If we walk in relationship with God, every day, and seek first His Kingdom, that WILL be our reality!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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