Up to this point we have been looking at the history of Israel, finding important and interesting connections with Jesus and New Testament times. But you may be wondering:
What do all these old testament prophecies have to do with you and me in our daily lives? Well, already we have been emphasizing the importance of knowing we have a purpose for living. Not only do we have a purpose but also a responsibility that was given unto us by God in the beginning. Part of our problem as humans is that we do not always understand God’s plan and are too often driven by our own human desires which may or may not conflict with God’s purpose. When we aim at the wrong target we inevitably miss the mark, which is by the way the true definition of sin. Then we wonder why things go so wrong. So Jesus came up with a better way to direct our lives. He taught to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (our physical needs) will be added unto you.”
In these chapters I hope to increase our “Kingdom Consciousness.” According to Jesus, this will have a practical aspect when it comes to our day to day living. If you are struggling with a destructive habit or temptation, a fresh Kingdom Consciousness could very well give you a new direction to focus upon. We can develop a new habit of “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” It has been my experience that seeking the Kingdom first tends to help all the pieces of the puzzle come into place. Do you want to know the will of God and His general direction for you? Do you have a more immediate need for His direction even today? I believe that seeking first His Kingdom can and will make a difference in that need as well.
The entire New Testament was of course written centuries ago, but it can be relevant today if we take the time to understand it. Stay with us on this journey and hopefully you will gradually see great value in it as many already have.
Early in Mark’s narrative of the life and message of Jesus we have this passage:
Mark 1:14-15:
Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, ” The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
NASB
Previously we have shown that God has a purpose and plan for His Creation and for humanity that is being worked out in time. He used people of faith like Noah, Abraham, Moses and David to advance His plan, and used prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel to reveal mysterious aspects of that plan which would be fulfilled in Christ. John the Baptist began to prepare the people of Israel for this time by preaching “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!” Then Jesus came saying that the time is fulfilled, and also that the kingdom of God was at hand.
John performed no miracles, but he did draw great numbers out to hear him preach. Could it be that they believed his claim, or at least hoped that it was true? They had for many years been under the control of the fourth kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, namely Rome. Is it likely that John had convinced them that the time had come for the God of heaven to set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed? Were they preparing for that kingdom which would crush all other kingdoms and would endure forever?
There is no mistaking the fact that Jesus claimed that this was about to happen just then. He went even further by teaching how that transfer of power would actually come! Really? What am I saying? It is difficult for us, two thousand years or more later, to comprehend the changes that were actually taking place back then. We today can easily take for granted the progress that has been made by the kingdom of God since then. We are not content of course, and rightly so. Only a fool would accept that the fullness of all the promises of God are all actually here.
Well actually some have taken this position and others the cowardly position that all that happens on this, God’s Creation, is irrelevant. To them all that really matters is in the eternal realm. If the devil controls this earth, what does it matter? We who believe have a glorious eternity in the clouds of heaven awaiting us. In this view, the kingdom of God is only an invisible, spiritual realm. There are few risks to be taken from this perspective.
This series of teachings does not support such a view. When Jesus appeared and made His announcement, great things began to happen in the material world. Certainly His emphasis was in the spiritual work that began in each individual heart. However every change of heart that He inspired brought physical changes and physical actions. The reign of Christ begins in the heart, which in turn transforms the mind and body. If the mind and body is not affected, we only can have what James in his letter exposes as a dead faith.
Jesus Christ came and established a new order, a new government, a new humanity. The Gospel of the Kingdom is the Good News that the penalty of our sins has been paid for by the death of Jesus on the Cross. But that is not all! His resurrection is the promise of a new life in Him. We become part of a New Creation by faith in Him! We are being changed from glory to glory, into his very image, the image of God! The Kingdom of God advances through every transformed heart, and God expects to see the fruit of that in our every day lives. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Surely great changes have taken place in society over the past two thousand years, but I wonder if our unbelief has hindered some of these changes. We can become “so heavenly minded that we are not earthy good,” as one song writer claimed. But what if our understanding of God’s plan for His creation was greater, and our faith in His ability to work through us could grow? Could there be even more progress be made in our calling to be the “light of the world,” and “a city set on a hill that could not be hid?”
The 12 apostles of Jesus did not have a great organized plan that I can find in the New Testament. Their secret was that they had been with Jesus. They witnessed His life, His teachings, His death, resurrection, and also His ascension to the Right Hand of God over all the earth. They believed in His message that the time had come for the Kingdom of God to appear in the earth. They participated in it with their lives and their testimonies. They obeyed Him. This resulted in their being empowered by the Holy Spirit to bear witness to His Lordship — His reign in the earth.
Some would say that the age of miracles has passed. It certainly has passed for them. They assert that the miracles were mainly for the purpose of affirming the truth of the message, that Jesus died and rose again, and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God. This is certainly true. (Hebrews 2:1-4) They further assert that the written Word that has been preserved for us in the New Testament has eliminated the need for miracles and supernatural signs. As should be more than evident in these writings, I thank God for the Written Word of God as found in the bible. In fact, the existence of the bible is a miracle in itself. The very fact that the study and preaching of the bible has changed my life and many others actually proves that miracles are for today! At the same time, we are living in a day where confusion about the truth is greatly increasing.
God is still in the business of giving witness to the resurrection of Jesus through His people. Based on what is found in the scripture, I believe we should to expect to see even more of the power of God in His church in the days to come. While we do not need more circus side show demonstrations in great auditoriums and on the television, we do need more faithful people living supernatural lives. A clear vision of Christ in His Church, and His ever-increasing Kingdom can strengthen the faith of many for the amazing times that are ahead of us!
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