*LIVING SEEDS DEVOTIONALS*
(Life Transforming Words)
Day:149|Monday|May 31st| 21
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*THE NATURE OF GODS KINGDOM*
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Rom. 14:17 KJV
The kingdom of God is spiritual, a natural man cannot understand nor enter or know what its entails. Until you are genuinely saved, you cannot understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. What is the nature of the Kingdom of God, What does the scriptures reveal about the Kingdom of God. Are we to expect a physical Kingdom here on earth, Jesus Christ manifested Himself to bring this Kingdom into reality. The kingdom of God appears sixty nine time in the bible, That fact alone should give us a sense of the importance of the Kingdom of God. The phrase Kingdom of Heaven is found thirty-two (32) times in the bible, Other phrases used by Jesus such as my kingdom are used five (5) times. The main message that Jesus and John the Baptist proclaimed was the arrival of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 3:2; 4:17). Now, how does the Jews of the first century received the message of the kingdom of God. The Jews of the first century, living under the heavy yoke of the Roman government, yearned for a conquering King that would throw off that yoke. But these first century Jews got the Kingdom of God all wrong as do many Christians today. Their misunderstanding of the nature of the Kingdom of God caused them to reject Jesus Christ as their Messiah. In their minds and opinions, they thought that the city of Jerusalem and it’s magnificent Temple was their future. They assumed that this earthly Kingdom was theirs alone and that it would last forever.
What the Jews failed to realize is that God would never again live in a Temple on this earth. God would never again live in a Temple made with human hands. The Kingdom of God that Jesus promised was not a physical kingdom that could be destroyed or lost. It is a Kingdom that would never decay. The scripture speaking in Acts 7: 48, Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet. Acts 7:48.
Is there any mystery to the nature of the Kingdom of God, Not according to Scripture. Jesus revealed the nature as well as the timing of the Kingdom of God clearly and plainly. Those that opposed Jesus as well as many of His followers were looking for a physical Kingdom led by an earthly King. To illustrate this, we turn to the story of Nicodemus (John 3:1-9). Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews who sought out Jesus under cover of night. Jesus immediately spoke of the Kingdom of God. There is an exchange between Jesus Christ and Nicodemus. What’s interesting in this exchange is that the scriptures do not even mention Nicodemus asking about the Kingdom of God yet Jesus Christ immediately brings the subject up. Jesus Christ is clearly stating that the Kingdom of God is a spiritual Kingdom. It is not a physical Kingdom. Of course, this is not what the Jews of the first century expected. In fact, it was just the opposite of what they expected. Most of them missed the meaning of their Old Testament prophets. And in rejecting the message of the Kingdom of God they also rejected and lost that kingdom.(Matt. 21: 42-43). What then is the nature of the kingdom of God. God was and is looking for a different kind of people. The people that God seeks for are not those looking for an earthly, physical temple. God seeks believers who want to be part of an eternal Kingdom that is beyond this world. (John 4:23-24, 2Cor 4:18
Mark 19:23-24). Many Christians believe that the reality of the Kingdom of God is some future, far away event. Scripture reveals the timing of the Kingdom. The kingdom is come unto you, the kingdom is at hand. shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom come with power, and the kingdom is come nigh unto you. All this give us a sense of the timing and arrival of the Kingdom of God.
