[스크랩] The kingdom of God

The kingdom of God Matthew 4:17   Even though we say that we know God well, we don't know Him and concerning His Kingdom. God wants us to know Him and His Kingdom. God's vision is His Kingdom. Therefore Jesus declared that "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near."   1. Meaning of the Kingdom of God   We need to meditate what is the Kingdom of God. Because many people misunderstand about His Kingdom. When we think about His Kingdom, we think generally where saints go after death. We try to understand that the Kingdom of God is a place.   In the Bible, the Kingdom of God does not mean a place, for Jesus said "Repent, the Kingdom of God is near." Then how do we understand about His Kingdom? When we think about the Kingdom of God, a topic is how do understand a general idea of kingdom. Generally, when we say idea of kingdom, we say three component. There are sovereign power and territory and people. Sovereign power is very important in them. If we lose sovereign power, even though there are people and territory, kingdom can't continue. In the Bible, kingdom means always sovereign, rule, reign, royal authority.   In the beginning, God declared his rule. In Genesis 1:1, the Bible said that "God created the heaven and earth". It means that declaring of reign of God for all completed the world. Reign of God was explained through the word of 'create'.   In Genesis 1:26, God said "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."   'Image' means the whole man who manage his role as a ruler of the world. "Let them rule over all the earth" means royal authority of man. Adam is a agent of God who be selected for ruling all the earth.   In Genesis 2:9-14, Eden is a garden of God and the center of the earth where God dwells. God who rule the universe settled Adam in Eden and wanted to associate with Adam. Eden where is the tree of life is the Kingdom of God. Adam need to listen to the God's Word for he live in there. God said that don't eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the middle of Eden. The knowledge which know good and evil belongs to God. The tree of knowledge of good and evil is a symbol of ruling of God in Eden. Adam who was the agent of God had to rule following the will of God who is the ruler of the Universe. It's important to follow God's will, when we try to do for the Kingdom of God. But Adam disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because he wanted to become like God himself, and he was cast out from Eden. And then he was cut off from the way of the tree of life which is the symbol of the Kingdom of God.   When God judged the world by water, God gave mercy to Noah. God saved Noah and his family, and He blessed Noah and his sons(Shem, Ham, Japheth). Afterward God called Abraham who was descendant of Shem, and let him go to Canaan, and promised him what give the land for his descendant. Abraham's descendants became Israel. When God delivered Israel from Egypt and guided them to Canaan by Moses, God commanded Mosses to make Holy tent, and He sanctified Israel, and He put Israel under his ruling. Because God planned to make Israel to live with him. When King David who was willing to obey God ruled Israel, God gave peace to Israel, for God showed that Israel is the Kingdom of God. But when Israel betrayed God, they were perished and became prisoners of Babylon. After 70 years, God made Israel to come back to Judea from Babylon, but they failed in their living as people of the Kingdom of God, and His Kingdom was seen no more.   But when the time had fully come, God sent Jesus Christ and made the Kingdom of God to come into the world. Jesus said, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near." and taught the Kingdom of God to his disciples. After Jesus ascended to heaven, he sent the Holy spirit and established the Church. And God wants that the Kingdom of God is completed. Now God wants that the Kingdom of God expands through the church in the world. Even though the church is weak, God gives grace to the church and makes the Kingdom of God to expand through the church. The Kingdom of God will be completed when Jesus Christ come again to the world. But the Kingdom of God already came to the world, and the way that we enter the Kingdom of God is opened.   2. One who see the Kingdom of God.   In John 3:3, Jesus said that "no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again." Born again means that 'born from above' or 'born from God'. At that time, Jews thought that foreigner who was converted with prayer, sacrifice and baptism was born again. But Jesus said that even though Jews who was selected need to be renewed for they enter the Kingdom of God. Because we cannot enter the Kingdom of God with humanity effort, but we can enter there with renewal by God's grace and power.   'Born again' is the Holy Spirit's work that revive spiritual life which died by sin and fault, and remake to a new creation(Ephesians 2:5). We can be born again with the Spirit and God's Word. Born again means that the man who belong to flesh is changed fundamentally and as whole man. And it is not gradual as like patients recover from their illness, but immediate change as like dead man revive.   