As I start writing this message, I am really looking forward to sharing about this part of God’s plan. The Holy Spirit is the final puzzle piece needed to activate God’s plan. The Holy Spirit’s power in our lives is the only way to Jesus and the only way to stay in Jesus. Ever since the fall of man, God wanted to be reunited with His beloved creation, but He had to wait for His perfect timing to enable this reunion. With Adam and Eve, God was in close fellowship with man before the fall, but after the fall, sin entered man and sin had put a barrier between God and man. God refuses to be near sin; so in essence, the sin is the barrier, not His creation. Now with the work that Christ has done on the cross, we have the ability to become even closer to God than Adam and Eve were. We have the ability to have God live inside us and become part of us. Even Adam and Eve didn’t enjoy this close of a relationship with God. The Lord not only reunited us to Himself, but He also now becomes part of us. But again, this is our choice. God does not force this loving relationship with anyone that wants to stay separated from Him. Looking over this whole process, it makes me wonder if all this was God’s plan all along. We can only look back with amazement and see these wonderful happenings of God. People say hindsight is always 20/20. But God has the ability to see to the end of time with His whole plan worked out from the beginning of time.
We need the Holy Spirit! When Jesus was crucified on the cross, the heavy curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the outer portions of the temple was torn from top to bottom. This represented that God’s old covenant with man was done and the new covenant had started. This represented that now His Spirit was no longer restricted from His creation by any walls or boundaries. His Spirit was now open and available to all people. He would no longer have intercession be made through one human person – the Jewish high priest. He now intercedes for and communicates directly to each believer’s heart through Jesus’ Spirit which is in us and part of us. This is why we call Jesus our high priest forever. Jesus, through the Spirit now intercedes for us to the Father. Under the old covenant, the high priest was trying to commune and intercede with God through physical fleshly means. Now in the new covenant, it is not our sinful fleshly body trying to communicate with God; it is Jesus’ Spirit in us communicating with the Fathers’ Spirit.
Under the new covenant, the cross would have had no value without the sending of the Holy Spirit. The only way the cross works is with the Holy Spirit as part of the plan. We know through God’s word, that He requires full payment for sins, but He also requires for us to be made holy as He is holy. When we are made holy, we become right with Him, we are set apart for God, His work, and His Glory. It is only through God’s Holy Spirit’s power that He glorifies Himself by making us holy and right with Himself. Ever since the creation of the heavens and this world, it has been God’s Spirit that does all the work when anything good happens. When God spoke something into existence, it was through the Spirit that the work was done. Everything good in God’s eyes can only be done through His Spirit. If anything is done through the works of man or any other spirit, it is not considered good, but self serving to the one doing that work. Adam and Eve received the knowledge of good and evil. Even though they had the knowledge of good, Adam and Eve and all their descendants could not do the good without the power of God’s Holy Spirit in them. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel understood that God’s commandments were good, but they had no power to do the good. The self serving spirit inside them only had the power to do the knowledge of evil. To remedy this, God had to send His Spirit into man’s heart before any good could come out of man. So, God sent His Son to the cross to enable the Spirit to come and replace the self serving spirit in each true believer’s heart with His Spirit. God’s word commands all believers to live by the Spirit. Then shouldn’t we concentrate a lot of our energy on understanding the Spirit? Some churches might be unwilling or afraid to try to understand God’s Spirit. Since God’s ways are not man’s ways, some people might think it impossible to understand His Spirit. Other churches might be afraid of getting the understanding of the Holy Spirit wrong, and in turn, commit the one and only unforgivable sin, which is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This hesitation or the limiting of the teaching of the Holy Spirit can be very dangerous to all of the flock of those churches doing this. By limiting the understanding and teaching on the Holy Spirit, this might be doing the very thing these churches are afraid of, and that is rejecting or blaspheming of the Holy Spirit.
What is blaspheming the Holy Spirit? What it mainly comes down to is the putting down of the Holy Spirit by putting yourself or anything else above the Holy Spirit. When we put ourselves above the Holy Spirit and reject His truth and leading, we are rejecting the Holy Spirit and the Spirit being able to work in us, which is really rejecting God. So, in essence, if we reject the Spirit being able to work in us, there is no way we can have eternal life with God, because if we reject being sanctified and made holy by the Spirit, we cannot enter the eternal kingdom of God. In the Bible there are many examples of blasphemy. In most or all of these examples, the person being accused of blasphemy is putting and promoting their own ways, rules, or values above the understood ways, rules, and values of God. This was looked upon as the accused putting themselves above or equal with God. Jesus was accused many times of blasphemy, and if he really wouldn’t have been God, the accusers would have been right about Jesus.
