The Kingdom of God and Power

 “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power” (Living Bible) 1 Co. 4:20-21 

      Jesus spent considerable time and effort describing the kingdom of God to His followers. This was necessary because He needed to “deprogram” the natural minds of men so that they might begin to comprehend the spiritual realities of an eternal kingdom.  Although He taught that the kingdom of God was “like” such things as “a treasure in a field” or “a net that was cast into the sea”, these analogies only employed those things that men could understand to lead them to by faith believe in things that extend beyond their natural understanding. The Kingdom of God is that very reality that transcends all-natural wisdom and reasoning.                                                                                                              When asked when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus told His followers that although they could not yet see it, the Kingdom of God had already come to earth (Lk. 17:21). It existed first of all in the very person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the embodiment of that eternal Kingdom. Through Him, that Kingdom then continues to exist on earth in the lives of those who would believe in Him. Of that kingdom, Jesus is “the firstborn” of those who would enter that kingdom by faith (Ro. 8:29).  John conveys this transforming work when writing “as many as received him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (Jn 1:12 KJV). This reveals one very important and all to often ignored characteristic of the kingdom of God as it occurs here on earth. It comes with “Power”.  The kingdom of God is not simply about preaching and teaching or even about religious activity, it is about life transforming “Power”.                                            The presence of God’s Holy Spirit displayed through this “Power” is the testimony of the believer’s citizenship in the Kingdom of God. To the Thessalonian church Paul wrote “our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess 1:5). This is how the true gospel of Jesus Christ came into the world, and this is how the Kingdom of God continues to work in the world through His church. What began in a powerful working of the Holy Spirit convicting souls of sin, continues in that same powerful working of the Holy Spirit that empowers the Christian to live what Paul calls a “righteous and godly life” (Titus 2:12). The reality of that Kingdom also enables the believer to live a life spiritually empowered to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church, to be victorious over the schemes of the devil, and to understand the prophecies of His return.                                                        The importance of this indwelling presence and power can be seen in Jesus’ instruction to His disciples to “wait in Jerusalem” where they would receive “power” (Acts 1). That power would be an essential part of their testimony regarding the Kingdom Jesus had come to establish.  This power is also emphasized in the Jesus’ words that we recognize today as “the great commission”, where He declared “and these signs shall follow them that believe” (Mk. 16:  ).                Isaiah spoke of this empowering writing “those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength” (Is 40:31 NASB).  John records Jesus saying “abide in me and you will bear much fruit” (Jn.15:5). Paul declared that he would not use eloquence or human wisdom” to win souls into the Kingdom. Rather, he would wholly depend upon “the demonstration of the Spirit’s power” when preaching so that those who came to believe in Jeus Christ would not base their faith on the words of natural man, but on the power that testifies to the Kingdom of God’s (1 Co. 2:1-5). Each of these verses, and many more, speak of the believer walking in the power that testifies to their citizenship in the Kingdom of God.                 Paul warned of a church age that would “have a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (2 Ti. 3:5).   Just as Jesus’ ministry was testified to by the presence of “signs and wonders”, so the Lord continues today to empower those do not deny that power to walk in that same demonstration of the Spirit’s power that testimonies to the existence of the Kingdom of God in their lives.  Those who walk in this power continue to bear witness to the world of Jesus Christ’s redeeming power. They do so displaying the power of the Holy Spirit to a people so desperately in need of the liberty that He brings.