His Kingdom!

"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." (John 18:36)


Hello To All:

When our Creator makes a statement - do we believe Him? Do we hear what He really says? Or, do we hear what we want to hear? Do we truly believe that God says what He means; and that He means what He says?  If you, my beloved, have been a consistent reader of the letters posted on this web site, then you should have come to understand, that this elder does believe that God says what He means; and that He means what He says.

In our previous letter ("Make Us A King To Judge Us": His Kingdom.), we were reminded, that we have been "translated into the kingdom of his dear Son." In this letter, our opening text, is reminding us, that His "kingdom is not of this world."

How can this be, that we, that is the beloved, that is those of us who belong to Jesus of Nazareth; how can it be, that we who are in the world; that we who have been "translated into the kingdom of his dear Son;" are members of a kingdom, that according to Jesus: "is not of this world?"

If we are to rightly answer this question, we must first come to an understanding of what the kingdom cannot be, in this time frame of our journey.  Confusion must be reduced! By recognizing what the kingdom is not, we have a much better opportunity to understand what this kingdom is, that now defines who we are in Christ Jesus, our King.

If we are to make progress in our journey towards reducing our confusion; then it is necessary for us to look to Jesus of Nazareth for help!

The letter to the Hebrews reminds us of how important it is to look to Jesus. We find written at Hebrews 12:1-2 the following:

1. " Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"
2. "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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The Apostle  Peter also stresses the importance of Jesus. We find written at 2 Peter 3:17-18:

17. "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness."
18. "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."

My beloved, the security of our salvation is all about Jesus of Nazareth. We run the race "that is set before us," as we are "looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." The "stedfastness" of our faith is directly related to the reality that we are to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

If the security of our salvation is all about Jesus, then it must be understood that the "Kingdom" is all about Jesus. My beloved, the security of our salvation rests in the truth that we are His people. We are His body; and, yes, we are, in this time frame of our journey, as His people, we are, also, His Kingdom! But, and this is vital to understand; His Kingdom, of which we are members, in this time frame of our journey, "is not of this world."

This truth is clearly and emphatically laid before us, in the accounts of the temptation of Jesus, in the wilderness; where Jesus is tempted three times by the devil. He is tempted because of His hunger. He is tempted because of His power. He is also tempted because of His Deity. It is the temptation of His power that gives us significant insight into His kingdom. We find the following written at Luke 4:5-8:


5. "And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time."
6. "And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it."
7. "If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine."
8. "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

The devil offers Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world." The only kingdom that is not included in this offering is the kingdom that we have been "translated into." Our opening text reminds us, in Jesus own words, of this truth: "but now is my kingdom not from hence."

The kingdoms that the devil offered were and are the political kingdoms of this time-line of our journey. God sits in His throne and is sovereign over all of His creation. But for reasons hard for us to understand, Satan is allowed to have power over the political kingdoms of the world. If this is not true, then there could not have been any temptation. The temptation was real and Satan's political power is real.

Please note that the devil makes the claim that "this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me." Jesus does not rebuke him for this statement, because the statement is true. In this time-line of our journey, the political arena is Satan's arena. The kingdom, that we have been translated into, the kingdom that has Jesus of Nazareth as it's King, is, in this time-line of our journey, separate from and not a participant in the political kingdoms of the world.

When Jesus does rebuke Satan for this temptation, He tells him: "Thous shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Once again, we must ask ourselves the question: To whom have we bowed the knee?

Until next time, my beloved brethren, in Christ Jesus, I continue to be,

Your servant and your fellow pilgrim,
Elder Theophilus










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