Mk. 4:11 - “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables.”
Recently, I was asked to explain the significance of Christianity. The questioner was genuinely seeking deeper understanding and was spiritually astute enough to distinguish religious double talk from truth. That evening my daughter called asking me to help her respond to a similar question from one of her friends. Thousands are eager to both hear truth and see a demonstration of the gospel of the kingdom.
In the verse above, Jesus confirmed that His disciples were to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. No substitute exists for knowledge of God’s Word for only by knowing absolute Truth can one experience freedom of kingdom life (see Jn.8:31-32). We are free only to the degree we know and practice Truth. Lack of knowledge (ignorance) is the source of destruction and bondage (see Hos.4:6; Isa.5:13). Our ignorance is one of Satan’s most effective weapons to release the power of fear into our lives. Many have heard the saying, “Ignorance is bliss.” This could not be further from the truth for ignorance leads to destruction. The Lord warned Israel, “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity” (Lev.5:17). Ignorance of God’s Word and His kingdom principles destroys lives, families, communities, and nations. The results of lack of knowledge are all around us. Even believers turn to worldly wisdom and solutions and reject Truth - Who is the sole answer to life’s problems. Satan uses our ignorance to weave his strategy, “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws” (Dan.7:25). Jesus contrasted Satan’s purpose with His, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn.10:10). Satan can only succeed so long as believers remain ignorant of their position in the kingdom of God. John emphasized that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1Jn.4:4). Living kingdom principles result in a victorious lifestyle. Important aspects of God’s kingdom (government, rule, and realm) exist that believers should know.
The first aspect is God’s kingdom is absolute Truth. All of creation hinges on God’s nature and the principles He has established. Jesus Who is the express image of God (Heb.1:3) said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one has access to the Father except through Him (Jn.14:6). It is from the basis of absolute Truth that all people, governments, philosophies, and morality are measured. The kingdom is accountable to none but God Himself. For this reason when kingdom rules are violated through lawlessness, such action releases God’s righteous judgment. When a human violates God’s moral law (Ten Commandments) whether they believe it or not, they come under judgment and reap the results established by God’s governmental justice. The law of sin and death dictates that if a person sins he is guilty and deserving of death.
Under the law of the Abrahamic covenant, God established a system of separation and sacrifices which called for the sacrificial death of an animal through the shedding of blood to atone for man’s sin. Through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and His substitutionary death on the cross and shedding of His precious blood, God’s judgment has been forever satisfied. The blood of Jesus Christ applied by faith to a believer causes the remission of sin thereby releasing God’s mercy and grace instead of judgment against sin. Now, the believer has been translated from the old law of sin and death into the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom.8:1). The kingdom of God governs the universe by absolute Truth!
The kingdom of God is a reflection of His Agape (Love) nature. Humans are devoid of ability to demonstrate Agape. God is Agape (1Jn.4:16). And as He lives in believers through Holy Spirit His Agape can be realized in the “new creation” (2Cor.5:17). Jesus Christ became Incarnate Agape and ministered in the power of Holy Spirit. Upon His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, the Father and Son committed the kingdom to Holy Spirit. Paul affirms that the kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom.14:17). God’s own nature, Agape is demonstrated through believers as fruit of Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal.5:22-23). Agape is the power which produces new offspring expanding kingdom reign.
The kingdom is accessed only through new birth. Jesus explained that only those who are born again can see the kingdom of God (Jn.3:3) and one must be born of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom (Jn.3:5). The kingdom of God is life in Holy Spirit. The kingdom is the source of all God’s promises; acquired only through the force of faith. 2Cor.1:20- “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” Faith is the basic currency of the kingdom. Without an exchange of faith no tangible manifestation of God’s desired intent in the earth can be manifested. New creations have been given dual realm authority. Through faith, believers have Jesus’ delegated authority of dominion (Matt.28:18-20). Likewise, believers have spiritual authority over the demonic realm in earth (Mk.16:17). Faith is one of two spiritual forces which can not be denied. The other force is fear. Both faith and fear demand fulfillment and mankind is in either one camp or the other. Job declared, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job3:25). As believers, we have been equipped to walk by faith and reap faith’s results. We are to be “transfer agents” accessing the spiritual realm of the kingdom extracting the very promises of God by faith and manifesting that reality in the natural realm.
