Understanding the Kingdom

The Kingdom of God
Col.1:12-13 … giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

 At salvation, we did not just get access to heaven. We received entrance “into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” The word “kingdom” comes from two words: king and dominion. Anywhere the king has dominion, therein lies the kingdom. Dominion does not just refer to power. It refers to everything about the king being reflected in his kingdom. It is a mindset, a pattern of thinking, a culture.

Because Pharaoh valued Joseph, everyone in the kingdom of Pharaoh valued Joseph. All the dignitaries of Egypt accompanied Joseph when he returned to Canaan to bury his father Jacob. But in Ex.1:8 it says, “Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.” Because the king changed, the kingdom would also be changing. The result was four hundred years of slavery for Joseph’s people.

 Defining the Kingdom
The change you experienced at salvation was not physical. It was not a new place we moved to, but a new level and way of thinking. The new king has a new pattern, and that pattern means a new dominion. Several Scriptures explain this idea. Eph.4:17 describes the “futility of the thinking” of unbelievers. Rom.12:2 tells us to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Luke 17:21 says, “The kingdom of God is within you.”  John 17 describes how, “We are in the world, but not of the world.” The culture you are in, is not the culture you are of. Scripture uses the word “ambassador.” Ambassadors are in a foreign country, but they are not of that country. An embassy thinks differently from the country it is in. This is what the church is- an embassy. Everything was meant to operate in a different culture.

 Rescued
Scripture describes how we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness, to the dominion of Christ. We have been rescued from all things that are contrary to the culture of Christ. We have been delivered from fear, weakness, poverty and despair- to the dominion of the power, purpose, strength and the glory of God. Righteousness, peace and joy- that’s the kingdom of God. Love, strength, power- that is the culture of the dominion we have come under. You may not be in it right now, but that is what you are of. Jesus taught them to pray, “You kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Light and Darkness

<i>Mt.6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”</i> 

Light and Darkness
Our text says that, “if the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness?” It almost seems like a contradiction in terms. How can the light in you be darkness? The answer lies in how you perceive that darkness. If you know you are in darkness, your automatic and natural response is to look for light. But if you have called the darkness light, you will not pursue the light because you are convinced you don’t need it. We can all understand the power of the light switch naturally, but what is the light switch spiritually? How is the light within us turned on? Let’s take a closer look.

 1Jn.2:9-10 says, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.”  Spiritual light is not determined by claiming to be in the light. It is determined by the love for one another. The great commandment is the great light switch! The word for “hate” in this text is not referring to the dislike of someone, like most would assume. The Greek word for hate means, “to love less.” In other words, anything less than love, is hate. There is no gray area in our treating of others.  It is important for us to get this down because Jesus said that they would know the ones that are mine by the love they have for one another. Love defined by God does not hold back. Though it can be felt, love is not a feeling. It is an action (1Cor.13).

 In Us
1Jn.2:10 says that if we have love for one another, we are in the light and there is nothing in us to make us stumble. It is an interesting statement- the things that cause us to stumble are “in us.” My issues with others are often an indication of issues within me. Scripture tells us in Mt.7 to take care of the beam or plank in our own eye before we address the speck of sawdust in the eye of our brother. Think about it- we never get in an argument assuming we are wrong. Jesus was teaching in Luke 12, and a man yelled out, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus responded by saying, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of ware of greed.” In other words, the man said, “Fix my brother!” And Jesus said, “Fix yourself!” The issue often times is not “them.”

 In Gen.32:9-11 Jacob is praying, “Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me,” In verse 24 we see that a man wrestled with Jacob all night. It is interesting- God answered his prayer not by wrestling against his brother, but by wrestling against Jacob. Jacob was blind to the issues in his own heart that needed to be dealt with. At the end of that struggle, Jacob was able to see the glorious riches within him. There was an entire Israel within the Jacob! It is amazing what we can find when the lights come on. The next day when he came to Esau, Esau received him with open arms. The lesson is that when Jacob overcame himself, the lights came on, and when the lights came on, his issues were solved! God did not answer his prayer by blessing him. He answered his prayer by putting the lights on for him.

 May God empower each one of us to get to the place where the lights within us shine brightly, now and forever. Amen