We must strive to know and understand God’s Spirit on an intimate basis. We can understand the Spirit by understanding Jesus and understanding how the Spirit worked in people throughout the New Testament that had faith and trusted in Jesus. Jesus said “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father”. Jesus also said that He could only do the Father’s will. This is because they are of one Spirit. So if we want to understand the Spirit and what God wants the Spirit to do through us, we must try to understand God’s character by looking and understanding the life of Jesus. The best way to do this is by reading God’s word. We must let God speak to us through His word. God’s word says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God”. When we are a believer and read God’s word, we are communicating directly with God through His Spirit inside us. The only way we can understand God’s word is through His Spirit interpreting it for us. God’s word says “Seek and you shall find”. If we are to be a true believer, this is not an option, but a commandment. We seek, by looking for God’s character and will by praying and searching His word. We find, by His Spirit giving us all the answers by the way of a changed heart and a deeper understanding of Him by the renewing of our minds. God talks to His loved ones by the gentle whispers and thoughts He implants in our minds. As I finished writing this message, I realized it was way too long of a letter. So I had to remove about half of what I wanted to tell you about this glorious gift from God – the Holy Spirit. But the one main thought I want to emphasize is: God is using Jesus’ kingdom on earth to build His eternal kingdom. The people willing to let the Holy Spirit take total control of their lives and be made holy and righteous will inherit eternal life.
With God's love and Spirit, I bring you this message. - Michael Reid
Some scripture verses concerning this message: Matt 25:31-46, John 12:25, Rom 2:7 & 13, Rom 6:22, Gal 6:8, 2 Pet 1:5-11, 1 John 2:24-25, 1 Pet 4:17-19, Gen 3:22, 1 Sam 10:5-6, Neh 9:20, Ps 104:30, Ezek 11:19-21, Ezek 36:27, Joel 2:28:30, Acts 2:14-19, Mic 3:8, Matt 1:18, Matt 4:1, Matt 12:18 & 28, Matt 12:31-32, Matt 26:62-65, Matt 27:51-53, Luke 5:21, Mark 1:8 & 12, Mark 3:28-29, Luke 1:15-17, Luke 2:27, Luke 4:1 & 14, Luke 11:13, Luke 12:12, John 3:5-8 & 34, John 4:23-24, John 6:63-65, John 14:17-21 & 25-26, John 20:22-23, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:4 & 38-39, Acts 7:51, Acts 8:29, Acts 9:17-18 & 31, Acts 10:38, Acts 13:4, Acts 16:6-8, Acts 19:1-7, Acts 20:22-23 & 28-30, Heb 4:14-15, Heb 6:20, Rom 5:5, Rom 7:6, Rom 8:4-17, Rom 8:26-27, Rom 14:17-18, Rom 15:13-16, 1 Cor 1:2, Eph 1:4, Eph 5:3, Col 1:21-23, 1 Thes 4:7-8, Gal 3:14
Showing posts with label high priest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high priest. Show all posts
Thursday, April 10, 2008
What Have You Done With Your Talent or Gift
When anyone first comes to Christ for salvation we are given a gift from God. That gift is the gift of salvation from the bondage of our sins, which means we no longer have to be in bondage to our sinful nature. This is the first salvation God gives us, but the second salvation unto eternal life is determined by what we do with this first salvation. We can see this clearly in the story of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt. God saved them from their bondage of Egyptian slavery so they could once again have the choice to follow God’s will and ways. Sadly only two of the adults that were saved from the Egyptian slavery decided to live totally for God and were then allowed to enter the promise land.
We who have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior recognize that we have been imputed with Jesus’ righteousness. Through what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us, we now can put on the cloak of His righteousness. We are whitewashed on the outside with His righteousness, which means God has put His righteousness onto us so through Jesus Christ being our High Priest we can eventually be washed white on the inside as well. God freely gives this gift of His righteousness to anyone that repents and asks for it. God gives this gift freely so He can work through us, otherwise there would be no way for us to be free from our sinful nature. The parable of the talents is a good representation of this gift given by God and if used for God, He multiplies the gift and makes the gift grow, but if not used for God, the gift is taken away.
Matt 25:14-30 - Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. "'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Please understand why this parable’s truth is so important; it is to warn all of you that have been given the first gift of salvation from the bondage of our sins so you will be motivated to reach the second salvation gift unto eternal life.
