Understanding The Kingdom

Walking in Kingdom Life Style:

John 3:1-3

John 3:1–3 KJV 1900

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

So verse 3 implies that you first have see it, before you live in it. So the purpose is not just to see it, but live in it daily.

So what is the Kingdom of God?

Roman 14:17

Romans 14:17 KJV 1900

17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Righteousness. Conformity to a certain set of expectations, which vary from role to role. Righteousness is fulfillment of the expectations in any relationship, whether with God or other people. It is applicable at all levels of society, and is relevant in every area of life. Therefore, righteousness denotes the fulfilled expectations in relationships between man and wife, parents and children, fellow citizens, employer and employee, merchant and customers, ruler and citizens, and God and man. Depending on the fulfillment of one’s expectations, an individual could be called righteous and his or her acts and speech could be designated as righteous. The opposite of righteous is “evil,” “wicked,” or “wrong” (cf. ; ). Righteousness is the fiber which holds society, religion, and family together. Righteousness enhances the welfare of the community. A godly (not “pious” in the modern sense) person was called “righteous” (ṣaddîq). The ṣaddîq was a person of wisdom, whose “righteousness” brought joy to his family (), to his city (), and to the people of God ().

His acts in creation and in salvation are righteous in that they are the working out of his glorious ordering of his kingdom purposes for the earth (; cf. ).

Peace. Total well-being, prosperity, and security associated with God’s presence among his people. Linked in the OT with the covenant, the presence of peace, as God’s gift, was conditional upon Israel’s obedience. In prophetic material, true peace is part of the end-time hope of God’s salvation. In the NT, this longed-for peace is understood as having come in Christ and able to be experienced by faith.

Joy. Positive human condition that can be either feeling or action. The Bible uses joy in both senses.

Joy as Feeling. Joy is a feeling called forth by well-being, success, or good fortune. A person automatically experiences it because of certain favorable circumstances. It cannot be commanded.

The shepherd experienced joy when he found his lost sheep (). The multitude felt it when Jesus healed a Jewish woman whom Satan had bound for 18 years (). The disciples returned to Jerusalem rejoicing after Jesus’ ascension (). Joy was also the feeling of the church at Antioch when its members heard the Jerusalem Council’s decision that they did not have to be circumcised and keep the Law (). Paul mentioned his joy in hearing about the obedience of the Roman Christians (). He wrote to the Corinthians that love does not rejoice in wrong but rejoices in the right (; see also ; ; ; ; ; , , ).

Joy as Action. There is a joy that Scripture commands. That joy is action that can be engaged in regardless of how the person feels. tells the reader to rejoice in the wife of his youth, without reference to what she may be like. Christ instructed his disciples to rejoice when they were persecuted, reviled, and slandered (, ). The apostle Paul commanded continuous rejoicing (; ). James said Christians are to reckon it all joy when they fall into various testings because such testings produce endurance (). seems to include both action and emotion when it says, “But rejoice [the action] in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad [the emotion] when his glory is revealed.” Joy in adverse circumstances is possible only as a fruit of the Holy Spirit, who is present in every Christian ().

Holy Spirit. Third person of the Trinity. The word “spirit” (Hebrew ruah, Greek pneuma) is the word used from ancient times to describe and explain the experience of divine power working in, upon, and around men, and understood by them as the power of God.

Understanding the Kingdom purpose, give us the ability walkout our individual purpose for our lives within the Kingdom , right here on earth.