Part 5- The Kingdom

The 5th Key to Building Home: Understand Your Place in God's Kingdom

In the movie The Princess Diaries, Mia, an ordinary, unpolished girl, lives with her mother and learns from her long-lost grandmother on her father’s side that she is a princess. She is the heir to the throne of Genovia. Mia is told she will be trained in the ways of being a princess. She will be given lessons to understand the history of Genovia. This will help her know Genovia’s allies and enemies.

We have reached the point in our story where you have been adopted into the kingdom of God and are now fully aware of your identity as its heir. But just like Mia, we need to be trained in our princess ways to learn the big picture of the spiritual Kingdom. This will allow us to freely be a part of God’s kingdom and understand its privileges and expectations.

What I am about to describe is abstract, and it can be tricky to grasp its nuances, but when we understand it, we are empowered to be princesses and ambassadors of God’s kingdom.

Jesus, in one of his most famous sermons, stated, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 ESV). What is this kingdom of God that we are supposed to seek? When Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray, He states, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10 ESV). Why are we to pray for His kingdom to come on earth?

A kingdom is usually a dominion, a land with distinct boundaries where a specific king or ruler is the leader. In this case, God is the King over His kingdom. Describing the location of God’s kingdom, the land where God is the leader, is more difficult. We know from Jesus’s prayer that God’s kingdom and His will are done in heaven, yet we are to pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth.

God’s kingdom on this earth is not a physical plot of land. It is a spiritual kingdom and dominion. The kingdom is found in the hearts of his people. When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, he replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21 NKJV). In Keys to Building Home, our ultimate goal is to build a relationship with God so that the kingdom of God dwells within us, with God as the ruler and His will done in our lives. When we accept Jesus and submit our lives to Him, He is ruler over our mind, body, and Spirit.

The question remains, why are we praying for God’s kingdom to be done on earth? Whose kingdom is it on earth if it is not God’s? Earth, at the Garden of Eden, was in God’s Kingdom and dominion, but there was an angel who desired to rule the kingdom for himself. His name is Lucifer.

Lucifer is known by many names, but the name that we know him by most is Satan or the Devil. In Charles Ryrie’s book Basic Theology, it states that, “if one accepts the Scriptures as the revelation of God, rather than a mere record of man’s thoughts…then the reality of Satan cannot be denied.” (Charles Ryre pg. 157)

There are a few passages in scripture that mention Lucifer’s origin story. Ezekiel 28:13-19 gives him another name, the King of Tyre. It says that he was the seal of perfection in wisdom and beauty. He was there in the Garden of Eden. Lucifer was given special station and privilege in God’s kingdom. He was perfect in his ways until he was found to have pride and selfishness in his heart. He turned from serving God to serving himself using violence.

In Revelation 12, Satan went to war with God and his angels. Satan and a third of the angels were cast out of heaven to earth. When Satan deceived Adam and Eve, sin entered the world. For this short time, in God’s perspective, Satan is allowed to have dominion over the earth. (Rev 12:12) In many passages, it describes Satan as the ruler of this world. (John 12:31, John 14:30, and John 16:11) His mission is to destroy God’s people, because they are the ones who hold the power of God’s kingdom and dominion on this earth in their hearts. My friend, that is us. We hold the power of God’s kingdom in our beings, and Satan is not happy about this.

Jesus came and defeated Satan when He died on the cross. Jesus' death and resurrection defeated Satan's power and authority over the hearts of men.  Satan is trying to separate as many people from God’s presence as possible on this earth and for eternity. Peter, when talking about Satan, warns, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 ESV)

This is the current state of affairs in the kingdom. When we choose to submit our hearts to God, He is the ruler of our bodies, guiding and empowering us to use our gifts and talents for His glory and to promote the growth of His Kingdom. There is also an enemy, Satan, who will do anything in his power to stop us from succeeding. It is a great responsibility to be an ambassador of the kingdom, to keep him as ruler, and to bring growth to the kingdom.

In the bible study portion, we will look at tools to combat the evil one’s tactics to wage war against our minds, bodies, and spirits.

Reference:

Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Moody Publishers, 1999.