“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14 NLT)
“The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act.” (2 Peter 3:9 GWT)
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled.” (Colossians 1:19-21 NKJV)
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun. And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19 (NLT)
The “Gospel” (Good News) is so good that my mind cannot comprehend it. Everything in me wars against the idea that I can be in perfect union with my Daddy (my Heavenly Abba Father) without having to do something on my own to deserve it. I have always been told that if it sounds too good to be true that is because it is. And yet, the Bible makes it very clear that being reconciled with my Daddy is a one sided deal in which He did all of the work and I receive all of the benefit.
Religion is basically anything that tries to put the burden on me to somehow pay for my own sins and do something to appease an angry God. Because the “Good News” is obviously too good to be true, I feel compelled to develop a plan, or a system, that allows me to share the burden. The Apostle Paul was constantly in the hot seat for preaching a Gospel that was based completely on grace. He was accused of giving people license to sin (I sinned pretty well without even a permit, let alone needing a license). He was slammed for preaching that there is nothing that anyone needs to do to achieve reconciliation with God. My Daddy did it all!
When Adam and Eve sinned they separated (hid behind a bush) themselves from the Father because in their minds they felt shame for what they had done. And yet, the Father didn’t separate from them. They hid themselves and were afraid to look Him in the eye. It wasn’t that way with the Father. He came to them just as He always did ready to walk and talk in the cool of the evening. Once He confronted their condition He immediately shed the blood of an animal (without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin) to pardon their sin and cover their nakedness. He then posted guard over the Tree of Life and sent them out of the Garden to protect them from compounding their condition by eating of that tree. Religion has painted such a distorted picture of what took place. There was no angry God kicking lost sinners out of the Garden because He couldn’t be in the presence of their sin. Read it again. There was a loving Father reconciling, and restoring, His fallen children; and protecting them from any further harm.
In order for Adam and Eve to truly be beings created in the image and likeness of their Father, they had to have the ability to freely make eternity impacting choices, even if those choices had negative eternal impact. Their Father knew in advance that they would blow it and had a plan in place to deal with it before He even created them. In His timeless economy they were restored before they ever fell. In our human economy of time we have been walking out this plan throughout history.
My Daddy lives in the Kingdom of Heaven. He created this earth to expand His kingdom and gave it to me to rule nature and subdue the enemy by taking dominion; living in the authority He has delegated to me. He has given me the ministry of reconciliation, and has commissioned me to partner with Him to take the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven to everyone I meet. I have been given the great privilege of partnering with Him to proclaim the message of what Jesus did when He finished the work of redemption reconciling the world to Himself. The same is true for you.
Would you like to be free from everything that holds you in bondage? Would you like to be healed from everything that has attacked your body and mind? Would you like to have the chains of lack and poverty broken off your life? Would you like to be able to come boldly to the Throne of Grace, sit on your Daddy’s lap (the King of the Universe), and find grace in your time of need? Would you like to have your mind set free from the deceptions, and distortions, of your identity, and the identity of your heavenly Father? It may sound too good to be true, but it is actually even better than I am able to put into words.
Jesus is right here with open arms. He is not rejecting you. All you need to do is receive him into your life. Embrace His free gift of salvation. Let Him give you the Kingdom and all of its benefits. Just say “yes!”
Holy Spirit, please remove the blinders from our eyes, enlighten our darkened minds, show us Jesus, and help us accept His gift of salvation today.
Help me enter into the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven as I ponder…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 250: Kingdom Opportunity