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Light of the World, Chapter 10: The Promised King

 

Chapter 10, The Promised King

In the previous chapters of this book I shared some of my personal experiences and some of what I have learned from them. Also I have attempted to show that God has always had a plan from the beginning that supports His desire to bless His creation and humanity. The reason I mention this again is that often we can get caught up in our individual daily lives. It is easy to forget that we have been given a greater and higher purpose by God than what is often thought. The Christian faith can become sort of a habit of living with customs like Sunday church attendance, Easter and Christmas celebrations, and giving support to missionaries. Then each Christian denomination can have somewhat different habits, practices and beliefs as well. This is not to say that habits, traditions and beliefs are inherently wrong. Whether one is a believer in God or an atheist, we all have basic routines and assumptions about life.

The point I am making here and hope to continue to make is that all of our daily routines and goals can have greater meaning in the context of God’s marvelous plan. While Jesus did promise us, His followers eternal life, He also said He came that we might have abundant life even now! In fact the eternal perspective we gain from our relationship with Him can have tremendous impact on the here and now. Story after story in the bible will demonstrate this fact: that which is invisible and eternal can truly shake up and transform our physical reality!

How sad it is when repentance is viewed as a signed contract for fire insurance and salvation is only for the purpose of keeping us out of hell. Somehow, God is often shown to work around our misconceptions about Him and the Christian faith, and I am thankful for that fact. At the same time I am also thankful that He is willing and able to give us a greater vision of His plan and the reason we are here. So I have been sharing a very condensed overview of the Old Testament because I feel that many important aspects of God’s eternal purpose are presented there. It is true that the New Testament is more directly applicable for us today, but the fact remains that they are linked. The New Testament simply cannot be fully understood without knowing what came before and was written about in the Old. I strongly believe that the oversimplified “lite” version of the Gospel we often hear today is a result of our neglect of the Old Testament. What we need today is the powerful, life-changing and world changing Gospel of the Kingdom!

When John the Baptist and Jesus came preaching “The kingdom of God is at hand,” this message did not come out of a vacuum. As civilization expanded the people of God became increasingly aware of the need for God’s righteous ways to be applied not only in the nation of Israel but also in the affairs of all nations. Their prophets had many things to say concerning the nations of the earth, and His plans for them. From men like Isaiah and Daniel, they learned of the wondrous future God had planned for all of us. This no doubt led to their interest in the messages of both John and Jesus.

Moses had led the descendants of Israel by the Word which came directly to Him from God. His law was their governor and protector. His judges and prophets were the interpreters of His law and the Spirit gave them guidance. Many times God even ruled them directly by demonstrations of His power. Eventually there came a time when they desired a king like the other nations around them. He first gave them Saul to teach them about the disadvantages of this decision. Then He gracefully gave them a king who was more desirous of His Heart. So David, the shepherd boy who killed Goliath the giant became the king over all of Israel.

David was by no means a perfect man or a perfect king. He was, however, a great example of one who loved God and desired to please Him. This we learn from the written record of his life and the Psalms he wrote for worship in the congregation. It was in these psalms of praise and worship that David declared God in heaven to be the true King! (Psalms 10:16, 24:7-10, 29:10) In His desire to honor his God he planned to build a temple to replace the tent as permanent dwelling place for God’s dwelling among His people. At first, David’s prophet and adviser Nathan thought this was as great idea. Later that night, however, the Word of God came to Nathan, saying:

4 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. 5 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. 6 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ‘

7 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men of the earth. 9 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 10 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.

“‘I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: 11 When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. 14 I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.'”  (1 Chronicles 17:4-14 NIV)

Here is an early and clear prophecy of the reign of God over the earth through a descendant of David. In the first sense it was fulfilled in David’s son Solomon. David would go on to plan and prepare for the building of the temple, but Solomon, who had never fought in war would oversee the building of the first temple for the LORD. After Solomon, David’s dynasty, his “house” would continue until David’s devotion to God was abandoned and the kingdom crumbled.

Yet the hope for a future “Son of David” did not disappear. God spoke of this future Messiah (anointed One) in other ancient writings.

