Kingdom of God ~ Episode 204
The Kingdom of God is at hand… what does this mean? I struggled with this concept for years, yet I found that the more complicated I made it the more elusive it became. In this podcast, I share what I found in my search for the Kingdom of God.
The bible is filled with so many mysteries but the saying, the kingdom of God is at hand is one of those for me. In this podcast, we will look not only at the scripture verses but also at what this means for us.
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I was driving to church one morning and was stuck on the thought of the kingdom of God. What did this mean? Did it pertain to the time that Christ walked the earth? Was it pertaining to now, that Jesus after raising from the dead, walking among his disciples, and then leaving us to ascend to heaven left us with His Holy Spirit? So is the Kingdom of God now? Is it in heaven? And how does it impact me?
So many questions! As I arrived at church and the service began, the Gospel reading was on that very topic and the sermon that day was on the Kingdom of God! Isn’t God amazing?
In Matthew 3: 1-3 we read (listen to the audio)
The kingdom of God
Are we ready for it or are we like the people of Israel that needed to prepare the way of the Lord? The people were expecting a prophet – a King to rid them of the tyranny of the rule of Rome and Caesar, but instead, God sent something greater to rid them/ and us of the tyranny of sin. Because the people lacked understanding they rejected the cornerstone – Psalm 118:22.
Are we too rejecting the King similar to the Israelites? It wasn’t until Jesus died and rose from the dead and appeared to various people before He rose up to heaven that people realized the huge mistake that had been made.
The arrival of the King of King and Lord of Lords was missed. And unfortunately many are still missing it today.
In Mark 1:14-15 we read: [On Audio]
Here we learn the way to the kingdom is to repent and to have faith. Is that something we can do? How is your faith holding up under the barrage of the world’s events? Each time we think we can take a breath something new happens. How do we continue on under the weight? We give it to the Lord.
The people then and now need to hear that to enter the Kingdom of God – heaven, we must repent and change … we can not continue to be the same after understanding and hearing the Word of God. People don’t change when they decided that following their own way is better.
The proclamation of the kingdom of God is the news that Jesus Christ, true man, and true God came as an infant, grew up among the people, preached, healed body and mind, and died for our sins. Read Matthew 12 and 13 – the entire chapter and you will learn more about this and how the old testament ties into the new, as Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy.
In Revelation 19-20 we learn that Jesus will return to the earth as King to judge the living and the dead – no one will escape from judgment. The kingdom of God will continue for eternity.
To enter the Kingdom we must believe in the saving grace of Jesus – the saving work of Christ on the cross for our sins. It isn’t anything we can do, but we can join our hands with Christ and offer up all of our pain, sorrow, and misgivings, the crosses we carry each and every day – think about the burden you carry…is this something of your own making or is it something that has been asked of you? This takes time and consideration because I’ve found that many times I carry a cross of my own making. I worry about things that may not even happen!
Read Colossians 1:13 and Colossians 3:1-4.
It is time friends to make a decision if you have not already or have made a decision a long time ago to follow Christ and it is time to renew this decision. We need all of the graces that the Lord can give us through these trying times. We are to do as Christ commands to “feed my lambs” and we are to lead others to the Lord.
How do you do this? Ask the Lord and you will not be surprised when He presents an opportunity for you to do this.
We should be jumping out of bed each and every morning once we realize the truth that the Kingdom of God IS waiting for us – Our Savior Jesus Christ is waiting for us with open arms. It is not us HIM that is keeping us away it is all on us.
How will you serve God this week? Will you lead others to the Lord? I pray you do and I pray you are blessed!
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