Introduction to The
Kingdom of God
God exists and does not do so in a
vacuum. Wherever or whatever He exists
in is His Kingdom and being God He is the ruler of it.
It has been in existence as long as God has
so it has no beginning or will have no end. His
Kingdom is an extension of who He is and
as it is an extension of whom He is it must be like Him in nature.
This
current creation is not the Kingdom but a reflection of it and of the
nature of
God. For Him to exist in this creation
it must be like him: pure, undefiled, perfect, full of His Love,
eternal and
infinite.
It
was in the beginning and will be when it is recreated.
But for now it is a battle field of two
opposing kings, fighting for the souls of everyone in it.
The
authority of the king is absolute. What
He says must be done. You try to please
the king so that you do not end up either: punished, imprisoned or
executed but
will be well rewarded for your service to Him.
According
to the attitudes of the king, the country either flourishes or
stagnates. According to your attitude to
the king you
will either prosper or be punished in some way.
God
has allowed the king to be in the position he is in so that you must
obey him
unless he asks you to do something contrary to the Will of God.
The
natural state of a country is to have a king.
Heaven is a kingdom and we are to pattern our lives and
organisations on
those things in heaven so that the perfect state on earth is a kingdom
with a
good king.
Satan
tries to hide what it means to have a king through democracy and his
world
system and values. His world system
tries to hide from people that they must face a king when they die and
explain
to him what they did with the life and possessions he made them steward
of.
Application
Christians
are a citizens of The kingdom of God which overrules all political
systems they
are under. By virtue of being a citizen
of The Kingdom they have tensions with man’s political systems
and must obey
Jesus when man makes rules that contravene those of Jesus.
The
Christian life is a constant battle to express The Kingdom and its
rules in a
world system that is opposed to it as well as to express the character
of The
King in a world that tries to destroy this character in people.
These
themes will be developed in the next six messages.
As
you understand more of w hat it means to be a citizen of a kingdom you
will
understand more of your role on earth as a Christian and citizen of it.