Davar Kingdom Of God

"You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he (Isa 43:10). Vv. 10-13 are in a chiastic form (A-B-C-D-C-B-A) so that v. 10 corresponds to v. 12. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "that I am God (v. 12).” Note that there are three verbs (to “know,” to “believe,” and to “understand”) with “you (the Lord’s chosen people)” as their subject in v. 10, and there are also three verbs (to “reveal,” to “save,” and to “proclaim”) in v. 12 with “I (the Lord)” as their subject. First, the Lord “reveals” his plan by speaking to the people so that they will “know” his plan. When they know his plan, they will come to “believe” that what he has revealed will be fulfilled, and as a result, the Lord will “save” them. But that is not the end. After the Lord saves, he will “proclaim (lit. let them hear)” that he is the one who has saved them so t

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17)! If you are in Christ, this is the reality in which you live. The reality you used to live has become old and disappeared, and a new reality has come. When the reality you live in changes, the way you live changes. When you are a single, you live as a single. But when you get married, which is a new reality, you start living as a husband or a wife. Then, when a baby is born, which is another new reality, you begin to live as a father or a mother. In the same way, if you are in Christ by having been baptized into Christ and his death, you are a new creation—the fulfillment of God’s word, and live in a new reality. You cannot live in the old reality you used to live in. Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland (Isa 43:18-19). Here, “the former things” and “the pas

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died (2 Cor 5:14). The verb “to compel” in Greek means “to seize so as to leave little room for movement.” Because of Christ’s love, we have no choice but to live as follows: And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (v. 15). When the reality in which we live changes, the way we live also changes. Our reality is now that when Christ died for all, we also died together with him. If we died, we no longer can live for us who died, but for him who died and lives in us. In other words, we no longer have the ownership of our life, but Christ does. This is the new reality we live in. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. “From a worldly point of view” literally means “according to the flesh.” It is the standard that our flesh considers as realit

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:11). If you wish to have God’s word fulfilled in your life, you will need to accept the spiritual reality that the Bible teaches and live standing upon it by faith. In the above verse, pay attention to the verb “count.” Abraham counted the stars in heaven, and believed that God, who said, “So shall your offspring be,” had power to fulfill his word. Then, God also counted him as righteous. It is exactly in the same way that we were made righteous when we believed that God, who had raised Jesus from the dead, has the power to do the same for us according to his word. Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (vv. 3-4). Note the expression, “don’t you know,” which indicates that the object of kno

What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Rom 4:3). Abraham counted the stars in heaven, and God said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed that what God said would be fulfilled, and his faith was counted as righteousness. Just as he counted the stars, God counted him as righteous. It was the most vital step that he had to take in order for God’s plan and promise to be fulfilled in him. In the same way, in order for God’s word to be fulfilled in you and for all his promises to come true, you must be righteous before him. Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isa 59:1-2). The truth is that God desires to save you more than you want him to save you, but he cannot if you are unrighteous before him. However, once this unrighteousness is removed, he can save you from all problem

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them (Luke 15:11-12). The younger son went to the father and asked for his share of the property that he was entitled to as his son. With what he received, he decided to go to a far country where he would be free from the law, and the supervision of the father would not reach. In other words, he wanted to live according to his own ideas and principles by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living (v. 13). So he did. But the moment he did, the riches of the grace of his father, which he used to receive as the fulfillment of his word, disappeared. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isa 55:8-9).” God’s thoughts are higher than your thoughts. What he desires and plans are far bigger than what you desire and plan. Therefore, speaking of the fulfillment of God’s word, it will be difficult if you confine yourself to your own small and selfish desires and plans. Abram was childless, and wanted a child who would inherit his possessions. His wife, Sarai, wanted a baby that she could hold in her arms. But God’s plan for them was much bigger than that. Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. …and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Gen 12:2-3). And the land that God planned to give him was much larger—not a f

He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering (1 Sam 13:8-9). Seeing the Philistines, as numerous as the sand on the seashore, being assembled to fight against Israel, all the troops with king Saul were quaking with fear, and many of those who followed him began to leave and scatter. So, Saul offered the burnt offering though he was not a priest. This offering was offered not to God, but to the people so that he could keep his men from leaving. It was done according to the idea of his mind. Just as he finished offering it, Samuel showed up, and said to him. You acted foolishly. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure (vv. 13-14); … When a Christian walk according to the flesh—his own understanding and

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:8-9). The Bible speaks a lot about food. That is because humans have bodies to maintain, and need to eat continually. Eating has become the center of our life, and even the purpose of it. Therefore, using it metaphorically, the Bible teaches us about the way of living. The above scripture in Genesis mentions two different trees—one from which man can eat freely, and the other from which he cannot. God said to Adam who had eaten from the tree that he was commanded not to eat from: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat of it,” … through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. … and you will eat the plants of t

The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Rom 8:6). There are two ways for a human to live: 1) To live as the fulfillment of God’s word 2) To live with his/her own ideas If these two lifestyles are to be illustrated using the story of Adam and Eve who lived in the Garden of Eve, lifestyle 1) is to eat from the tree of life, and lifestyle 2) is to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And Paul explains the same two ways of living as follows: 1) To live according to the spirit 2) To live according to the flesh This is to be understood together with the fact that a human has three parts—spirit, soul and body. A human is essentially a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. A spirit and a soul are two independent beings, and each has its own will, reason and emotion. God speaks to the sprit, and the spirit speaks to the soul, and the soul controls the body. This is how God’s plan and will are carried out in this physical world, and his word comes to be fulfi