The kingdom of God is the power of God. 1Cor.4:20- “For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” The power of God is the anointing of Holy Spirit. This anointing enabled Jesus to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to deliver captives, to set at liberty the oppressed, and to proclaim restoration of God’s original purpose for man (see Lk.4:18-19). This same anointing has been released to believers through Holy Spirit to do the same works Jesus did (see Jn.14:12).
The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (see Rom.14:17). Righteousness means right standing before Father God through faith alone. Righteousness is the first qualification for attaining kingdom life. Only the righteous can accept son ship (see Rom.8:16-17), and demonstrate God’s own nature having been made a partaker of the divine nature (see 2Pet.1:2-4). Righteousness frees a person from religious bondage of attempting to earn favor from God through his good works and from the slave mentality that he is only an “old sinner saved by grace.” That certainly was the case, but now we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (see 2Cor.5:21). The righteous believer is now qualified to experience peace. God’s peace is not just the absence of conflict, but a way of life which passes human understanding and contains power to guard one’s heart and mind (see Phil.4:6). Faith is always followed by peace which brings true rest to a believer - even when there is no visible solution to life’s problems. On the heels of peace follows joy which is a spiritual catalyst hastening the desired result. We are admonished to rejoice, joy, and praise the Lord throughout scripture for very good reason. The Lord Himself inhabits the praises of His people (see Ps.22:3). A joyous heart attracts Ultimate Power; Almighty God Who brings kingdom order to the human scene. The kingdom of God is the realm of divine order where righteousness, peace, and joy reign in the hearts of men through Holy Spirit. Amen.
Recently, I was asked to explain the significance of Christianity. The questioner was genuinely seeking deeper understanding and was spiritually astute enough to distinguish religious double talk from truth. That evening my daughter called asking me to help her respond to a similar question from one of her friends. Thousands are eager to both hear truth and see a demonstration of the gospel of the kingdom.
In the verse above, Jesus confirmed that His disciples were to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. No substitute exists for knowledge of God’s Word for only by knowing absolute Truth can one experience freedom of kingdom life (see Jn.8:31-32). We are free only to the degree we know and practice Truth. Lack of knowledge (ignorance) is the source of destruction and bondage (see Hos.4:6; Isa.5:13). Our ignorance is one of Satan’s most effective weapons to release the power of fear into our lives. Many have heard the saying, “Ignorance is bliss.” This could not be further from the truth for ignorance leads to destruction. The Lord warned Israel, “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity” (Lev.5:17). Ignorance of God’s Word and His kingdom principles destroys lives, families, communities, and nations. The results of lack of knowledge are all around us. Even believers turn to worldly wisdom and solutions and reject Truth - Who is the sole answer to life’s problems. Satan uses our ignorance to weave his strategy, “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws” (Dan.7:25). Jesus contrasted Satan’s purpose with His, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn.10:10). Satan can only succeed so long as believers remain ignorant of their position in the kingdom of God. John emphasized that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1Jn.4:4). Living kingdom principles result in a victorious lifestyle. Important aspects of God’s kingdom (government, rule, and realm) exist that believers should know.
The first aspect is God’s kingdom is absolute Truth. All of creation hinges on God’s nature and the principles He has established. Jesus Who is the express image of God (Heb.1:3) said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one has access to the Father except through Him (Jn.14:6). It is from the basis of absolute Truth that all people, governments, philosophies, and morality are measured. The kingdom is accountable to none but God Himself. For this reason when kingdom rules are violated through lawlessness, such action releases God’s righteous judgment. When a human violates God’s moral law (Ten Commandments) whether they believe it or not, they come under judgment and reap the results established by God’s governmental justice. The law of sin and death dictates that if a person sins he is guilty and deserving of death.