Isaiah 11:1-9:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse (David’s father); from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD — 3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
(NIV)

In this and in many other places, Isaiah and others foresaw a world that more closely resembles the Garden of Eden, or Paradise. (Revelation 2:7). This should be no surprise to us, for a wise person once wrote that God “has set eternity in their heart.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) From around the world, and in ages past, philosophers and thinkers have yearned for something they hoped was once real — that could be real again. There is a longing in all of our hearts for what the heavenly hosts declared to some shepherds near Bethlehem while praising God. They announced:

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:14 KJV)

How this will fully come about (if you believe these prophecies have any real meaning at all), remains to be seen. And yet we have from scripture a clear indication on when it started to unfold.

Foundational to all Christian belief is the truth an angel brought to the virgin Mary 2,000 years ago.

Luke 1:30-34:

30 The angel said to her, ” Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
(NASB)

After the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, both descendants of David, brought their child to the temple at Jerusalem to present Him before the Lord. There they were approached by an older man named Simeon. Simeon was compelled by the Holy Spirit to hold Him in his arms and speak these words:

Luke 2:29-32:

29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
(NASB)

Simeon had waited all of his life for this moment. He believed that this descendant of Abraham would some day bless all the families of the earth. This calling was to bless the gentiles, or the nations outside of his covenant with God. He even quotes from the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 42:6-7). Now he is satisfied to die in peace, for He had seen the Lord’s salvation in the person of this infant child! What faith! What confidence in the written Word of God and witness of the Holy Spirit! In his heart and mind the scripture was already fulfilled!

Later, when Jesus began His public ministry, people who were healed by Him, saw His miracles, and His triumphant ride into Jerusalem loudly proclaimed Him to be the promised “Son of David.” (Matthew 9:27, 12:23, 15:22, 21:9).

After the Crucifixion, many abandoned Him. Yet He kept a strong core group who became the leaders of a great movement that began to cover the then known world. Many were martyred for simply refusing to deny that He was Lord of all! The Kingdom of God was real to them and in them! They had experienced true righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit! (Romans 14:17)

What about you? Has the promised King, the Son of David come to reign in your life? Are you learning to look for His future reign in all the earth, in every heart, while you enjoy His wonderful life, love and Kingship over you today?

Light of the World!

Dedication

This book is dedicated to anyone who hungers for a greater sense of purpose in life. It seeks to inspire us all to cast off our human limitations and to believe that all things are possible with God. The “all things” we refer to are not foolish and vain possibilities but all things that pertain to the Kingdom of God as taught in the Holy Scriptures. If your desire to move forward and prosper in life by faith has hit a proverbial brick wall, I urge you to refrain from giving up. There is a drive, a fire within you that should not be quenched, but perhaps redirected.

This might sound like a cliche, but it is true: God has a purpose for you in this life. In this purpose you are invincible through Him. It is my hope that a fresh look at God’s glorious Kingdom purposes for this earth will widen your horizon and open your eyes to the significance of your role in them. At this point I must warn you. Some of the limitations we face are actually our own beliefs about God and His purposes. As many of our biblical heroes before us, we must be willing to allow God to change our points of view in certain areas. we are to be continually transformed by the renewing of our minds, “so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

Even if a hunger for a greater sense of purpose is not very strong in you, perhaps we could at least encourage you in acquiring a greater desire for God in the Person of Jesus Christ. That is certainly a worthy goal and something in which we should all be fulfilled and blessed. That kind of encouragement would be counted as success from my point of view!

Introduction

Over two thousand years ago, the Son of God appeared to the residents of an insignificant country as the son of a carpenter from an insignificant city. He gathered men and women from various professions and recruited them in His mission of heralding the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. They understood that He was calling them to make great sacrifices, yet it is doubtful they realized how difficult their future would actually be.

In the end they received the courage to follow Him. That courage is greatly responsible for the fact that His Name is known yet today. With the help of God and the power of the Holy Spirit moving in them and in the people they met, they testified in an amazing way that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and Lord of all, as witnesses to His resurrection!

Now the centuries have passed, and the knowledge of Jesus and His story has gone around the world. That knowledge has impacted governments and cultures in ways that cannot fully be measured. Some have misused and abused this knowledge. Others have seen the benefits of His life and message.

