Pastor Stephen Ndung'u
Associate Pastor, Fedha Church, Kenya Assemblies of God
Romans 14:17 (KJV)
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Introduction
The whole message that Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, and the Apostles preached was all about the Kingdom – that is, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Kingdom of Christ. They all refer to one and the same thing.
The word Kingdom (basileia) from the original Greek translation refers to a rule, reign, or royalty.
Kingdom is derived from the words King and Dominion. Thus, the Kingdom is all about a King who has a Dominion.
When John started his mission, he urged the people to repent and be baptised, for the Kingdom of God/Heaven was near.
When Jesus Christ started his ministry, he urged all his audience to repent, for the Kingdom of God had arrived and was at hand.
The meaning of the word repent means: a change of mind, to reconsider, a change of concepts and ideologies.
The house of Israel did not understand God’s ideas and concept about His Kingdom.
In the Old Testament, God was the King to the house of Israel until they demanded their own king to be like any other nation.
God allowed them to have their own kings who mistreated them – only a few kings, like King David, led them to success, victory, and prosperity.
The house of Israel therefore lived in earnest expectation of an everlasting king who would rule them like King David.
Therefore, the whole expectation of the house of Israel was a restoration of their kingdom, having experienced a successful, powerful, and dominant rulership by King David (the most successful king who ever ruled in Israel).
The Original Purpose of Man
It is important to note that when God created man, He made him the ruler (king) over all His creation. Man was given absolute authority over all things in heaven, earth, and beneath the earth.
Man was created to reign, to subdue, and to dominate God's creation.
All things were placed under the leadership and rulership of man.
Their disobedience to God's word surrendered their authority to Satan, and from then on they lived under the subjection of Satan’s influences. (We are slaves to whom we submit.)
Man surrendered his authority and dominion to Satan and thereafter lived defeated by Satan and all his agents.
It was a legal transaction that happened when man yielded his will to Satan, so Satan obtained the power and authority legally delegated to him by man’s disobedience.
The Coming of Christ: Restoration of the Kingdom
When Jesus Christ was born, the wise men understood that indeed a King had been born, and they began their mission to look for Him to worship Him.
The coming of Christ was a moment for the restoration of the Kingdom back to man.
John the Baptist and Jesus Christ started by telling everyone to change their perception, ideologies, and thoughts, for the Kingdom of God had arrived.
The birth of Jesus Christ was the birth of an everlasting Kingdom.
Isaiah 9:6-7
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
What Then Is the Kingdom of God?
The Kingdom of God is the manifestation of God’s reign, lordship, and rulership over all His creation, impacting it with His life, His nature, His character, His will, and His culture, enabled by the Holy Spirit.
The Kingdom of God therefore entails a government/lordship/rulership of God through man over all His creation.
The Kingdom system of government is different from a republic government. In a kingdom, the king is the centre of everything.
Kings are born, not made. Kingdoms have a monarchical form of government structure; it is a royal family government system.
The whole focus of the king is to impact his nation (people) and kingdom with his life and culture, thus colonising the nations of the earth.
The Kingdom of God is not about the physical but the spiritual. It is the impartation of God’s nature, life, culture, and mindset into the life of every creation by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul makes it clear that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; this relates to the impartations of the Holy Spirit inside us.
Important Things to Note About the Kingdom of God
1) The Kingdom of God is in our hearts.
When we received the Holy Spirit, we received the kingship, lordship, and rulership of God in our lives.
We have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, legally founded and established by Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
Hebrews 12:22
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels.
We received the Kingdom of God when we believed in Jesus Christ. We were born again into a new domain – the Kingdom of God.
Colossians 1:13
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
We are no longer in the domain of darkness but in Christ’s rulership/lordship.
The action of the Holy Spirit upon our life meant God’s colonising us, that we may be His people transformed and conformed into His nature.
Our coming to Mount Zion was by our new birth; we are legally from Zion.
Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
2) Jesus Christ is the supreme King over the Kingdom of God.
Jesus has absolute authority over the Kingdom of God and all other kingdoms.
Jesus Christ was born a king, not made a king (though sarcastically mocked on the cross when addressed as the King of the Jews).
His total surrender in obeying God to the point of dying on the cross was the only legal way to get the Kingdom back to man.
Ephesians 1:17-23 (summary) – that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him...
Psalm 40, Hebrews 10:1-10 – Christ’s obedience.
Philippians 2:10
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.
Adam disobeyed God and lost the kingdom to Satan; Jesus Christ obeyed God and got back the Kingdom on our behalf.
He reigns over all things in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth.
When Jesus died and was buried, the Bible says He went even to Hades and overthrew Satan and all his cohorts.
If the devil had known, they would not have crucified the King of Glory, because His crucifixion meant their total defeat.
Revelation 1:18
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Colossians 2:14-15
Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed the principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
He took the keys of the Kingdom and gave them to us who believe in Him.