The talent(s) in the parable represent this first gift of salvation, but the second gift of salvation unto eternal life is determined on how you use the first gift from God. To use this first gift properly that God gives us, we must at some point decide to die to all our sinful nature to receive the permanent gift. Anyone that is unwilling to die totally to themselves will not be able to be washed totally white on the inside.
Like I said before, when we first come to Christ we are imputed with Jesus Christ’s righteousness, but eventually we must also be imparted with the very nature of Jesus Christ Spirit. When we are imputed with Christ’s righteousness we are whitewashed on the outside, but we must be imparted with Christ’s righteousness within also to be washed white to be eternally saved.
After we first have come to Christ as our savior for the forgiveness of our sins we are imputed with Christ’s righteousness and also receive Jesus Christ as our High Priest. We then can be covered by His cloak of righteousness until we physically die, but we only have this righteous covering of Christ as long as He is our High Priest. When we physically die we no longer have Jesus Christ as our High Priest and we are no longer covered by His cloak of righteousness. After we physically die the cloak of Christ’s righteousness comes off and God then sees our bare soul. If our bare soul has been thoroughly washed white by this time, we will enter heaven, but if our bare soul is still soiled with our sinful nature, we will not be allowed into God’s eternal kingdom where no evil and sinful thing can enter.
Truly I tell you this because this is God’s truth and God doesn’t want any to be lost. Please be wise with what God has given you. God wants you to keep the gifts He has given you, but this choice has to be your choice.
Sent from Jesus Christ’s heart within me,
Michael Reid
We who have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior recognize that we have been imputed with Jesus’ righteousness. Through what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us, we now can put on the cloak of His righteousness. We are whitewashed on the outside with His righteousness, which means God has put His righteousness onto us so through Jesus Christ being our High Priest we can eventually be washed white on the inside as well. God freely gives this gift of His righteousness to anyone that repents and asks for it. God gives this gift freely so He can work through us, otherwise there would be no way for us to be free from our sinful nature. The parable of the talents is a good representation of this gift given by God and if used for God, He multiplies the gift and makes the gift grow, but if not used for God, the gift is taken away.
Matt 25:14-30 - Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. "'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Please understand why this parable’s truth is so important; it is to warn all of you that have been given the first gift of salvation from the bondage of our sins so you will be motivated to reach the second salvation gift unto eternal life.
The talent(s) in the parable represent this first gift of salvation, but the second gift of salvation unto eternal life is determined on how you use the first gift from God. To use this first gift properly that God gives us, we must at some point decide to die to all our sinful nature to receive the permanent gift. Anyone that is unwilling to die totally to themselves will not be able to be washed totally white on the inside.
Like I said before, when we first come to Christ we are imputed with Jesus Christ’s righteousness, but eventually we must also be imparted with the very nature of Jesus Christ Spirit. When we are imputed with Christ’s righteousness we are whitewashed on the outside, but we must be imparted with Christ’s righteousness within also to be washed white to be eternally saved.
After we first have come to Christ as our savior for the forgiveness of our sins we are imputed with Christ’s righteousness and also receive Jesus Christ as our High Priest. We then can be covered by His cloak of righteousness until we physically die, but we only have this righteous covering of Christ as long as He is our High Priest. When we physically die we no longer have Jesus Christ as our High Priest and we are no longer covered by His cloak of righteousness. After we physically die the cloak of Christ’s righteousness comes off and God then sees our bare soul. If our bare soul has been thoroughly washed white by this time, we will enter heaven, but if our bare soul is still soiled with our sinful nature, we will not be allowed into God’s eternal kingdom where no evil and sinful thing can enter.
Truly I tell you this because this is God’s truth and God doesn’t want any to be lost. Please be wise with what God has given you. God wants you to keep the gifts He has given you, but this choice has to be your choice.
Sent from Jesus Christ’s heart within me,
Michael Reid
Thy Kingdom Is Here And There
There has been much confusion about the kingdom of God and when is it going to come or has it already come.
First I would like to talk just a little about the future kingdom that everybody has hope for. True born again believers will go to heaven after we leave this physical body and we will go to live with our loving God forever. God has promised with many scriptures that the eternal heaven will be glorious. God also says this is when we enter His rest.
Rev 14:13 NIV - Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
Let us also remember that for any that do not have the faith to listen and obey His teachings and warnings, there will be eternal unrest for their souls.
