THY KINGDOM COME (5)

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”(Mark 1:15 NKJV)

The kingdom of God comes to those who receive it by faith. Repentance and faith constitute the key drivers of the kingdom of God on earth. Our Lord attested to this truth when He declared at the onset of His earthly ministry, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”(Mark 1:15 NKJV). The goal of repentance is to free us from wrong beliefs that weaken us and leave us at the mercy of the devil. Repentance is refusing to fashion our lives according to the lies of the devil but rather deciding to live according to the promises of God. Believing the lies of the devil is what sin is all about. Adam and Eve sinned when they believed the lie of the devil instead of the promise of God. Majority of the standards of this world are constructed from the lies of the enemy in his determined effort to undermine the love of God for people. Repentance is clearly implicated in the demand of the Scripture that we renew our mind and not be conformed to this world, so we can prove the will of God (Romans 12:2). We renew our minds by replacing the lies we have believed about God and ourselves with the truth of God’s word as the Holy Spirit illuminates them for us.

If God can get us to believe, nothing will be impossible for us. A man brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus seeking for deliverance. “Jesus said to him, “if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”(Mark 9:23-24 NKJV). Our Lord had earlier challenged the Pharisees that if they could believe that He cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon them(Matthew 12:28). Hence, the kingdom of God comes by right believing.  Unbelief prevents us from experiencing the kingdom of God in reality. When Jairus daughter died, his servants came to inform him so he would no longer bother bringing Jesus home to pray for her. On hearing the bad news of Jairus daughter’s death, our Lord said to him, “Do not be afraid; only believe” (Mark 5:36 NKJV). Only believe! Jairus did not require any other credential to experience the reality of the kingdom.

God does not require anything more than belief to deliver on His kingdom promises. He blesses us according to His grace and not according to our right conducts. Right conduct is important as a witness to changed life but it cannot deliver on the privileges of the kingdom without belief. Zachariah, the revered father of John the Baptist was blameless as far as conduct was concerned but could not believe the word of God brought to him by the Angel Gabriel about the impending birth of John.  His failure to believe the promise of God earned him punishment from God –He was cursed to be dumb for a season (Luke 1:20). Unbelief, in spite of right conduct, brings a curse instead of kingdom blessing. Good conduct and grace are not in conflict if we understand their relative positions in our relationship with God. God blesses us only on the basis of His unearned grace. Right conduct is a testimony of God’s grace at work in our lives. Good conduct does not produce miracle, grace does that through faith (Galatians 3:5). Good Christians who fail to believe the promises of God for blessings, will die and go to heaven but they would have denied themselves of opportunities of happier life on earth. It is not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but by His grace, He saved us (Titus 3:5). Mark this truth, the kingdom of God comes and advances as we believingly appropriate the promises of God for our good.

People receive the power to become children of God only by believing (John 1:12). Unbelief brings divine condemnation (John 3:18). Those who believe in Jesus and not in their works receive everlasting life but those who do not believe Him are already condemned (John 3:36). When our Lord was asked what doing the work of God entailed, He gave an answer that was disarming in its simplicity and yet unfathomable in its profundity, saying, “This is the work of God, that you BELIEVE in Him whom He sent.”(John 6:29).  Believe the promises of God and claim them as yours, and you will experience the kingdom of God and its power. Only believe, for all things are possible if you believe. Again, I say BELIEVE and it shall be well with you in Jesus’ Name.