I have come to realize through interactions and deliberations that most Christians do not understand the meaning of the Kingdom of God or as used in other versions of the bible – the
When Nichodemus came to meet Jesus at night in the book of John 3, his emphasis was not being born again as most Christians believe; his basic emphasis was in the Kingdom. Jesus gospel was about the Kingdom not about being born again. The word born again was only used once in the bible to explain the parameters to be achieved in order to see the Kingdom; this means an experiential knowledge of the Kingdom requires a re-birth. This is all there is about born again but I realized that it has been institutionalized to be the destination that must be attained. No wonder I hear words like “I would make heaven because I am born againâ€. Wow! A great error……..
Now, let me bring the concept of born again versus the kingdom to our every day experience. Kingdom simply means King’s Domain therefore
Now the Kingdom is the most important aspect of the Christian gospel and in fact the major goal. Jesus talked about it in almost all his speech explaining it using different parables and stories to hit the point home. When Jesus says “Seek first the Kingdomâ€, he did not say pray and fast like most people assume, it simply means align yourself to the Kingdom values, encourage its vision and walk its mission. When you do that every other thing shall follow you but do we even understand the vision, mission and value of the Kingdom. Let’s take a peek into the scripture by analyzing Mathew 25 where Jesus compared the Kingdom to a group of virgins; he differentiated them into the wise and the foolish ones. The wise ones knew how to plan, fore-think and produce while the foolish ones had contrary elements. At the end of the day, the words the bridegroom used for the foolish ones show what Jesus is looking for in a Kingdom material. Kindly note that all of the ladies were virgin that means they lived right but the foolish ones lacked purpose, productivity and planning. These disparities between the wise and foolish should be carefully studied by the church because it is what counts in proclaiming your Kingdom status.
Another misconception that I find unbearable is always depicted in Nigerian Films; African Magic is always a delight to watch but when the spiritual angle is displayed, I find the mindset of the creator of the movie appalling; I feel like grabbing him and talking some sense to him about his depiction of the Almighty God but on second thought I can not blame him, because he is reflecting the feel of the people. This is what always happens in the movie; whenever an evil wants to happen to an individual; it does not take more than two seconds for the evil to substantiate but when good deeds is about to happen, the pastor would sweat and pray for 10 minutes before he finally gets the evil out. This is a wrong depiction of the kingdom and should be stopped. Jesus was so angry in the book of Mark 9 when his disciples were sweating to cast an unclean spirit from a man. He called them unbelieving generation because they did not have solutions to the deed. Whenever, I want to know what displeases God, I look at what infuriates Jesus in the bible. The greatest misconception of the church is to believe living right is all it takes to please God……………………….
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On the issue of expecting instanteneous miracles from heaven i’m a little skeptical in that regards JESUS spoke about some demons that would require fasting and prayers to rebuke,emphatically, the ways of GOD is definitely not the ways of man,man by the reason of nature desires spontaneity in expectancies,but i tell you what is not a magician but a miracle worker and wonder,and i simply believe miracles or healings undertakes processes the time frame is left to be dictated by the Author and finisher of our faith,it could be instantly or it could be a little lengthier,the fundamental on the issue of miracles should be embedded in FAITH.a preacher once said people wondered why he spent the most minimal time on prayers during service however inevitable miracles were always the resultant,he quickly pointed out how he spent rigorous hours in prayers prior to his service.In regard to rules,in retrospect man by reason of the fact that he wants things done in the most suitable and soothing way would navigate unfavourable or preferrably challenging subjects towards comfortability,this is as comprehensible as ABC for a kindergarten.GOD says the just shall live by faith not by rules but guess what the above stated phrase is a simple guideline that can also be quoted as a rule towards which the JUST is expected to live,imperatively rules are expected to guide and avoid derailing,a substantial percentage of the content of the bible is rule based,”DO, BELIEVE (TRUST) and EXPECT” no complication simply follow what he says and lets see what he does afterwards.Abraham did not get the complete blessing package because he simply did not DO as he was told; not until LOT was disconnected from him then and then did he start experiencing the promises.Sir, GOD is a principled GOD and yet misterious,ultimately lets pray he shows us his ways,MOSES,DAVID,ABRAHAM,PAUL knew his WAYS but the children of isreal knew his WORK.
@all,
To start with, Dipo, you have actually made me read your article twice and evrybody else’s comments i have read thrice. When i was younger,i thought being a christian was just enough, then as i grew older, i realised that i had plenty of work to do to make it. And now, your insight about living right and it not being enough. It makes me acknowlegde the fact that i am just a “babe” and i have so much to learn. Keep this up and thank you all.