Heb 3:16-4:1 NIV - Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
Since the future eternal kingdom is the kingdom that most preachers and teachers teach on, I want to concentrate instead on Jesus’ kingdom that is here now, a kingdom that every true born again believer is part of. If people only hear about the future eternal kingdom and not the kingdom that is here and now, people will be mislead to believe that they have to wait to be made “Christ like” until after they physically die. On the contrary, we have to be made Christ like before we physically die and we must be part of the kingdom of God here on earth while we are still in our fleshly body before we can transfer to God’s eternal kingdom.
The kingdom of God that every born again believer is part of, is a spiritual kingdom. Since people have a hard time understanding anything they cannot see or feel, we sometimes have a hard time understanding anything in the spiritual since we can’t see it to analyze and reason it out with our minds or logic. In this message I will attempt to simplify what many have made very complicated.
I would like to start with defining what a kingdom is. A kingdom is where you have an absolute ruler, a king or lord, and the kingdom having people as subjects to that king. For any person willing to live in the area in which that king has rule, that person must agree to be totally subject to the presiding king’s laws and rules. So when did this happen for God’s kingdom here on earth? We need to take a look at scripture to find this out.
Mark 1:14-15 NIV - After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Matt 12:28 NIV - But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
In Mark 1 the scriptures are telling the story about how John the Baptist was proclaiming the coming of our savior and after Jesus was baptized Jesus went into the nearby town of Galilee and started proclaiming that the time had come for the kingdom of God. Jesus said “The kingdom of God is near”. In Matt 12 we see Jesus telling the Pharisees that “the kingdom of God has come upon you”, meaning it was there when Jesus spoke those words to the Pharisees. Some people will say how can that be, there was no absolute rule or totally obedient subjects for the kingdom. We have to understand that Jesus Christ is the king and where ever Jesus Christ is, there the kingdom is also. Jesus could say the kingdom of God had come because He was the King and Lord and He had a totally committed subject, which was himself, since He was both God and also a human. So since he was human and was totally committed and obedient to His Father’s will, He was His own subject.
Anytime Jesus Christ was on this earth doing His ministry, the kingdom of God was also on earth with Him. After Christ was crucified, the kingdom of God left the earth until Jesus Christ was resurrected. After Christ’s resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days with His 11 disciples and during this time the kingdom of God was also on earth since Jesus Christ was on earth. After these 40 days with His disciples, Jesus ascended into Heaven and the kingdom of God went with Him. After 10 days the kingdom of God returned to earth again through the Spirit’s filling of the disciples at Pentecost. This time the spiritual kingdom of God was here to stay on earth until Jesus’ final return. It was to be a kingdom within the hearts of men. Christ would now rule the hearts of men from the inside of their very souls.
Luke 17:20-21 NIV - 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."
Remember - Jesus Christ is the king and where ever Jesus Christ is, there the kingdom is also. We can say that the kingdom of God is within us because the very Spirit of Jesus Christ is in us, that is if anyone is a true born again believer. If we have been baptized by His Spirit, then we have been given a totally new heart filled with His love and desires and Jesus Christ Spirit is within us.
John 3:6 NIV - Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 15:5 NIV - “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit”
John 14:19-21 NIV - Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
When we are a true born again believer, our heart has been totally transformed. The old man or sinful nature which is comprised of any selfishness in us has totally been replaced with the new man or God’s Spirit which is comprised of only love. Since no sin can originate out of true love, we only have desires to love and please God and love our fellow man. It is this total change of heart that drives our every desire and action. It is with Jesus Christ’s Spirit and love inside of us that God rules our lives. Our heart’s desires are in turn the same as God’s desires. Because of the love He has put in us, we only have the desire to obey His commandments and full heartedly go about doing His will.
Jesus Christ is now our high priest, Lord and King while we are living in this fleshly earthly body, but when we leave this earthly body, He is no longer our high priest because we won’t need any priest to intercede for us anymore. We will have already made our decision before we die, which will decide where we spend eternity. If we have chosen the way of Jesus as our Lord, then we will spend eternity with our brother Jesus Christ and Jesus’ Father as our Father for ever and ever. They will be the constant loving light we will continue living by and praising forever and ever.
If we have died to our selfishness and have spiritually been born into His kingdom while we are here on earth, we will never spiritually die; we will just transition from Christ’s earthly reigning kingdom to God’s eternal kingdom.
John 11:25-26 NIV - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
In His Kingdom by faith - Michael Reid
First I would like to talk just a little about the future kingdom that everybody has hope for. True born again believers will go to heaven after we leave this physical body and we will go to live with our loving God forever. God has promised with many scriptures that the eternal heaven will be glorious. God also says this is when we enter His rest.