In this 21st Century, many are concerned about their future and the future of society in general. Jealousy, envy, rage, war, racial tensions, sexual immorality, drug addiction, murder and crime seem to be on the increase. Faith in Christ, at least statically speaking seems to be decreasing. How should we respond to the many crisis we are facing today?

This book seeks to challenge believers in Christ to greater faith, vision and courage. As a natural born coward myself, I know our only hope is in seeking the source of greater faith, vision and courage — Jesus Christ Himself. I believe by seeking Him, we will also recover a greater, deeper understanding of His message, His mission, and and the hope that it will bring. That message is the Good News of the Kingdom of God! It is a message that is very relevant to the issues of every age!

Thankfully we live in a time when more people are seeking to understand what Jesus meant by the Kingdom of God. In this book I will earnestly try to incorporate what I have learned over many years from others and from my own study about the kingdom of God which I believe will embolden your testimony for Christ. Christians in many parts of this modern world are being ignored, ridiculed and often persecuted for their beliefs. Some of this might be their own fault, of course, but Christ Himself warned that we would face opposition for His sake. The many kinds of opposition are not all going to be detailed here, but the basic and fundamental elements of our struggle will be recognized.

The goal here is victorious faith in Christ, the very kind of faith that was seen in the first Christians! Have you ever wondered how they endured persecution and torture for their faith, when most of us recoil from the slightest insult? Have you considered how our petty squabbles among ourselves as believers can work against an effective witness for Christ to the world? Or how about this? Have you ever had the nagging feeling that you were created for more than mere existence? Most of us believe that there is a glorious future in eternity with Christ, but what about our lives today? Can they have more meaning and purpose and bring more glory to God right here on earth? Isn’t that how Jesus taught us to pray, for the will of God to be done on earth as it is done in heaven?

Writing this book is part of what I need to do in response to my concerns in these days for my family, my city, my country, our world, but mostly in response to my Lord Jesus Christ, who called me to Himself and revealed His glorious Kingdom to me. It is the result of my lifes work, my legacy, which I pray will come to the benefit of as many as possible!

Therefor I invite you the reader to listen for the voice of the Lord as you continue in these pages. He just might use them to give you a greater revelation of Him, His kingdom, His love, His power and His purpose for us all!

Chapter One: Are You Ready For An Adventure?

This universe in which we live is fundamentally one of order. What we call the laws of physics are basically that – laws that are constant and unchangeable. One plus one will always equal two. The moon revolves around our earth, and the earth revolves around our sun to produce days, months and years that help us to mark time and seasons. Those regular patterns are important to us and help to produce stability so that life can continue here.

On the other hand there is much room for diversity and even chaos! This universe is amazing and infinitely complex. We human beings are an integral part of that order, that complexity, that diversity and even the chaos! In all this we sense the need for security, and predictability. Sometimes in our search for security and comfort we neglect another of our basic needs. I believe we also need challenges, excitement and adventure! How else can we explain the thrill of an amusement park and a ride on a roller coaster? Why do we very often pay hard earned money on opportunities to needlessly risk our lives or at least the risk of injury? Of course there are a number of safer ways for getting the heart pumping and an adrenaline rush. Many of us like watching others appearing to be in danger on a big movie screen, or watching our favorite athletes in the sports arena. The popularity of these kinds of entertainment seem to prove my point that we do indeed crave excitement.

In my humble opinion these are all cheap substitutes for seeing life itself as an adventure, a quest with a purpose. As we gain a greater understanding of the kingdom of God and our place in it, even the ordinary, repetitive activities of every day can have richness of purpose and meaning. When Jesus, the son of a simple craftsman and laborer began His career as an itinerant preacher, many hours and even days were filled with the ordinary matters of moving from place to place. Other times were intense and dramatic. All of it was energized by His sense of purpose, that same sense of purpose that He passed down to His followers, which in turn has propelled His church forward unto this day.

If you are all like me, you might have found yourself at times wondering about your purpose. Maybe you have wondered about what we are doing in the church? Are we simply doing what we do because we have always done it that way? Have some of our churches and our leaders lost that sense of purpose that was given to us by Jesus? When we read and study the bible to learn about God’s will for us are we reading it through the lens of our current traditions and culture, or are we reading it to hear what the Holy Spirit would teach us? These are things that you and I must work out between ourselves and God, but at the same time we can help each other, learn together and challenge one another in it.