Matthew 18:18
Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
We are the extension of His authority in this world. We have absolute power and authority over all things in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth in Jesus’ name.
We see Jesus Christ who was made a little lower than the angels.
3) The Church of Jesus Christ is the agency of God’s Kingdom on the earth.
The Church is the agency of God’s kingdom on this earth, mandated with the responsibility of advancing the kingdom life, will, and culture.
The Church is referred to as the pillar and ground of truth; it carries the manifold wisdom of God, displaying it to all powers and principalities.
It is the Church that establishes the will and the purposes of the Kingdom of God in this world.
4) Every Kingdom has its glory.
Matthew 4:4 (and context) – The devil showed Jesus the glory of the worlds in his pursuit to deceive Him for worship.
Jesus offered Himself to get the Kingdom back. We are the joy that made Him focus on His saving mission, despising the pain of the cross.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Bible says He was delivered for our glory, and He certainly achieved it.
When we received the Kingdom of God, we were impacted with the nature of God. This nature means glory. We are therefore the glory of God. Hallelujah!
Hebrews 2:6-10
But one testified in a certain place, saying: "What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet." For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
2 Peter 1:3-4
As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
The light of God has come upon us, and the glory of God has risen upon us.
Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
Isaiah 62:1
For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.
Our Kingdom Mandate
1) Rulership / Reign
We are kings in God’s kingdom. We have been crowned as kings to exercise God’s supreme authority in our world.
We were not made kings; rather, we were born kings when we got born again. Kings are born, not made or elected.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Israel’s kingship was based on their obedience to God. Our kingship is based on Christ’s obedience to God and our believing in Christ (being born again).
Having been born again, we are born from a royal family.
As kingdom kings, we have been given the power and authority over all principalities, powers, rulers, and spiritual forces in high places.
Our position in Christ has placed us in the position of kingship.
We are the extension of His authority here on earth, for He has made us to be the fullness of His body.
Jesus was told to sit at the right hand of God until God makes all His enemies His footstool. This implies that we, being His body, will see God ensure that we defeat all our enemies – death being the last enemy, thus the resurrection and rapture of the church.
Having received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, we are called to reign in life as kings.
Romans 5:17
For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Kings reign in life through words. We are called to decree words, and they will take the shape of what we want.
We shall decree a thing, and it shall come to pass, because where the word of a king is, there is power.
Ecclesiastes 8:4
Where the word of a king is, there is power; and who may say to him, "What are you doing?"
Kings do not just speak positivity but release words of power and authority.
As kingdom kings, we speak affirmational words (confession in line with God’s word) and creative words (rhema words – empowered by the Holy Spirit).
Jesus Christ is our supreme King and Lord and has made us kings and lords; that is why He is called King of kings.
Ecclesiastes 10:16
Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning!
A king will only fail if he remains a child – immature, ignorant, and unable to speak properly.
How do we exercise our rulership/kingship?
a) Through the name of Jesus Christ (Exousia)
We have been given the power of attorney to use the name of Jesus Christ to advance the Kingdom of God.
Power of attorney means delegated authority – acting on one’s behalf.
The power of attorney remains in effect as long as the giver is alive.
The power of attorney has a scope of functionality. A POA acts only within a defined scope of work. This means we can only use the name of Jesus Christ to continue His ministry (His manifesto: Luke 4:18, John 10:10, Mark 16:17).
We use the name of Jesus Christ to effect the change that we desire.
John 14:14
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
The name of Jesus is the name that has all the power and authority in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth.
All things have been subjected to obey the name of Jesus, since all God’s power is vested in that name.
Philippians 2:10
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.
Ephesians 1:20-21
Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
b) The power of the Holy Spirit (Dunamis)
This is the dynamic power/ability to cause changes.
It is the inner power/ability that enforces the change desired.
The Holy Spirit inside us is the power of God that brings transformation and effects changes.
The resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ made the indwelling of this power/spirit possible.
Acts 1:8
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
It is not by might nor by power, but by the Holy Spirit.
Greater is He who is inside us than he who is in the world.
c) The Word of God (Rhema)
Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The sword of the Spirit.
These are creative words released by the power of the Holy Spirit.
They are creative words that enforce and effect changes.
2) Priesthood (Priest)
1 Peter 2:7-8
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
We are referred to as priests with a priesthood ministry.
We are referred to as living stones that build God’s sanctuary for rightful priesthood services.
Our kingdom mandate is in our:
Service to God
Service to one another
Service to the world
Service to God entails all that we do directed to God. Our service and devotion to God is our first and priority mandate in the Kingdom of God. We are called priests to:
Thanksgiving – appreciating God for who He is and what He has done.
Praise – honouring God with our mouths, the sacrifices of our lips.
Worship – counting all things as rubbish for the sake of Christ.
Service to one another
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