“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless
you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 NLT)
Unless
one is born by a woman into this world, one will never enjoy the enormous privileges
this life has to offer. We must accept the truth that there are so many things
to enjoy here on earth. We enjoy the different relationships that give meaning
to our earthly existence, the fabulous cuisines from different cultures, the breath-taking
sceneries that litter our world, the amazing works of arts from our creative
minds, not to mention the architectural masterpieces that dot our world. A
person who is not yet born has no idea how beautiful our world is. God has
indeed richly given us all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17). I recall when KC was still a small boy, after
eating one of those too-difficult-to-resist dishes that usually comes out of
mummy’s kitchen, he exclaimed with obvious pleasure. “So this is what you
people have been enjoying before I was born, thank God I am born!” Similarly,
unless one is born again by the Holy Spirit, one will not have the privilege of
enjoying the unspeakable blessings that flow from the kingdom of God. Just as a
child must be born into the world to see its light, contemplate its glories,
and enjoy its good, so must one to be born again in order to see the glories
and excellencies of the kingdom of Christ here, and be prepared to live in the
kingdom for all eternity.
When
our Lord speaks of seeing the kingdom of God, does He mean we can see it now or
after we die? I think He means both. He
means we can experience the kingdom of God here and before we get there after
we die. When He told the disciples that
some of them standing with Him would not die until they had seen the kingdom of
God, they thought He was talking about the future. However, only six days after
He made that statement, He took Peter, James and John to a high mountain and
heaven visited them on that mountain. “2As the men watched, Jesus’
appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became as white as light. 3Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and
began talking with Jesus. 4Peter blurted out, “Lord, it’s wonderful
for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for
you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5But even as he spoke, a bright cloud came over them, and a
voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great
joy. Listen to him” (Matthew 17:2-5 NLT). This beatific experience became
the key point of reference for Peter for the rest of his ministry (2 Peter
1:16-18). The disciple did not need further proof about the reality of God and
of His heavenly kingdom. They have
experienced it, felt its power and heard the voice of God.
Yes,
we can see the kingdom here. The
prophets of old lived in the glaring reality of the kingdom of God. The king of
Syria once sent an army battalion to arrest Elisha. Elisha’s servant saw then
and was greatly troubled so he ran and complained to his master. The prophet
told him not to worry because a greater army is protecting them. The young man
seemed unsatisfied with the optimism of Elisha and urged him to do something
about their situation. “Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes
and let him see!” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up,
he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.”
(2 Kings 6:17 NLT). So much is going
on around us in the kingdom of God that we are not aware of because our
spiritual senses are numb due to ignorance and neglect. We need to pray that
God will open our eyes to see and open our ears to hear. We are all equipped with spiritual senses of
sight, hearing, taste, touch and smile which are lying uncultivated in our
spirit-man. These are the senses with
which we can access the kingdom of God. Things of the kingdom are the “ solid food” which “belongs
to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14 NKJV). As we
learnt to use our physical senses through exercise so must we train our
spiritual senses.
O
God, open our eyes that we may see your kingdom and our ears that we may hear
your voice and learn from you in Jesus name.
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