LEARNING DAILY

 

John 18:36, Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

 

I write often about the kingdom of God. It may be a little strange to write about it again on the day known as Good Friday. Yet, it was for this day that God sent His Son into the world. It was the plan from the beginning that the Son would become the sacrificial Lamb that would hang on the cross you and I deserved. It was God’s way to provide a way for all who would believe in the Son back to His kingdom.

 

Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of the world. It did not originate in what we know as the world system and it did not want to take it over. Jesus did not come into the world to establish a theocracy for world dominion. If He had, “His servants would fight”. But that is not the nature of the kingdom of God, is it! In only a word, the Lord could establish His kingdom on earth but that is not the way He promoted while on this earth. Contrary to the belief of some, He did not align Himself with a political party or pressure groups to establish His kingdom on earth. Even today, Believers do not use these tactics nor any other worldly weapon to promote His kingdom. The weapons Believers use are spiritual (Ephesians 6:10-18). That does not mean you and I are to be indifferent to God wanting a just government, justice being served, and the restraining of chaos. How much longer can He allow our country to continue going down the path it is headed?

 

We need to understand the kingdom Jesus referred to. The kingdom of God involves His rule, His lordship, His power and His spiritual activity in the lives of all of us who have received Him and obey His Word! The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and full of joy. The true Church is to be a servant to Him showing the world its strength is not a worldly power but in the cross that He died on. Jesus said that your power and my power is “to die to self, take up our cross and follow Him” (Matthew16:24).

 

There is another aspect of God’s kingdom – the kingdom we are walking on the narrow way to live in for eternity. Oh, what a glorious kingdom the Bible describes! In the Revelation, John describes a kingdom free from the curse brought by sin. It is where God will “wipe away every tear from the eyes of His people, where there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). But the greatest thought is we shall “see His face and His name will be on our foreheads” (Revelation 22:4).

 

Jesus died on a cross for you and me. When He said, “It is finished!” the path to eternal life in the kingdom of God was set before us. When we said yes to His invitation our walk on the narrow way began and will continue for eternity as we step into His kingdom.