When we see the Kingdom of God, seeing does not mean that we can see images or things, but seeing through experience. Therefore it means that we recognize the Kingdom of God. Only one who was born again can recognize the Kingdom of God, and experience and participate on it. One who was not born again cannot experience the Kingdom of God, because he cannot recognize it.   3. One who enter the Kingdom of God.   It is not conditional that Jesus come again or we experience death, for we enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is near. It means that the Kingdom of God already came when Jesus came to the world. So that Jesus taught the Kingdom of God to his disciples. When Jesus taught prayer to his disciples, he said that "your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"(Matthew 6:10).   And in Luke 17:20-21, Jesus said to the Pharisees who ask about the Kingdom of God that "The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is' or 'There is', because the Kingdom of God is within you." He said the Kingdom of God is in the heart. And Jesus healed patients and those who is possessed by demon, for He showed the Kingdom of God.   In John 3:5, Jesus said that "No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." In Here, 'born of water and the Spirit' means that we recognize ourselves as sinners and repent and be washed with water by baptism. And then we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior, and we are born again with the Spirit by faith. When we recognize ourselves as sinners and we repent, we accept and confess Jesus Christ as our Savior, and we receive salvation. At that time, the Holy Spirit make us renewed and come into our hearts, and live with us forever. Those who believed in Jesus Christ have eternal life and already entered the Kingdom of God.   In John 5:24, Jesus declared that "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over form death to life."   Here, we listen to the Word that one who believe in Jesus already has crossed over from death to life. Life means that the Kingdom of God who is eternal life. In other words, it is not that when we will die, we will go to heaven, but when we believed in Jesus Christ and received salvation, we already entered the Kingdom of God.   4. For we live in the Kingdom of God.   But we can not recognize that we already entered the Kingdom of God. We need to live in the Kingdom of God, for we recognize that we entered the Kingdom of God. When we live in the Kingdom of God, we can feel it.   We need to try to know God, for we live in the Kingdom of God. In John 17:3, Jesus said that "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."   Here knowing does not mean that we have just knowledge about God, but we know God through experience. It means that we need to know God, as like wife and husband know each other. But we cannot know God by ourselves. If God does not reveal us himself, we cannot know God. God revealed us himself through the Bible, because God loves us. God commanded to prophets and apostles to write the Bible through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible through them.   Therefore we need to ponder the Bible for we know God. We need to trust in the Holy Spirit for we listen to God's words through the Bible. It is possible that we know God by the Holy Spirit, as like we were born again through the Holy spirit's work. We need to pray to God for we listen to God's word by power of the Holy Spirit. Therefor We must pray to know God asking for help of the Holy Spirit, than asking for our desires.   We believed in Jesus Christ and received salvation. And then we became children of God and entered the Kingdom of God. But even though we became children of God, it is not possible that we live in the Kingdom of God automatically. If we want to live in the Kingdom of God, We need to obey God's will. If living in the Kingdom of God is our life that we live everyday under God's rule, we need to know and obey God's will.   In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said to his disciples that "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."   Even though after we believed in Jesus, sometimes we live following our will. But when we live following our will, we can never know and obey God's will. Therefore we need to deny ourselves and hand over our will to the cross and follow Jesus, for we live in the Kingdom of God. We need to hand over our will to death of cross, and live by life of Jesus Christ. When we live just asking for God's grace and God's face, God gives us mercy and power, so that we can obey God's will. When we ask for God's face and trust in the Holy Spirit, we can live in the Kingdom of God. Even though we have no money, if we live with God, we can live in the Kingdom of God. At that time, those who surround us can see God through us, and they will meet Jesus. This is God's vision.

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