Rev 14:13 NIV - Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
Let us also remember that for any that do not have the faith to listen and obey His teachings and warnings, there will be eternal unrest for their souls.
Heb 3:16-4:1 NIV - Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
Since the future eternal kingdom is the kingdom that most preachers and teachers teach on, I want to concentrate instead on Jesus’ kingdom that is here now, a kingdom that every true born again believer is part of. If people only hear about the future eternal kingdom and not the kingdom that is here and now, people will be mislead to believe that they have to wait to be made “Christ like” until after they physically die. On the contrary, we have to be made Christ like before we physically die and we must be part of the kingdom of God here on earth while we are still in our fleshly body before we can transfer to God’s eternal kingdom.
The kingdom of God that every born again believer is part of, is a spiritual kingdom. Since people have a hard time understanding anything they cannot see or feel, we sometimes have a hard time understanding anything in the spiritual since we can’t see it to analyze and reason it out with our minds or logic. In this message I will attempt to simplify what many have made very complicated.
I would like to start with defining what a kingdom is. A kingdom is where you have an absolute ruler, a king or lord, and the kingdom having people as subjects to that king. For any person willing to live in the area in which that king has rule, that person must agree to be totally subject to the presiding king’s laws and rules. So when did this happen for God’s kingdom here on earth? We need to take a look at scripture to find this out.
Mark 1:14-15 NIV - After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Matt 12:28 NIV - But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
In Mark 1 the scriptures are telling the story about how John the Baptist was proclaiming the coming of our savior and after Jesus was baptized Jesus went into the nearby town of Galilee and started proclaiming that the time had come for the kingdom of God. Jesus said “The kingdom of God is near”. In Matt 12 we see Jesus telling the Pharisees that “the kingdom of God has come upon you”, meaning it was there when Jesus spoke those words to the Pharisees. Some people will say how can that be, there was no absolute rule or totally obedient subjects for the kingdom. We have to understand that Jesus Christ is the king and where ever Jesus Christ is, there the kingdom is also. Jesus could say the kingdom of God had come because He was the King and Lord and He had a totally committed subject, which was himself, since He was both God and also a human. So since he was human and was totally committed and obedient to His Father’s will, He was His own subject.
Anytime Jesus Christ was on this earth doing His ministry, the kingdom of God was also on earth with Him. After Christ was crucified, the kingdom of God left the earth until Jesus Christ was resurrected. After Christ’s resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days with His 11 disciples and during this time the kingdom of God was also on earth since Jesus Christ was on earth. After these 40 days with His disciples, Jesus ascended into Heaven and the kingdom of God went with Him. After 10 days the kingdom of God returned to earth again through the Spirit’s filling of the disciples at Pentecost. This time the spiritual kingdom of God was here to stay on earth until Jesus’ final return. It was to be a kingdom within the hearts of men. Christ would now rule the hearts of men from the inside of their very souls.
Luke 17:20-21 NIV - 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."
Remember - Jesus Christ is the king and where ever Jesus Christ is, there the kingdom is also. We can say that the kingdom of God is within us because the very Spirit of Jesus Christ is in us, that is if anyone is a true born again believer. If we have been baptized by His Spirit, then we have been given a totally new heart filled with His love and desires and Jesus Christ Spirit is within us.
John 3:6 NIV - Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 15:5 NIV - “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit”
John 14:19-21 NIV - Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
When we are a true born again believer, our heart has been totally transformed. The old man or sinful nature which is comprised of any selfishness in us has totally been replaced with the new man or God’s Spirit which is comprised of only love. Since no sin can originate out of true love, we only have desires to love and please God and love our fellow man. It is this total change of heart that drives our every desire and action. It is with Jesus Christ’s Spirit and love inside of us that God rules our lives. Our heart’s desires are in turn the same as God’s desires. Because of the love He has put in us, we only have the desire to obey His commandments and full heartedly go about doing His will.
Jesus Christ is now our high priest, Lord and King while we are living in this fleshly earthly body, but when we leave this earthly body, He is no longer our high priest because we won’t need any priest to intercede for us anymore. We will have already made our decision before we die, which will decide where we spend eternity. If we have chosen the way of Jesus as our Lord, then we will spend eternity with our brother Jesus Christ and Jesus’ Father as our Father for ever and ever. They will be the constant loving light we will continue living by and praising forever and ever.
If we have died to our selfishness and have spiritually been born into His kingdom while we are here on earth, we will never spiritually die; we will just transition from Christ’s earthly reigning kingdom to God’s eternal kingdom.
John 11:25-26 NIV - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
In His Kingdom by faith - Michael Reid
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