Living in the Kingdom.

Luke 17:20,21 Jesus replied, The Kingdom of God is already among you.” (NLT)

The above scripture is either translated:  ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’ or ‘The Kingdom of God is among you’; but when we read it in context, the Pharisees could not have the Kingdom within them because they were not born again. From the beginning Jesus preached,’The Kingdom of God is near or at hand. (Mt 4:17) and we must be born into it (Jn 3:3,5.).

When a baby is born into the world, we wouldn’t raise it by saying,” The kingdom of the world is in you”. No, we would teach it how to live in the world into which it was born. We have placed all the emphasis on the Kingdom of God is within you instead of teaching people how to live in the Kingdom. The Kingdom in me is internal and focuses on my personal growth whereas me in the Kingdom is external and focuses on how I can live in the Kingdom and become the agent for the release of it’s rule over this world. When Jesus cast a demon out of a man,He said: Matt 12:28-29 If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. (NKJV).

Jesus exchanged the rule of satan’s kingdom for the rule of God’s Kingdom. Every time we cast out an unclean spirit, heal the sick and reign as a king in righteousness over life, we are increasing God’s Kingdom rule through us over this world. Thus we are changing the environment, the culture, the atmosphere around us.

Meditation point: As a king I have a call and challenge from God to take His Kingdom rule and reign whereever I go.

Matt 6:33  Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.  (NIV)

Jesus made the above statement before the cross. He was telling His disciples that once they found His Kingdom and His righteousness, He would be to them Jehovah Jireh their provider. He made it plain how they were to enter His Kingdom John 3:3 Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.” So by accepting Christ as our Saviour we are born into His Kingdom and have found it.

His Kingdom is righteous therefore the ruling authority of His Kingdom is righteousness. Rom 14:17 The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy; so God gives us the gift of righteousness which justifies us to live and function in His Kingdom; and He has called us as kings to co rule and reign with Him in righteousness in and over life. Rom 5:17  Those who receive God’s free gift of righteousness, putting them into right standing with Himself will reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ.

For us to understand what it means to reign in life it is crucial for us to receive a revelation that we are the righteousness of God and have been given right standing before Him. 2 Cor 5:21  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.   (NKJV)

Rom 3:24 All are justified and in right standing with God in Christ Jesus,  (AMP)

When we have this revelation we will rest in His righteousness and it will bring victory and all the benefits of the cross because we realise it’s what He has done for us. Without it we will think righteousness is what we can do for Him and will always be striving to reach  levels of holiness in order for God to bless us. (www.peterwilsonministries.org  read on the home page: Righteousness under law or righteousness under grace).

Meditation point: What benefits are mine now I have right standing before God.

In times past we’ve preached the, ‘ The Gospel of Salvation ‘. This was good as it applied the Gospel to the individual, but it became restrictive by producing a vision that revolved around the individual thus developing inward looking Christians. It also led to an extreme teaching on holiness that preached separation causing the Church to withdraw from the world and develop a bunker mentality of them and us.

Today God is enlarging the Gospel from one of Salvation to one of the Kingdom. ‘The Gospel of the Kingdom‘ embraces not only individuals but also the nations; And  develops Christians who are outward looking. Such people realise they have to take the Kingdom rule and reign of God into society and change the culture where God has placed them. They are no longer defensive but offensive. They are no longer living just a Church life but also a Kingdom life.

So what is a Kingdom life. This is what we will be exploring in future blogs.

Meditation point: “Father, change my vision from the Gospel of Salvation to the Gospel of the Kingdom”.

‘ The 7 Mountain Mandate’ (7MM) is a revelation that is sweeping the Church world and is a teaching I will be unpacking in proceeding blogs. It is a model for the Church to reclaim the 7 key areas (mountains) of culture and they are: 1) Business  2) Government  3) Family  4) Religion  5) Media  6) Education  7) Entertainment.

The 7MM is also a Kingdom model; God’s plan is for His Kingdom to rule on earth as it does in heaven and only the Church can release the Kingdom. The Church is the agent for the release of the Kingdom. In Mt 16:13-19 Jesus responds to Peter’s revelation that He is the Christ by saying that He will build His Church; He then gives to Peter and the disciples the keys to the Kingdom of God. Here we have Jesus tying together the Church with the Kingdom.

The Church and the Kingdom are 2 sides of the same coin and we need both to bring a balance. For to long we have developed a Church vision at the expense of a Kingdom vision. What’s the difference between them:

A Church vision is inward looking – A Kingdom vision is outward looking.

A Church vision is concerned with what God is doing among His people – A Kingdom vision is concerned with what God is doing in the world.

A Church vision expects the world to come to the Church – A Kingdom vision takes the Church to the world.

We need both to bring balance and fulfill God’s plan for the end of the ages.

Meditation point: Is it the wellspring of my heart to take the Kingdom to the world around me?