Davar Kingdom Of God

The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; … (Isa 50:4-5, NIV). All humans as well animals have two eyes and two ears. With two eyes, we see things around us in three dimensions: we can see that objects in front of us are closer to us than the other objects behind them. With two ears, we can discern which direction a sound is coming from: if the object that emits the sound is moving, we can also sense which direction it is moving to. So these two eyes and two ears help us knowing more accurately what is happening around us—the reality of the world we live in. It is important to keep in mind that according to the Bible, there are two kinds of reality: one spiritual, and the other physical. All spiritual beings like angels, evil spirits and God are living in the spiritual world, and everything t

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3). All believers should know that there is such a thing as a “spiritual blessing” as opposed to a physical blessing. As for physical blessings, we know what they are so well that we all seek them as we live here on earth. But we should not forget that God is spirit, and when he blesses us he does it first by giving us spiritual blessings. God who is spirit blesses us with what he has, and what he has is always spiritual. In chapter 4 of Ephesians, we find the following scripture. It explains how such blessings, once stolen from us, were recovered and given back to us through Jesus Christ. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men (4:7-8)." The place to which “he ascended” was the highest throne in heaven—the right hand of the Father

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet 1:3-5). If there is an earthly inheritance in this world that people seek, such as houses and land, there is also a heavenly inheritance that all spiritual beings seek. Whatever people value, they seek it. If they do not see any value to it, they do not seek it. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. A problem comes when the things we seek do not really have the value we think they do. The Bible says that those who are born of God have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven.” That means that the inheritance kept on earth perishes, spoils and fades. All humans were crea

The key to understanding the last speech and prayer of Jesus in John 13-17 lies in the fact that Jesus was leaving the earth in the way that the disciples had never expected or imagined. He was leaving, but he would be back to be with them in a very unique way. It was not easy for the disciples to know how Jesus actually would be with them, so he tried to explain it to them. He began by saying: My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come (John 13:33). At first, these words of Jesus sounded as though he would go to a far country where it would be difficult for the disciples to follow him. So, Peter asked: Lord, where are you going (v. 36)? Jesus replied: Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later (v. 36). As for the things that are easy for us to understand today, it was not easy at that time for the disciples to understand because they had no idea what was going to

All children of God are entitled to have certain spiritual shares with God through Jesus Christ. If you are a child of God, you are an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ. Unless you know what your shares are, you will not be able to live as an heir of God utilizing them. These shares are promised to be given to us, and Jesus taught us what they are in his farewell speech (John 13-16). When Jesus washed Peter’s feet, he said to him, “Unless I wash you, you have no part (share) with me (v. 8).” The share was given in a package of two things—the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Now, as for the use of the name of Jesus, there are two ways to use it. Of course, we should not forget that Jesus’ name is not simply a tool, but it represents the person of Jesus himself whom we admire and worship. However, it is also important to know that, according to Jesus, it is a share given to us so that we can use it. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may

We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit (1 John 4:13). While “believing” is for what is not seen yet, “knowing” is for what is already seen. We have already seen and “know” that we live in God, and he lives in us. The reciprocal “living”—“we live in him and he in us”—is one of John’s favorite expressions to mean oneness in the fellowship that believers now have with God (2:24, 4:15). As Jesus was one with God when he was on earth, we are one with him. It is important to realize that God himself desires to be one with us more that we seek him and desire to be close to him. We can be one with the Creator, and God’s word says that we are one with him through Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit who has been given to us is the proof of that. And if we are one with him who is love, we need to put love as the center and the foundation of our life by loving each other. Paul speaks of this truth in his letter to the Colossians: 13 Bear with each other and forgive whateve

"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me (John 13:8)." The Greek word for “part” in this verse is meros, and it means “share”—a part that is allotted to an individual—in this case, a share allotted to Peter and the other disciples. The same word is used in the Parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15 where the younger son asks his father for his “share” of the estate (15:12). Interestingly, it is also used twice in John 19:23 for the pieces of Jesus’ clothes—the four “shares” that were divided by soldiers before he was crucified. The theological implication of this is deep (cf. Gal 3:27). So, the disciples received a share from God. What was it? Note that Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part (share) with me.” It must have been something that Jesus already had so that he could share it with the disciples. With this question in mind, read the whole speech of Jesus in chapters 13-16. Actually, it is not difficult, at all, to f

