Epaggelia

To understand God’s view of His reign, we must focus on the words of the angel Gabriel. …and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”  Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”  And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you… that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:31-36. Many of us  today are just like Mary, we get confused about the physical aspects of God’s Kingdom coming, being enforced and enlarged. Why confusion? Because many of us focus on the physical attributes of God’s reign with Israel and neglect to learn of the spiritual attributes of Kingship, which Jesus had in mind. Jesus talks of his Kingship several times with a spiritual aspect for all his disciples, this should affect you and me.

1. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:  ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”‘?  If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”  And no one was able to answer Him a word… Matthew 22:41-23:1 & Psalm 110:1-2.           

2.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:19-20

3. Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say,’See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”  Luke 17:20-21.

4. “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”  Mark 9:1

5. Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”  Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”. Jesus answered and said, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”  John 18:36-37The points to prove in our daily lives are:

1. Jesus is God, therefore He is worthy to be King of kings and His Kingdom is synonymous with the Kingdom of God.

2. The King demands divine righteousness as inherently required before anyone becomes a citizen of the Kingdom.

3. The Kingdom of Christ is spiritual in nature not physical.

4. People in Christ’s generation saw His Kingdom arrive with physical power, but became martyrs and were brought into a victorious spiritual reign.

5. Christ’s Kingdom originates from Heaven, but is victorious on earth, proving our fight is not physical, but spiritual. See Eph. 6:12 & Col. 1:13-18. As Jesus fulfiled the Psalmist & King David’s prophecy, we rule with Him in the midst of his enemies, Psalm 110:2. Do we pray for the Kingdom’s advance into the hearts of other people and that His reign will increase in our life as we grow in doing His will on earth?  Matthew 6:10.