Tag Archives: Kingdom

Choosing Our Choice

Posted on by under Christian Living, Current Events

20268595946_58bfb01361_o     Americans across the country are beginning to gather in coffee shops, local burger joints, and neighborhood hangouts and discussing who our next president will be. Those in Iowa, New Hampshire, and other early primary states have made, or are making their choices now. We see it as a great privilege within our political system that we are allowed to choose our choice candidate to be our next leader. While democracy in politics and government is a great system, we must be sure to recognize that we do not get to choose when it comes to the one who is our ultimate ruler.

     The Bible teaches us that, “The LORD is King for ever and ever: The heathen are perished out of his land” (Psalm 10:16, KJV). “The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood, And the LORD sits as King forever” (Psalm 29:10). Also, “For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth” (Psalm 47:2). God is the King. He will be the Ruler forever and ever. He is over all of the earth. Thus, we do not get to choose who our King will be. God is it. Jesus told a parable about a man who went away to receive his kingdom, which is a reference to Jesus going off into heaven to receive His kingdom after His ascension from this earth (Hebrews 1:1-4; Psalm 110:1). Even though there were those in the parable who did not want to be ruled by this man, they could not prevent him from coming into his kingdom (Luke 19:11-27). We can choose to follow Him or not. We do have that free will. However, He is the Lord, the Ruler, and the King whether we accept Him or not.

     Therefore, seeing that these things are so, let us come and acknowledge Him as the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14). Let us choose Him as our choice to rule in our lives. If He is to be our Lord and Master, then we need to obey what He says to do. He is coming back some day to judge the living and the dead (Ecclesiastes 12:14; John 12:48; Acts 17:31; Matthew 25:31-32). Those who are obedient will be ushered in to their eternal reward. Those who refuse Him will be punished. He is the Lord whether you “vote” for Him or not. That cannot be changed. So as we exercise our choice for the next president, let us also think about exercising our free will to choose to serve God while we still have the time and opportunity to do so!

Vote Early, Vote Often!

Posted on by under Article

Barack_Obama_votes_in_the_2012_election     I remember an old joke about Election Day and the Chicago way, which said to get out there and vote for the candidate of your choice from just one political party.  The fake advertisement ended with an admonition to vote early and often.  Today, many are turning out at the polls to vote for their choice candidates for sheriff, school boards, state and national congress, and judges.  We as Americans have a long history of democracy and having our say in who our leaders are going to be.

     In the Lord’s kingdom, however, that is not the case.  We already have a head of the kingdom, and that is our King.  He is our Lord as well as our Savior, and He does not have to run for office or have our vote of approval to continue His reign.  We are told that Jesus will continue to reign over His kingdom until the end of time, when He delivers the kingdom up to His Father (1 Corinthians 15:24).  We are told that Jesus is the head of the body, the church (Ephesians 5:23).  It is that spiritual kingdom that He has reigned over ever since He ascended back into heaven and took His place at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 1:1-4; Psalm 110:1-4).

    As such, it is not up to us to decide who the ruler will be.  It is not up to us to decide who will sit in judgment over us.  It is not up to us to decide which religious practices we are to perform and which we are not to partake in.  God makes those decisions, and His kingdom is not a democracy.  Thus, we do not have the right to pick and choose and make decisions about that which God has already legislated.

     As we exercise our freedom to have a voice in our government in the political arena this day, let us not forget that in matters of religion we do not get to make those same decisions.  Let us look to the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ, as our leader, shepherd, ruler, savior, friend, judge, and advocate!

Kingdom Come?

Posted on by under Article

Left Behind CageMany of us are looking forward to Jesus’ return with great anticipation. Regarding that return, there are many who expect Christ to set up an earthly kingdom and reign from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. Indeed, later this week a new movie based on the popular “Left Behind” series opens in theaters, which espouses this idea of Jesus’ coming kingdom. Is this really what the Bible teaches, or is it just good fiction?  Let us look at just a few scriptures to ascertain the answer to that question.

Long ago Joel prophesied that in the last days God would pour His Spirit upon mankind (Joel 2:28ff). In Acts 2, Peter makes mention of Joel’s prophecy and says that they were living in those last days that Joel was referring to (Acts 2:16-21).  So we know from this that the last days began some 2,000 years ago on that day of Pentecost.  Additionally, we see that Jesus told those who were listening to Him that some of them would not experience death until they had seen the kingdom come with power (Mark 9:1).  Just prior to Jesus’ ascension He told His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they received power from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5).  About a week later, they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.  Therefore, they received the power when the Spirit fell upon them.  When the power came the kingdom came.

Furthermore, in reviewing Daniel 2, and the explanation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, Daniel describes four earthly kingdoms. The first of these is Babylon, followed by the Medes and the Persians.  Later would be the Greeks and then the Roman Empire. Then Daniel states that in the days of those kings God would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed (Dan. 2:44).  This is further confirmation that the kingdom would be established during the days of the Roman Empire and was also fulfilled on the day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2.  Just as Jesus told Pilot, His kingdom was not of this earth but that it was a spiritual kingdom (John 18:36).

So then, what do we learn by putting some of these scriptures together? We see that there were some who lived 2,000 years ago that were not going to die before the kingdom came with power.  We see that power came when the kingdom was established on the day of Pentecost, and we see that the kingdom is a spiritual kingdom which is the church.  Christ came to seek and save the lost and to add them to His kingdom, the church, and He was successful in that mission.  Therefore, the kingdom that we are to seek entry into has been established for the past 2,000 years, and it is the church which Jesus built (Mat.16:18).