Davar Kingdom Of God

In the last sixteen sermons on “Another World”, we have been learning to take our spiritual reality more seriously. Humans are very unique in the way they live both in this physical world and in the spiritual world. If there is reality in this world, there is also reality in another world. The reality in this world is not the same with the reality of the other world. Both realities are real, and it is a fact that we exist in these two different realities: we were created as such beings. It is important to know whether we live accepting or ignoring this fact does not change the fact itself, but only affects the way we live. Usually, we live accepting one reality, ignoring the other, and it is causing us a lot of problems in our lives. You remember, for instance, what Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman in John 4: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling u

Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live (Heb 12:9)! Here, a contrast is made between our earthly fathers and our spiritual Father in terms of the discipline we all receive as their children. The literal translation of the phrase “human fathers” in NIV would be “fathers of our flesh,” and that of the phrase “the Father of our spirits” would be “the Father of spirits.” Apparently, the writer are influenced by the terminology found in Num 16:22 and 27:16—“God of spirits of all flesh.” The plurality of the word “of spirits” is noteworthy, and it presupposes the idea that all spirits are born of God. Here, we have an important fact in another world that we need to accept: God is our spiritual Father. This may sound already familiar to you, but should be meditated upon more seriously. Probably, the best resource for this truth is found in the person of Jesus himself. The Bible teaches us t

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God (John 1:12-13). These words are found in the Prologue of John’s Gospel. They prepare for the whole gospel, the book of his testimony on Jesus Christ, the Son of God (cf. 20:31). As for the unique relationship that the Son had with his Father, no other gospels are as keen as John’s. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (v. 14). At the beginning, this kind of relationship was only for the incarnated Logos—“the One and Only, who came from the Father.” In fact, he came to this world to introduce the Father to the rest of the world. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known (v. 18). Then, at the end of the gospel just b

When God created human beings, he created them as his children whose role was very special, and whose spiritual status was very high with many rights and privileges. This truth is alluded to by the expressions like “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness” and “let them rule over …” If being children of God is about the rights and privileges, then, being priests is about the duty that the children of God have. These two are closely connected to each other as all priests need to be born as sons of priests. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Gen 2:15, NIV). According to the translation of the above scripture, God put the first man in the Garden of Eden to “work it and take care of it.” It sounds as though the man was a farmer and had to cultivate the ground, sow seeds, water it, pull out the weeds and thistles, and control pests so that he could have enough food and live. Do you think the Garden of Eden was a place like that? It must be

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12)… This scripture teaches us that being “children of God” is an important and special privilege, and is not for everyone. It is given only to “those who believed in his name,” which assumes that even those who have become children of God by believing in his name, were not so at one time when they did not believe. Does it mean, then, that humans are all born as spiritual orphans or even as Satan’s children? Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Gen 1:26-27). The Bible teaches us that every human is created as God’s “image (tselem)” or his “likeness (demut).” These two terms “image” and “likenes

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs (Heb 1:3-4). Jesus Christ is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,” and is “sustaining all things by his powerful word.” According to John, he existed as “the Word,” before the creation of this world, and he was God. Paul says in Colossians, “By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.” Yet, the same Christ “provided purification for sins” through the death on the cross, and “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” by having been raised from the dead. So, he has become “as much superior to the angels,” and inherited the name that “is superior to theirs.” It is essential, however, to realize that befo

Pride is the fruit of Satan just as love is the fruit of the Spirit. If God is love, Satan is pride. Pride is a spirit sent by Satan just as the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father through Jesus. A person who is filled with pride receives the same judgment that Satan receives. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11)." Our spiritual struggle on earth is not against anything we see with our physical eyes. Keep in mind that there are two different kingdoms in another world: a kingdom ruled by Satan and his angels, and another kingdom ruled by Christ and his angels. We all used to belong to Satan’s kingdom and were dominated by his spirit, but now we are brought into the kingdom of the Son. First, it is important to know that Satan was already cast down and judged by God through Jesus. Second, keep in mind that you are not alone to fight against Satan’s dominion and kingdom. Read the following scripture: And there was war in heaven.