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! … Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Phil 4:4-6). There are two ways for humans to live. One is to live always rejoicing, and the other is to live with worries and anxiety over their needs and health. Joy comes from the presence of God, but worries come from themselves. When you try to live by your own ideas, you come to have worries and fear because you know you are not as able, smart, strong or good as you want to be—not enough for what you really wish to get. It is only when you look at your almighty God who is more than enough that his supernatural peace begins to surround you. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (v. 7). The “understanding” we have is what comes from our flesh, and is always based on our physical reality, but the “peace of God” comes from God and is of the reality

And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Gen 2:16-17)." We humans were created from the beginning to live as the fulfillment of God’s word, which is the will of God, and we are required to listen to him through our spirit and be faithful and obedient to him doing what he says. Instead, to live according to our own thoughts and ideas by not listening to him and not doing what he says is to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The former brings life and blessings, and latter death and curses. The same difference is seen in the covenant that the people of Israel had with God—life and blessings if God’s commands are kept, and death and curses if not. This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life (Deut 30:19). You need to keep in mind that this cho

No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it (Deut 30:14).’” God’s word is given to us so that we can do and obey it. When it is obeyed, the word becomes complete and fulfilled. There are two ways in which humans live: one is the way in which they obey God, and let his word be fulfilled in their lives, and another is the way in which they live against his will with disobedience to him. The result of the former is life, and that of the latter is death. The two trees that were in the middle of the Garden of Eden symbolically represent these two styles of living. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Gen 2:16-17)." Where there is a command of God, there is a covenant relationship between him and the people he commands. We were all created under his covenant that requires us to be obedient to him. When we los

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mat 4:4).’” “Bread” is physical food, and God’s “word” is spiritual food. Since we are spiritual beings, we live not only on physical food, but also on spiritual food. But, is this all that this scripture says, and was it all that Jesus meant? Pay attention to the phrase “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” At this time, Jesus’ ministry was about to begin—the time for the fulfillment of all the scriptures written about him. Physical food is not only for our growth, but also for the energy to act and do all our work. In the same way, spiritual food is not only for the salvation of our soul, or the spiritual growth of our faith, but also for the spiritual work we do according to the will of God: that is, for the work we do for the fulfillment of his word. No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey (or, can do) it (Deut 30:14). Thus, God’s

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4-5). In the Bible, life is often expressed together with light, and death with darkness. We have, for instance, the following verses: He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom (lit. the shadow of death) and broke away their chains (Ps 107:14). The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned (Isa 9:2). That “the light shines in the darkness” indicates that life has victory over death, and that “the darkness has not understood (or, overcome) it” indicates that death has opposed life, but has not been able to defeat it. It points to the death and resurrection of Christ. In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, while the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, God said, "Let there be

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-3). It is essential for us to know and accept, by faith, the truth that everything was made through “the Word.” In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light (Gen 1:1-3). The particular verbal form of “Let there be …” is called “jussive.” It indicates the wish of the speaker upon another person or thing that is the subject of the verb. God saw that “the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep,” and thought that something was very wrong. He first wished to have “light” there. So he spoke the word, “Let there be light,” and that word came to be fulfilled. In fact, the whole B

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-3). We all know that all things were created by God. But do we know that all things were made through the preexistent Word? By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command (lit. word), so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (Heb 11:3). Since we humans are born into this physical world, we live as if the world we live in is the only world that exists, and cannot think of the time when it did not exist. When we make something, we always use some kind of material, and make it into another thing that is also material. So, the truth that “what is seen was not made out of what was visible” needs to be taught to us, and we need to accept it by faith: that is, by believing what God’s word says. God’s word always accomplishes what he says. Everything was created according t

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves (Col 1:13), … If you are in Christ, you belong to him. And you have been rescued “from the dominion of darkness” and brought into “the kingdom of the Son he (the Father) loves”—the kingdom of love in which Christ rules, as this scripture says. In a figurative sense, it can be said that Christ is a shepherd and those who belong to him are his sheep. As the role of a king is often compared with that of a shepherd in the Bible, Christ is our king and shepherd, and we belong to his kingdom and sheep pen. This king-shepherd has laid down his life for us (John 10:15), and feeds and tends us spiritually as well as physically (Ezek 34). Jesus said in his parable of the shepherd and his flock: When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice (John 10:4). According to this parable, it is by the gate that the shepherd enters the sheep pen. This gat

I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep (lit. the gate of the sheep). All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them (John 10:7-8). This passage is known as an “I am” passage in John’s gospel. There are seven ‘I am’ passages in the gospel (the number varies depending on how you count them), and they are all related to the life-giving work of God’s redemption through the death and resurrection of Christ. The ones in John 10 particularly reveal Christ as the shepherd who leads the sheep out of the sheep pen (vv. 1-5). Two kinds of predicate “I am” statements are used to show this role of Christ: “I am the gate (particularly, the sheep gate),” and “I am the good shepherd.” It is interesting to note that there was actually a gate called “Sheep Gate” in the northeast corner of Jerusalem near the pool of Bethesda (John 5:2, cf. Neh 3:1, 32). I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes on

In the first part of chapter 10 of John’s gospel, you find two different parables told by Jesus: one beginning at v. 1, and another at v. 7. Although, at first glance, they appear to be alike in content with the image of a shepherd and his flock, some clear differences are, in fact, observed. "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep (John 10:1-2). This is the beginning of the first parable. If you are to interpret it allegorically, the “thief and robber” would be Satan, and the “shepherd” would be Christ. Keep in mind that the “sheep pen” has a “gate,” and many sheep are inside the pen. Note that the shepherd “enters” by the “gate.” The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they kno