“The kingdom of God is at hand” Mark 1:15 (Matthew is the only gospel that uses the alternate “kingdom of heaven”). The reason the kingdom was near or at hand was because the King was near or at hand. Luke 17:21 says “The kingdom of God is within you”, this occurs when the King comes […]
The Christian life is like a garden into which seeds have been planted to grow and become productive. God has been a “gardener” from the beginning having planted the first garden in Genesis 2:8 into which He placed man. The produce of the garden was to supply man’s nutritional needs, verse 9; and man himself […]
2 Peter 1:11 says, “For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The kingdom Peter has in view here is the one represented by the stone in king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which “became a mountain and filled the whole earth” Daniel 2:35. It would […]
Water is essential to life, being a necessity to every living organism. Water is a very fitting symbol of the Holy Spirit, as well as of the word of God. Water is cleansing, refreshing, life-giving, and life sustaining. Appropriately Jesus used water as a picture when He spoke of the Holy Spirit in John 7:37-39, […]
Citizenship in the kingdom of God is by birth and naturalization (or adoption), the latter incorporating into it a new birth experience. Jesus said “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above) he cannot ever see – know be acquainted with [and experience] – the […]
In Philippians 4:4 we are instructed to “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice.” Then again in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to “Rejoice always.” The Christian life is intended to be a joy-filled life, and accordingly Jesus speaking to His disciples said “…that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy be […]
On Valentine’s Day, which is a day dedicated to the expression of love, let us remember the love that God has shown to us, the strongest love ever known to humankind, unconditional and unending. He gives us a portrait of this love fitted to our human understanding in Hosea the prophet, whose wife had committed […]
This is the first in a series of meditations on the kingdom. A kingdom must have a king that is responsible for governing it, and ancient kings held singlehandedly all the functions of modern governments, executive, legislative, and judicial, with their word being the final authority in their realm. In a democracy government is (supposedly) […]