About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman

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Entering God's Kingdom   

I recently wrote about Jesus saying that if we want to even see the Kingdom of God, let alone enter it, we "must be born again" (John 3:1 - 7).  I define being born again as the moment the Spirit of God is poured forth from Him and into us, as happened to the disciples in Acts 2.  It was then they entered God's kingdom.  

Being a spiritually-born resident of God's kingdom is not going to heaven when you die.  Jesus said that "the Kingdom  of God  is in your midst" (Luke 17:21) and "the Kingdom  of God  is at hand" (Mark 1:15).  It was in people's midst because He, its King, was in their midst.  It was at hand because it would soon arrive on earth, as the disciples experienced (Acts 2:1 - 5) when God's Spirit entered them at their second birth. 

Prior to His death Jesus encouraged His disciples by saying "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18).  He returned to them when His Spirit entered their lives (Acts 2:1 - 5).  That confirmed that "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I [Jesus] am in you" (John 14:20).  The words "I am in you" are literal, not metaphoric.   

After His resurrection, Jesus "appeared to them [the disciples] over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom  of God " (Acts 1:3).  "At this time are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel ", the disciples asked (Acts 1:6).  "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority", Jesus answered (Acts 1:7).  The kingdom the disciples were about to enter is an invisible spiritual kingdom, not the restoration of the Israeli kingdom they had hoped for. 

Since the word "kingdom" means "the domain of the king", God's kingdom is the domain over which He is king.  Since "God is spirit" (John 4:24) His kingdom is fundamentally spiritual, and thus the need to be born again of His Spirit to see it and to enter it.   

Paul said "the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord [king] of heaven and earth" (Acts 17:24).  All things spiritual and all things material, then, comprise God's kingdom.  Paul added to that by saying "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).  In other words, "all of material creation exists within this unseen spiritual dimension that penetrates all aspects of God's creation more than we realize.     

Jesus said "all authority in heaven and earth has been given unto me" (Matthew 28:18).  Spiritually speaking, "God raised us [those born again] up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6).  This is a reality, not a metaphor.    

It's in this spiritual kingdom where the revolt against God is being fought.  It spills into our material reality, resulting in "bondage to decay" (Romans 8:21) leading to death.  It all will end "when he [Jesus] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet, the last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:24 - 26). 

When this great exchange takes place, "we will be like Him [Jesus]" (1 John 3:2) because He has become the "firstborn among many brothers and sisters" (Romans 8:29).  Our very essence will be exactly like Jesus', except that He will eternally be the Logos of God "who was not only with God but was God" (John 1:1).  It's when God's spiritual kingdom will be materialized into the new heaven and earth (Revelation 21 and 22).  

Since our "flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit" (Galatians 5:17) we fight the "good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12), but, "if we walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).  In the midst of it all, do you ever think about living the reality of God's present spiritual kingdom as I've described it?  I question if many of us do.  

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