John 3:3 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." When a person accepts Jesus as their Lord and savior they are reborn spiritually and become a child of God. They become part of a kingdom that will last forever. Hebrews 12:26-29 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire. Anyone who has been reborn especially those that come later in life are able to see and know this huge difference between the world and God’s kingdom. Hebrews 13:12-14 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. We are to follow Jesus and His examples and become more like Him. We are in the world not of this world. John 17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
The Kingdom is about God’s rule and learning His ways. It offers freedom and eternal life through Christ. It is about God’s love and servanthood not power and mans hierarchy. The kingdom is mentioned 121 times in the gospels. Jesus came and died on a cross for our sins so we can be part of his kingdom. Jesus came to set up an eternal kingdom that would last forever. Daniel 2:44 "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
We who believe in Christ are part of this Kingdom and long for that day to be with the Lord because as believers that is our home. Until then we have been given the Holy Spirit and God’s word and the body of Christ. We have been set free to walk with the Lord and this freedom allows us to have a relationship with the Lord and experience His grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness. This freedom allows us to continue to grow more like Him and helps understand God’s heart, His kingdom, and why Jesus came.
Jesus came here to save the lost. All who are separated from God. All through the gospels during his ministry for three years he spent the majority of His time with sinners and the lost. Jesus called twelve disciples to follow Him and He taught them and trained them. By following Jesus for three years they were taught about this kingdom and able to know and understand the heart of God and His love from Jesus. Matthew 9:9-13 ‘As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum? When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Jesus came to save the lost and restore their relationship with the Lord!
“We don’t want to settle just for conversion we need transformation.” Eric Swanson. God saves us and sets us free which allows us to experience his grace, love, mercy and forgiveness. This will allow us to grow and transform to become more like Christ. I have a long way to go and I have not meet a perfect person yet but this transformation in each individual will help reach the lost and restore the church the body of Christ. I have learned through the bible, the mentoring ministry I’m in and by my own mistakes in this area and from others. The key to restoration is forgiveness. Jesus is all about forgiveness, how can we grow to become more like Christ and restore the church if we don’t forgive. We have all been forgiven to experience God’s freedom, love, mercy and grace so how can we not forgive others. Matthew 18:21-35 is a great scripture about the unforgiving debtor. I think we will all have to deal with this. Enslaving someone in a past sin is a waste of time and will not restore the body of Christ. What someone has done is not important it is what they are becoming in Christ. A great example is when Peter disowned Jesus three times and in John 21:15-17 after he repented Jesus doesn’t condemn Peter. He looked forward to what Peter was going to become. Jesus is about a person becoming and restoring those who come to Him. This is great news and a gift from the Lord for every believer when they are saved and during their walk with the Lord.
I think another huge part in restoration is how we see others. I will explain, do we see others that are saved as they are now are what they can become in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! Two great examples is Gideon in Judges 6:11-12 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!” Gideon was a weak and broken man but God seen his heart and what he would do in him and who he would become and called him a mighty warrior. Do we see other men who are saved this way in the church as mighty warriors and who they will become in Christ. What about the twelve disciples who were just common men who were overlooked and despised with no training. They started the church, Ephesians 2:20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. Every believer and child of God has His perfect love and resurrection power of the Holy Spirit in them. I have to ask myself do I have this same faith and believe and do I understand how God sees this from His word.
Our next devotional will be on the battle. Revelation 12:10-12. Every believer in Christ and part of His kingdom will be part of this battle.
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