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Rom 8:17). The sufferings we are to share with Christ are the burdens he carries for the salvation of humanity. Jesus died on the cross, was raised from the dead, ascended to the heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father. The salvation is now complete as he said on the cross, “It is finished.” But that does not mean that he has no more burdens for the salvation of humanity, and stays indifferent to the sufferings that humans are still going through on earth. Satan has been defeated, but many are not saved yet, and even those who confess him as Lord know so little that they still suffer from what they have been already redeemed from. And of course, there are Christians who suffer from persecutions for the name of Jesus. He still bears all these burdens on him, and is interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. If so, there is

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit (Gal 3:14). What we inherit as heirs of God is not physical material like food and clothes, but something spiritual. It does not mean, however, that blessings on our material needs are not included in our inheritance. Neither does it mean that spiritual blessings we receive are something insubstantial or imaginary. In fact, the heaven, the eternal kingdom, which we will enter is a physical one, and there, we will live with physical bodies and have physical blessings. What we need to remember is that this world in which we live now will come to perish one day, and if we value earthly things too much, we will be very disappointed later. There is something much more valuable than what we physically see and possess in this world. According to the above scripture, it is “the promise of the Spirit” that we, the spiritual descendants of Abraham

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory (Rom 8:17). In order to know what sufferings we need to share with Christ as heirs of God, we are now looking at the stories in Luke 16. Jesus had just finished telling his disciples the Parable of the Shrewd Manager and teaching them the importance of living for the benefits of other people. There among the listeners were the Pharisees, and: The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus (v. 14). It is interesting to guess what the Pharisees thought about the Parable of the Shrewd Manager. They were mostly rich people, and were so eager to keep the Law. Therefore, it must have been almost impossible for them to identify themselves with the shrewd manager as the disciples did. They rather saw themselves as “the rich man,” “the master.” So, for them, what the shrewd manager did was very wrong, and they probably tho

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory (Rom 8:17). Besides to receive blessings from God, there is something mandatory in the life of a person who desires to be an heir of God. That is, to share in the sufferings of Christ. To these sufferings, those that Jesus has redeemed us from—sickness, poverty, and other kinds of curses that resulted from sin—do not belong. Jesus bore our sickness, became poor, and was cursed on the tree, so that we are now healthy, rich and free from all curses. If Jesus suffered to redeem us from such sufferings, why do we still need to share in the same sufferings with him? So, we need to know what the Bible means by “we share in his sufferings,” and what kind of sufferings we need to share with him. To this question, the parables of Luke 16 (the parable of the shrewd manager, and that of a rich man and Lazarus) give an answer. It is important to know th

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you (1 Pet 1:3-4), … “An inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” is what we inherit as heirs of God, which is, indeed, different from what people usually seek in this world—food, clothes, and other things that perish, spoil and fade. Jesus said: For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt 6:32-33). “All these things” are what pagans seek, but we as children of God know that our Father knows we need them and makes certain that we have them. And if we know that all these things are given to us, the only things we should seek now are “his kingdom and his righteousness.” The parallel passa

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:29). We the heirs of God live according to the promise. The promise is that God will bless us by giving us everything we need, and bless this world through us as a blessing. It was God himself who promised Abraham to give him a child and make him into a great nation so that through him all peoples on earth would be blessed. God wills, and is determined to do what he wills. That is what God’s promise means. He does not need our help. He does it for us. That is called God’s grace. Heirs of God live by God’s grace—the system in which his kingdom exists and all his blessings flow. Yet, the world into which sin came is running according to a system that is different from that of God’s grace. The people who live there are the children born by the flesh like Ishmael, not the children born by promise like Isaac. The members of this kingdom are all involved in running a race against each other. Everybody tries

