Seek First The Kingdom of God

Seek First the Kingdom of God

John 3:1-2 Nicodemus “you are a great teacher sent from God”

Verses 3-8 Jesus reply seems enigmatic… why wasn’t He more straightforward?

Why not something like:

“Nicodemus… actually I am God. Technically the Father and I together are God, we are one, we are a family. You are correct in that I was sent here, you see the Father sent me. You haven’t met the Father yet… I’m here to reveal Him to you, to show you what He’s like and what He’s all about. As I mentioned before… the Father and I are one. So, if you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father and I’m only going to say what He would have me say, so if you hear my words you’ve heard the Father’s words.”

Jesus could have said all that to Nicodemus… 

https://ucgraleigh.blogspot.com/2022/07/seek-first-kingdom-of-god.html

Instead the essence of what He told Nicodemus was  “You cannot really understand who I am and my purpose because you do not have the spiritual understanding you can only get through the Holy Spirit”

If we look closely at His words we find quite a bit of information packed into small space:

1. Flesh & blood cannot see the Kingdom of God

2. Flesh & blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God

3. You have to be re-born. Not of flesh, but begotten of the Holy Spirit

There are some very BIG concepts here: seeing/perceiving, material vs. spirit,  Entering/manifestation/realization, rebirth through the Spirit… But they all revolve around the Kingdom of God, understanding it, working towards it, and participating in it.

What does the word Kingdom mean?

Kingdom = Basileia, an abstract noun denoting sovereignty, royal power, dominion e.g. Rev 17:18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns (basileia) over the kings of the earth… LIT having basileia over the kings of the earth.

So we could also say the Kingdom of God is the “Rule of God” or the “Reign of God”. Try using the phrase Rule of God where you see Kingdom of God and it changes the way you think about what’s being said.

For example: the kingdom of George III vs. the reign of George III … Using the word kingdom evokes images of castles, walls, territory, subjects and gets us thinking in very physical concrete terms… which is how our flesh and blood minds tend to. Using the phrase “Rule of God” allows us to focus on the quality, nature and of what God is doing.

Is the Kingdom the Millennium?

As a group we tend to zoom in on the millennial rule of Jesus Christ as “the Kingdom of God” even to the point of considering them to be one in the same thing. However, the Millennium comes to an end whereas the rule of God does not. There is no place in the universe or any time when God was not , is not , or will not be the supreme authority over all things.

God allows free will and freedom to choose in the universe and so there are beings and places that will not submit themselves to the Rule of God and are in a state of rebellion against it. For example; Satan, the fallen angels, human beings and by extension planet earth.

Jesus millennial rule is not the beginning of the Rule of God or the extent of the Kingdom. The Millennium is when the time of rebellion against the Rule of God will have run its course. It will have served God’s greater purpose and rebellion will be brought to an end.

Those who have been rebellious (man, Satan, demons), and the place where the rebellion was focused and acted out in space and time (earth) will be brought into subjection to the Rule of God. The kingdom of God will be a very real, concrete application of God’s on earth as it is in heaven.

Daniel 7:13-14, Dan 2:44

Flesh and Blood Cannot See the Kingdom of God

Lets try substituting the phrase Rule of God to help answer the question: Why can’t the FLESH see the Kingdom of God?

The word see can mean vision (light waves hitting eyeballs), it can also mean understanding what is going on, perceiving, recognizing, accepting.

Consider the people who are alive in the flesh during the millennium. They going to see the Kingdom of God… as flesh and blood humans they will see the Rule of Jesus Christ in action. They will see the holy mountain, the resurrected saints, the swords beaten into plow shears.

But as flesh they cannot be said to have necessarily understood the Kingdom of God or to have entered into the Kingdom of God. They are subject to the Rule of God re-established on earth… they can see the results of it. And from what glimpses we have of that time some will accept it willingly, some will not. For example: 

1. Some must be forced to observe the Feast of Tabernacles [Zecharaiah 14]

2. They must be ruled with a Rod of Iron

3. There is a final rebellion of Satan and Mankind at the end of the 1,000 years

The millennium will be a wonderful time of peace, a world filled with the knowledge of the truth, and overflowing the spirit of God. But God is not going to take away freedom of choice.  The choices available will be different than they are now. You can either submit to the Rule of God willingly or grudgingly… but open rebellion will be dealt with swiftly and sternly.

Truly seeing, understanding, perceiving, accepting, and entering into the Kingdom of God is still a matter of the spirit.