Not all of us feel the need for excitement or adventure. Sometimes life itself provides all the challenges we can handle. We look for times of peace and tranquility. we come to a typical Sunday church service looking for comfort and encouragement. we go to great lengths to find ways of getting our minds off of our troubles. At this point I would really like to share a personal experience of mine. Many years ago I had come to a place of great despair. The thought of ending it all actually crossed my mind. Thankfully that thought was wiped away by the realization of the many people who loved me and my child who depended upon me. The fact that I was taught from my early years by my mother and others in my life about God and the bible had to be the most important factor that kept me going. One night while I was all alone in my home after putting the baby to bed, I began to cry out to God with all my heart.

When I began to realize how He continued to love me and to send wonderful, godly people into my life after all the years of resisting Him, I finally broke down. He was there all the time, just waiting for me to return to Him. That was my moment of total surrender, even greater than when I first gave my life to Him. The result was the lifting of that heavy load of guilt, worry and fear that I had been carrying for so long. The following morning the world seemed so bright and new! Even though my problems had not left me, I was lifted above them somehow! To this day I cannot put it into words. Back then but I tried to tell others about it immediately. Eventually I was able to talk with others who knew exactly what I was experiencing. Perfect words with them were not necessary. Since then I have met with people in many other parts of the world who also immediately understand me when I try speak about it. They too have had encounters with the Living God!

What came next is so important. I mentioned I was already a Christian. In fact I was saved and baptized at the age of 12. At this time I was about 21. For this entire time my devotion to Christ was up and down, hot and cold. It was many times a struggle for me to maintain a consistent testimony. I would see other young men who were bold in their faith, and envied them. Being backward and shy by nature did not help. Now that I had this powerful experience I began to understand where this boldness came from for them. I knew they had an experience, but I also knew that their knowledge of the Bible had a part in it. So I took up my bible and started to read in the first book of the New testament, Matthew.

The first thing that jumped out to me in Matthew’s Gospel was the preaching of John the baptizer. He claimed that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand! In a later chapter I read that Jesus also began preaching the same. I immediately thought: if the Kingdom of heaven was near to them then, how close could it be to us today, two thousand years later? I began to wonder if what I was now experiencing could be a taste of that very Kingdom! When I began to ask other more mature believers about this, I was amazed to learn that I was correct! In fact, they were able to show me even more evidence in the scripture that the Kingdom of God was already here for us who had experienced this righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit of God! (Romans 14:17)

Of course that was only the beginning of this adventure for me. I would have many more questions, and gain answers in time, but I am still not finished with my story. As I said, my problems were still with me. I was overwhelmed at the time, and felt helpless to do anything about them. What I needed was direction from God. I found this as I continued to read in the Gospel According To Matthew. When I came to chapter 6 I knew verses 25 through 34 were speaking directly to me. I had been worrying not only about my physical needs of food, shelter and clothing, but about the future in general. To Jesus, this did not make sense since I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and cares for me. How could I get a handle on this? what could I do to get my mind focused in the right direction?

The most powerful instruction I had ever received, which has guided me for the rest of my life was found in these words: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) While I had spent so much of my energy worrying and stressing over my problems, now I would change my focus. I would put my pursuit of God’s will, His ways, His Kingdom first above all other things. It seemed a bit risky at first. But what did I have to lose? My methods have failed me, trying to work things out on my own for years. Could I really trust in God that he would provide what I needed if I pursued His Kingdom first?

What followed was just too amazing. In a matter of months, my health improved, my financial situation began to improve, I found myself among a wonderful group of worshippers and had a new job working for a minister who taught me the bible every day as we worked together. The first steps for me were to return to my former church, to pray everyday, to read the bible and Christian writings everyday and to fast regularly. As I began to grow spiritually, the Holy spirit would teach me and lead me in other areas of His will for me. I have continued on this path to this day.

Going on 50 years later, I continue to be challenged by God to keep moving forward in Him. When things begin to get easier, or the road gets smoother, we can rest a while. However if we get too comfortable, that sense of adventure can diminish. Along with that our joy and passion for Him can fade and the worries of this life begin to take over again. No, it’s life right now, in the Kingdom of God for me. How about you?

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