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. The “morning star,” also called the evening star, is Venus, the second planet from the Sun. Since it is close to the Sun, we see it moving back and forth around the Sun. It appears in the eastern sky just before the sunrise, or in the western sky right after the sunset. In Sumerian myths, this planet is identified with Inanna, or Ishtar in Akkadian—goddess of war and fertility. In the city of Babylon, when coming into the city from the north on the east bank of the Euphrates, a visitor passed through

When the 72 disciples whom Jesus had sent returned, they said: Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name (Luke 10:17). Then, Jesus said: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you (vv. 18-19). The disciples went out and drove out demons in this world, but Jesus saw, in another word, Satan fall lightning from heaven. Satan did not fall willingly, but he was cast down. Who is Satan? Did God create him as Satan from the beginning? Knowing how good God is, we know he cannot possibly make evil beings. That means Satan was not bad Satan at the beginning, but turned bad and evil by himself at a certain point after he had been created. In the book of Ezekiel are found prophecies concerning the fall of the city of Tyre, the Phoenician seaport on the Mediterranean coast. Hiram king of Tyre helped David by supplying materials for building his palace in Jerusalem, and

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me (Mark 5:6-7)!" This man had never seen Jesus before, but came before him calling him, “Son of the Most High God.” There is something we need to know about the nature of evil spirits. It seems that all evil spirits know who Jesus is, and they do not hide themselves before God nor do they hide the fact that they know Jesus. And they can speak using our vocal cords, which means that they take control over the parts of the nervous system in our brain related to speech and language in the similar way that the Holy Spirit gives us utterance to speak in unknown tongues. In fact, there are more questions than what we can find in this story. Note, for instance, how the answer came back when Jesus asked him, “What is your name:” My name is Legion, for we are many (v. 9). First, it is a kind of

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them (Ps 34:7). It is difficult to think of one angel encamping around those who fear the Lord. It must be a group of many angels like an army surrounding them to save them. This is what Elisha’s servant saw in another world as the story of 2 Kgs 6:15-18 reveals: And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kgs 6:17). In fact, the Bible teaches us that Elisha had inherited this angelic army of chariots and horses from Elijah as the famous story tells us: As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own cl

The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; The Lord [has come] from Sinai into his sanctuary. (Ps 68:17). The above translation is from NIV, and it suggests that some emendation of the text may have been done in the part, “has come.” The following is the translation of KJV, which is more preferable: The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Do not worry about the differences in the first line. The important thing is to note that the word “chariot” (Hebrew reheb) is translated in plural. The word in Hebrew is in singular, but because of the meaning of the predicate it is translated in plural. In fact, this is a collective noun—singular in form, but plural in meaning. Or, we can translate it “chariotry” rather than “a chariot.” The second line of the verse definitely refers to the event in Exod 19: Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in f

… then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; You will trample the great lion and the serpent (Ps 91:10-13). The existence of Angels is hidden in the Bible. Even in the passages where you see an angel appear, the description of his work is moved away from the center of the narratives. According to the above scripture, it is the Lord who sends and commands the angels to do the work for him. Note that they are called “his angels.” They are sent to guard and protect us. They lift us in their hands so that we will not stumble with our foot. Their hands support our foot, and because of their humble help, we “tread upon the lion and the cobra,” and “trample on snakes and scorpions” to overcome all the power of t

You are Israel's teacher, and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things (John 3:10-12)? These were the words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews and Israel’s teacher, who was supposed to know a lot about God and the Bible—the Old Testament. The “earthly things” Jesus spoke of were such as: … no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (v. 3). The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit (v. 8). These are very spiritual things, but they are still “earthly things” according to Jesus. Then, what kind of things are “heavenly things”? They must be super-spiritual things? Wow! We must know, at least, there are such th

