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Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians 1:25-28:
“I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness- the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” NIV
The Christian life is a supernatural life from beginning to end. The entire experience is initiated by God Himself Who is a Spirit. It was His plan from the beginning for Jesus to offer Himself as the perfect sacrificial Lamb for the sins of the world. Then in three days He broke the power of death and appeared to His followers. After ascending to the right Hand of the throne of God, He filled 120 of them with the Holy Spirit, empowering them to prove to the world that He was truly the long awaited Messiah of Israel and Lord of all! (Acts 2:36).
This power is intended for everyone who believes in Him. God had previously dealt with the people of Israel through the prophet, John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. He convinced many that the time had come for the Kingdom of God to appear, and that they should repent for all their wrong doings. Soon afterward Jesus began to travel and teach what the Kingdom of God was all about. Again we see evidence of the supernatural throughout His ministry in miracles and healings.
Once He explained to Nicodemas, a Pharisee and teacher in Israel, that life in the Kingdom of God was a spiritual experience. The only way a person could even see the Kingdom of God was to first be born from above. To enter the Kingdom of God we must be born of the water and the spirit. (John 3:3-8) He also wanted Nicodemas to see that Kingdom life is quite mysterious. Like the wind, you do not know where it came from, nor where it is going.
It is a fact, however, that those who were born again knew they were born again. How can a blind person not know that his sight has been giving to him? Still, the whole process is very mysterious. Some people can remember the time and the place it happened to them. Others just wake up one day after a long process of God’s dealings, and find they have changed! The only thing the new person in Christ can do is be grateful for what the Lord has done, whenever and wherever it happened to him or her!
There is an interesting story in Acts 19. Upon coming to Ephesus, Paul found some believers who had repented and followed the teachings of John the Baptist. He asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit since they had believed. They had not even heard of the Holy Spirit up until that time! So Paul explained unto them that John himself even said to believe in the Messiah who would come after him. Upon hearing this they were baptized in the Name of Jesus. After Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then just like the original 120 they were supernaturally able to speak in languages unknown to them and to prophesy the Word of the Lord!
Sometimes even in our day, people accept what the Bible teaches and give their hearts and lives to obeying God. This is course, by the working of His Spirit. But like these Ephesian disciples they are unaware of the fullness that is available to them. Here is the reality of the New Covenant, which states that God Himself will write His laws upon the hearts of His people. They can know Him personally and even have His life, His power, His Holy Spirit living within them. (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 26:25-27, John 7:38-39).
It was God who filled John the Baptist while he was yet in his mother’s womb. It was God who used John to call the people in Judea to repentance and preparation for the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. It was God Who fulfilled all His promises in Jesus through His Life, His ministry, His death and resurrection. It was God in Jesus Who told His followers to wait in Jerusalem for the power of the Spirit to come upon them. It was also God Who spread the teachings of John as far as Ephesus, to prepare these 12 men to receive the ministry of Paul and the power of the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus.
Apollos and the believers in Ephesus were not judged or criticized for what they had not known. It was with humility and pleasure that the way of God was more completely explained unto them! (Acts 18:24-19:7). What wonderful news it is that we do not have to live this holy and abundant life on our own human strength and will power! We too can receive the power of God to overcome our past, and our failures, weaknesses and doubts. We have a great and marvelous hope. We have Christ Himself within us!
Even those who have experienced His power within them can become discouraged, and tempted to work things out on their own. (Galatians 3:3). All of us need to know and be reminded of the Word of God in it’s fullness, which has been hidden from other generations but is now made known to the saints, to whom God Himself has chosen to make known among the nations the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory!
This Christian life is supernatural from beginning to end. Let us be determined to remind one another of this fact! You can do ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST, Who empowers you! It is He Who has begun this good work in you and He Who will continue to perform it unto the Day of Jesus Christ! (Philippians 4:13, 1:6).
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Luke 17:20-21:
“Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” NIV
When I first came across this passage in Luke forty years ago, I was astounded. I had recently come through a season of darkness and confusion, and was just beginning to see the full wonder and glory of Jesus Christ, and the abundant life that He came to give us all. This was a complete change of perspective for me. Before I had thought that every time the Bible was talking about the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, it was referring to the place Christians go after they die.
While I still understood and do understand that Christians pass from this life and into the immediate presence of our glorious Lord, then I learned something about our present experience of His presence. Finding the words of Jesus telling that the Kingdom of God is within us only confirmed what I was already experiencing! I had discovered genuine righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost! (Romans 14:17).
Today these scriptures are commonly quoted and even taken for granted. Sometimes I think they are taken too much for granted.
Have you ever seriously considered the context of Luke 17:20-21? The people who asked Jesus about the Kingdom and the ones he answered were the infamous Pharisees. While not all Pharisees were bad guys, the picture we get from the New Testament was that many of them who came in contact with Jesus were against Him. I can understand that the Kingdom of God is in those of us who have been born again according to John 3:3-5. But how could He say that the Kingdom of God was inside of those nasty Pharisees?
In fact, some Bible students and a few translators believe what He actually said was that the Kingdom of God was “among them.” They believe that the Kingdom of God was present among them in the Person of Jesus, which is true, but let us consider another possibility. Could He really have meant that every human being has a place within them where God could actually set up His throne?
Since Jesus came two thousand years ago, preaching, teaching, healing the sick, raising the dead, dying on a cross, returning to life and ascending to the right hand of the throne of God, the world has never been the same. The greatest change took place in the hearts and lives of people from all backgrounds and stations in life. He did not ignore their sinfulness, but He also saw something else in them. He saw that place in each one of us that is reserved for God alone, that only He could fill.
Those who followed Him were instructed to pray for the whole world, that the same Kingdom reign of Christ from heaven would fill others as well, that His will would also be done on earth in them. This is where it must begin, within you and me. The same goes for everyone else. Sometimes it is hard to look at another person and see that one as a potential Kingdom citizen. But Jesus did this very thing. He insisted that nothing was too hard for God.
When I look as the state of my country and society, it gets harder all the time to see the Kingdom of God advancing forward, but that is the challenge given unto us. Many of us are regularly challenged to believe and expect a better life for ourselves, our families, and our churches. Today I would challenge us all to believe God for His will to be continually done in this whole earth, as it is in heaven! That means that as we pray the Lord’s prayer, He will open tens of thousands of hearts around this world to His Kingly reign of light and love. He reigns as King in our hearts and desires to do so in all hearts everywhere. Will we join Him in His vision for His Creation? Will we enlist in His glorious army of light, clothed with the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of Truth, the spread of the Gospel of peace, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God?
Maybe it isn’t all about me after all. Yes, the Kingdom of God is within me, but it is also in others. Jesus wants to call that marvelous lifestyle forth from all people everywhere. Some may be satisfied to get their personal mansion in heaven, but there are others who possess a holy dissatisfaction with the state of God’s universe. They are seeing how He must continue to reign, until all His enemies are put under His feat, even death! Our prayers, intercessions and testimonies play a great part in this transformation of hearts, even to end the source of death, that carnal mind that resists Life Himself!
The King of the Kingdom came two thousand years ago. He announced that it had come and inaugurated it. It has been advancing ever since. It is active in many of us today, and many are already living under His Lordship. It will continue through cultural storms and political upheavals. It will prevail through economic downturns, riots, revolutions, and dictatorships. But perhaps even in our lifetime we will fully see “the knowledge of the glory of the Lord cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea!” (Habakkuk 2:14).
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