It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith (Rom 4:13). Human beings were created as God’s children, and they were to rule over the world as heirs of the world living under God’s grace. Note that they were created at the end of the sixth day of creation. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Gen 1:28).” They were created into the world where everything had been prepared and complete, and God already blessed them before they began to do anything yet—any work, labor or effort. We were created into God’s blessings and grace. This is a big truth for us. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day (v. 31). Nothing in this passage suggests that humans ha

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:29).　 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise (4:28). If you are in Christ, you are a child of God and an heir according to God’s promise. These two scriptures teach us that by promise we have become heirs of God, and by promise we live as children of God. God’s word promises about the rights and privileges given to the children of God. In order to enjoy these rights and privileges in your life, you will need to live by believing and trusting what God promises in his word. The opposite of to live by promise is to live by the works of the law. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law (literally, without works of the law) (Rom 3:28). The law is the standard set to show how righteous people should live on earth, and everything the law says is good. But when you try to keep it thinking you can, you will find yourself not keeping it. It is the pitfall that A

In this series of sermons, “Co-heirs with Christ,” we have so far learned what it means to be an heir of God by looking at the examples of Abraham and Jacob. It is, especially, interesting to see the differences between Abraham and Lot, and between Esau and Jacob—one being an heir and the other not being an heir. Both Abraham and Jacob were blessed in spite of their weaknesses and mistakes, and God trained them according to the purposes he had for them. And both lived as blessings to others: learn well what it means to be a blessing. Now, we will go on to the case of Ishmael and Isaac. This is a little complicated because another vital biblical issue—namely, how the Law should be understood under the new covenant—is involved in its discussions. First of all, read the following words found in Galatians: For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way (literally, according to flesh); but his son b

In this sermon, we will compare the lives of two brothers, Esau and Jacob. Unlike Ishmael whose father was Abraham, but mother was not Sarah, both Esau and Jacob were the sons of Isaac and Rebekah, the grandsons of Abraham and Sarah, and were eligible to be an heir of the blessings God promised to give through his covenant with Abraham. Of the twins, in a natural sense, Esau was the first candidate to be the heir because he was older, but in exchange of a bowl of stew he sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob, who later came to inherit the blessings through deception. This naturally made Esau very furious, and Jacob, upon his parents’ suggestion, was literally forced to flee to a distant land to live with his uncle, Laban, leaving all the wealth and the land behind, which he was promised to inherit. The story of Jacob’s dream at Bethel is very significant because it happened right after he was blessed by his father as the heir. In a sense, it corresponds to the story of Abraham’s counting of th

There are big differences between the blessings promised to the heirs of God and the blessings given to those who are not heirs of God. Jesus said, “He (God) causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Mat 5:45).” This kind of blessings is not the same with the kind of blessings that we receive as heirs of God. Actually, we do not only receive blessings, but also are blessings to others. Such differences are well illustrated in the stories of Abram and Lot in Genesis. Lot was Abram’s nephew and was not an heir of God’s covenant. Yet, he was blessed through Abram, and differences came when he stopped staying with him. Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together (Gen 13:5-6). So, when quarreling arose, Lot departed Abram and lived in the land near Sodom. And the moment

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir (vv. 6-7). To all those who have believed in Jesus Christ are given the right to become the sons of God, who are also the heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. But we should not forget that God is a good God for both his sons and those who are not his sons yet. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Mat 5:44-45). Where, then, is the difference between God’s children and those who are not God’s children? This is a good question. In order to get the answer to this question, we will go to the stories of Abraham. The stories begin with the genealogy of Terah, the father of Abram in chapter 11 of Genesis. This i

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God (John 1:12-13). These words are found in the Prologue of John’s gospel. “He” in this passage refers to Christ, the preexistent Word (logos), who was incarnated (tabernacled) and lived among us. To those who received him and believed in his name, he has given “the right to become children of God.” Note that “to become children of God” is a “right (exousia).” This right is not given to all people, but only to “all who received him, to those who believed in his name.” It seems that it is a very special right. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons (Gal 4:4-5). Here also, the issue is on the rights that believers have. Note the way it calls the right—“the full rights of sons.” Thes