@Dipo,did u click on the link @funmilayo posted???u should.i actually think its not a misconception that all it takes to please God is to live right.i believe very deeply in my heart that religion is a way of life and for you to live life,u have to live by certain rules.the only way i believe one can make the kingdom of God is by followin God’s own laid down rules.maybe u are referring to manmade rules wen u just say rules but consciously or unconsciously we all follow rules.really u need to go to dat link to understand more of it.
dat is why all d prophets came to earth.Christ didnt come to abolish any rule or law,he came to fulfill it.My dear,u wont even identify ur purpose if u dont follow some of God’s rules………………….dunno if i made so much sense to you.click on dat link 1st and lemme know what u think
To be honest I am trying to digest all that you have written and I’m not entirely sure where I stand with your take on how we should view being ‘born again’. However in regards to the answer to prayers taking time versus the instantaenous affect of evil…I feel your point but I don’t think the depiction you cited is always way off the mark. God is not a genie to be manipulated. Yes He’ll answer prayers but the result and manifestation might not be instant. Jesus rebuked His disciples not for praying hard but for their lack of faith. However the devil seeks to deceive and encourage all our selfish desires and anything that’ll keep us out of the Kingdom. So seemingly instant response to anything a person with evil intentions wants is el diablo’s Modus Op to a T.
I think I’ll come back to this one, need to stew over it a bit.
Shalom, Tolita.
@ Olajuwon
I am loving your questions more and more because they lead to greater learning.
When you are fulfiling your purpose in God, you would definitely by default be obeying the rule. This is why purpose is a higher ground to rules.
In my earlier piece “The Visionary Man”, my co-blogger-Funmilayo- commented on soaking yourself in the presence of God to know His purpose for you. When you soak yourself in the presence of God, it would be easy for you to follow the “love your neighbour rule” without even having a mental knowledge of rule. You would be guided by the Holy Spirit instead of a piece of paper. There are things you would know that you may find difficult to articulate.
This is why there is a higher preference to purpose than abiding to rules; Purpose makes you know the rules to follow while rules hinder you from fulfilling your purpose.
A story readily comes to mind; In the bible, book of Exodus to be precise; God gave Moses the ten commandment to follow and one of the commandment is “NOT TO KILL” but after a while a guy named Phineas killed a couple having sex beside the temple and God was very pleased with him. God told Moses (remember he just gave him the commandment) that Phineas has done him proud and he would make his name everlasting.
Take that for a though my dear; reservations, disagreement and questions are welcomed……
@Olajuwon,
you put it quite succintly.
He did not come to abolish the Law.
http://biblebrowser.com/matthew/5-17.htm
@Dipo,what if this rules are God’s rules??meaning something as simple as God says “Love ur neighbour as urself….”.that is jus a simple example.dont u tink God wants us to live by certain rules?his rules!dats why we have his books to guide us i think.
Concise and very very true.
Just to let you know I visit your site everyday.
Keep up the good works and God bless
Great piece, Dipo.
Full of insights, you have writen from the Spirit and not the letter of the word.
Nice comments Mr. Lewis, am happy we have bible scholars in the house with revelational insights into spiritual matters.
We can make our lives, places of work and homes indeed the kingdom of God
so that its full benefits- the aboundant life spoken of by Jesus Christ, can be ours.
More insights and power to your elbow brothers!
@ Mr. Lewis
I agree with you 100%…
I also learnt a lot from your comment.
Thanx………….
Great piece Dipo…..Its God that has helped you to put this into a thread.
You have rightly observed the trend amongst quite a greater percentage of Christians
….most profess to live right but when you take time to study the nitty gritty of their
lives you wonder are these ones truly born of God, born of water n spirit (a whole different ball game)? The truth is righteous living or living right as many out it is a thing or state of being
where you are completely ‘dead’ to self….in practical terms allowing God to rule in our life is how we can be ‘right’ in our living.
Gal2:20 is so clear about this mystery but it takes grace and being selfless to operate in that dimension. Like you have rightly affirmed, when God rules in a place…our life or heart, that becomes His domain, and where God is, SIN cannot thrive and it in this state that we can be said to be righteous or living right and because he rules, we will be totally obedient – which is the definition of Holiness.
Keep up the work
I like that definition Dipo…”Living your purpose not observing rules”
@ Olajuwon,
Thats a beautiful question.
The bible records succinctly two things that please God: Faith and conversion onto his Kingdom.
I think a redefinition of living right should alos be looked into; for example – living right is living your purpose not observing rules…..
so asides living right,wat else is there to do to please God or do we need to redefine living right??