Flesh Only Understands and Accepts Material Things 

The flesh says “I need to preserving myself, protect myself, provide for itself, reproduce myself”. In other words eating, drinking, clothes, houses, and sex.

Matt 6:24-32 these reasonable normal needs which God is happy to provide within boundaries

Verse 33 how do we get focused on the Kingdom of God and its righteousness?

Matt 16:24-26 You have to change your perspective on your life in the flesh. That cross is the thing that puts you to death. Literally its an instrument of capital punishment (stauros). And Jesus links it to self denial.

Colossians 2:12, 3:5-10 - through baptism we commit to our won death in this body. But the battle is not won simply by declaring commitment… the battle continues  3:5-10

The flesh isn’t interested in all that. The flesh is interested in preserving and protecting itself… not crucifying itself or sacrificing itself for others, not subjecting its needs to some “spirit thing” it cannot see, taste, touch, smell. The flesh doesn’t understand the “Rule of God”, and so the flesh doesn’t recognize and willingly accept the “Rule of God” over it. Romans 8:7

Through the spirit I have had a glimpse of the future for me [and you] and I like what I see. But my flesh says, “hey buddy, I’m really all you’ve got, so you should focus on taking care of me” .

I am in a battle with my own flesh which brings tension, trials, frustration! … Yet, that is what seeking first the kingdom of God means.

There Is a Spirit In Human Beings

In order for there to be such a battle I must therefore be composed of more than just dust, atoms, molecules, chemicals, tissue.

Romans 8:16 humanity has a spiritual component we call the “spirit in man”. It isn’t God’s holy spirit its your spirit. And it is this spiritual component within you that can be begotten by the Holy Spirit of God, turned on, tuned in so you can grow and develop as a spiritual life form, seeing the Kingdom of God, recognizes it, acknowledges it, accept the “Rule of God” and thereby ENTER into the Kingdom of God, participate in the Rule of God.

The spirit in man doesn’t give you understanding on its own, that’s not its default setting, it needs to be switched on… begotten and made alive by the Holy Spirit. It’s a process that begins with the Father John 6:44 

1. Proclamation – the kingdom must be preached

2. Willingness to listen – cycle of faith

3. Conviction – I need to act on what I now know

4. Repentance – I need to stop rebelling against the rule of God

5. Baptism – I need to begin the process of becoming a son of God now rather than later

6. Receipt of the H.S. – gives understanding 

Matt 13:11, I John 2:20

Flesh and Blood Cannot Enter Into the Kingdom Of God

Let’s use our substitution experiment here and render this phrase

Flesh and blood cannot enter into the Rule of God,

Flesh and blood cannot enter into the Reign of God,

Flesh and blood cannot enter into the Sovereignty of God

… it changes our perspective for the better I think. The people of the millennium will be part of the kingdom of God on earth… but as flesh and blood human beings they are subject to the rule of God. But do not cannot really enter the the rule of God. Here’s why:

Entering into the Kingdom of God means entering into God’s family… which does all the ruling.

Jesus said to Nicodemus “flesh gives birth to flesh, but spirit gives birth to spirit”. You were begotten by your flesh and blood father and were born into his family with a flesh & blood body just like your father. If you are begotten by your spiritual Father you will be born into His family. You will be spirit just like God your father… and that is how you may enter into the Kingdom of God… by entering into the family.

Once again it’s a process that begins with the Father:

Born of water and the spirit – dead in the flesh, alive in the spirit [Colossians 2]

Begotten by God the Father – [John 3:6] 

Growing as His children through instruction – I Peter 2:2  

Growing according to the pattern of Christ Ephesians 4:13-15

Building the mind and character of God until we are officially accepted into the family as adult children of God with full inheritance rights Romans 8:13

Those inheritance rights include:

1. Changed into spirit to be like Him in substance as well as character – Romans 8:23, I John 3:1-2

2. Inheritance – We enter into the family business which is ruling.

 Entering The Kingdom of God

If your family business were carpet cleaning and you wanted to bring your children into the business you would train them in cleaning carpets. If you were a farmer you would train them in farming. If you were the supreme ruler of the universe you would train them in ruling.

So let’s learn the family business. Learn to rule yourself… rule over your own flesh, rule over your spirit, learn to rule and exercise whatever authority you are given. How you administer your family, how you deal with your worldly wealth… be faithful and Godly in the little tasks the Father has given you his beloved children… prepare yourself to enter into the Kingdom of God.