Under the law of the Abrahamic covenant, God established a system of separation and sacrifices which called for the sacrificial death of an animal through the shedding of blood to atone for man’s sin. Through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and His substitutionary death on the cross and shedding of His precious blood, God’s judgment has been forever satisfied. The blood of Jesus Christ applied by faith to a believer causes the remission of sin thereby releasing God’s mercy and grace instead of judgment against sin. Now, the believer has been translated from the old law of sin and death into the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom.8:1). The kingdom of God governs the universe by absolute Truth!
The kingdom of God is a reflection of His Agape (Love) nature. Humans are devoid of ability to demonstrate Agape. God is Agape (1Jn.4:16). And as He lives in believers through Holy Spirit His Agape can be realized in the “new creation” (2Cor.5:17). Jesus Christ became Incarnate Agape and ministered in the power of Holy Spirit. Upon His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, the Father and Son committed the kingdom to Holy Spirit. Paul affirms that the kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom.14:17). God’s own nature, Agape is demonstrated through believers as fruit of Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal.5:22-23). Agape is the power which produces new offspring expanding kingdom reign.
The kingdom is accessed only through new birth. Jesus explained that only those who are born again can see the kingdom of God (Jn.3:3) and one must be born of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom (Jn.3:5). The kingdom of God is life in Holy Spirit. The kingdom is the source of all God’s promises; acquired only through the force of faith. 2Cor.1:20- “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” Faith is the basic currency of the kingdom. Without an exchange of faith no tangible manifestation of God’s desired intent in the earth can be manifested. New creations have been given dual realm authority. Through faith, believers have Jesus’ delegated authority of dominion (Matt.28:18-20). Likewise, believers have spiritual authority over the demonic realm in earth (Mk.16:17). Faith is one of two spiritual forces which can not be denied. The other force is fear. Both faith and fear demand fulfillment and mankind is in either one camp or the other. Job declared, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job3:25). As believers, we have been equipped to walk by faith and reap faith’s results. We are to be “transfer agents” accessing the spiritual realm of the kingdom extracting the very promises of God by faith and manifesting that reality in the natural realm.
The kingdom of God is the power of God. 1Cor.4:20- “For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” The power of God is the anointing of Holy Spirit. This anointing enabled Jesus to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to deliver captives, to set at liberty the oppressed, and to proclaim restoration of God’s original purpose for man (see Lk.4:18-19). This same anointing has been released to believers through Holy Spirit to do the same works Jesus did (see Jn.14:12).
The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (see Rom.14:17). Righteousness means right standing before Father God through faith alone. Righteousness is the first qualification for attaining kingdom life. Only the righteous can accept son ship (see Rom.8:16-17), and demonstrate God’s own nature having been made a partaker of the divine nature (see 2Pet.1:2-4). Righteousness frees a person from religious bondage of attempting to earn favor from God through his good works and from the slave mentality that he is only an “old sinner saved by grace.” That certainly was the case, but now we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (see 2Cor.5:21). The righteous believer is now qualified to experience peace. God’s peace is not just the absence of conflict, but a way of life which passes human understanding and contains power to guard one’s heart and mind (see Phil.4:6). Faith is always followed by peace which brings true rest to a believer - even when there is no visible solution to life’s problems. On the heels of peace follows joy which is a spiritual catalyst hastening the desired result. We are admonished to rejoice, joy, and praise the Lord throughout scripture for very good reason. The Lord Himself inhabits the praises of His people (see Ps.22:3). A joyous heart attracts Ultimate Power; Almighty God Who brings kingdom order to the human scene. The kingdom of God is the realm of divine order where righteousness, peace, and joy reign in the hearts of men through Holy Spirit. Amen.