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council (John 3:1). Many hints lie in the fact that Nicodemus was “a man of the Pharisees,” and “a member of the Jewish ruling council.” Again, John expects that his readers are already familiar with other gospels, and in this case, have basic background knowledge of who the Pharisees were. Fortunately, the synoptic gospels contain a good deal of discussion pertaining to the Pharisees. For instance, we find the following verses: Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you (Mat 12:38)." The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven (16:1). Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation (Luke 17:20), At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, "Leave this pl

All Christians believe in the spiritual world and the existence of spiritual beings. God is spirit, and if you believe in God, you also believe in the world he lives and exists in. Such a world, however, is still a mystery and unknown to us who live in the physical world. Some believe it exists, or know it must exist, but its existence cannot be proved with science, nor measured with experiments. Does it really exist? If it does, how do we know it does? One day, a man of the Pharisees came to Jesus at night, and said: Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him (John 3:2). This man’s name was Nicodemus, and he was one of the rulers of Israel. Hearing about Jesus, or perhaps seeing him perform miracles, he got interested in him. He thought Jesus must have come from God because of the miracles he was doing. So, Nicodemus, being a good Pharisee, was honest enough to admit that Jesus was sent from God.

There are two ways of living a human life: one is to live according to the spirit, and the other is to live according to the flesh. We all used to live according to the flesh gratifying its desires, and that time, the only spirit we could follow was the spirit of the ruler of this world (Eph 2:1-3). We were dead spiritually, but became born again in the spirit by God’s word through Jesus Christ. And as born-again Christians, we no longer need to live according to the flesh. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it (Rom 8:12, literal translation: we are not debtors to the flesh to live according to it). The literal translation works fine with this verse. We have no obligation to live according to the flesh. Note, however, that it only says, “we are not debtors to the flesh to live according to it,” and if we still want to live according to it, we can. In other words, living according to the spirit does not come automatically once you bec

There are two ways of living for a human. One is to live according to the spirit, and the other is to live according to the flesh. A human is made of a spirit, a soul, and a body. The body is simply a physical entity controlled by a personal being. But both the spirit and the soul are beings, and each has its own personality with will, reason and emotions. A car has only one driver’s seat with one steering wheel, and the person who sits at the driver’s seat can move the car wherever he/she desires to go. In the same way, the spirit or the soul, whichever sits at the throne of your heart controls your entire being as it wills and desires. Needless to say, the “spirit” as discussed above is a human spirit, not the Spirit of God. In discussing the “spirit,” we first need to clarify what kind of spirit we are dealing with. Keep in mind that the word “Spirit” with a capital “S” in our English translations is a result of the particular interpretation given by our translator(s). In Greek, it is simply “pne

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:4-6). Here, Paul, seeing how Christians at Philippi took partnership in the gospel from the time they were saved, give thanks to God, and confesses that it was by God that such partnership began, and that the same God will finish it. Note that he does not say that they began a good work, and they need to finish it. No, he says that it was God who began a good work in them, so the same God will carry it on to completion. When it comes to the work we do for God’s kingdom, we often think that it is us who must do the work. Christians with this mentality often come to have complaints and doubts in their life. In their head they know they must do it, but they do not want to in their heart. Or, even if they say it is for God’s kingdom, it is actually fo

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). This scripture tells us that it is essential to submit ourselves to God in order to resist the devil so that he will flee from us. If we want to reign in life, we must submit ourselves to God: that is to say, we must obey him. The spiritual authority necessary for us to reign in life comes from God. Just as water runs from a high place to a low place, this authority runs from the Most High to those who are lower than him and submit themselves to him. The lower ones may still ask and beseech the highest one, but they do not command him, nor does he obey them. Yet, Christ, being equal with God, took the very nature of a servant, and submitted himself to his own earthly parents. He joined the procession of sinners and was baptized by John the Baptist. He even humbled himself under the authority of the Sanhedrin and that of Pilate, and was obedient to death on a cross. This is amazing! It was something completely u