THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (part 6)

"And the devil, taking Him [Jesus] up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.  If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind Me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." (Luke 4:5-8).

 

It is important that we understand the power that Satan has over the affairs of man.  Scripture refers to him as the "god of this world," (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the "prince of the power of the air." (Ephesians 2:2).  Before his rebellion against God, he was given dominion over the earth; but he was lifted up with pride, and challenged God's authority.  He has been convicted by God, but his final judgment has yet to be executed.  In the mean time, he still has influence over the kings and kingdoms of the earth, and he uses every means to steer man away from God's purpose and plan.  He stands before God as the accuser of His children in order to discredit us before the Father.  He hates those who would live for Christ, and he walks up and down in the earth like a hungry lion seeking to devour his prey.  Because of all this, Satan used his power to offer Jesus the kingdoms of the world, because it was his to give.  Jesus refused him of course, but it is still in his mind to set some charismatic, powerful leader up over the kingdoms of the world to blind man to God's grace, and set his eyes on his own achievements.  That individual will be manifested in the form of the Antichrist who is foretold of in the Bible (1 John 2:18).    This "man of sin" will ultimately take control of the world's kingdoms and, along with the False Prophet, will unite the nations and religions of earth under one banner. 

 

It has always been Satan's intention to cause man to trust in man for salvation rather than in God, and to glorify the works of his own hands.  When, as the serpent, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to taste the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, it was because he knew that by their disobedience to God's command they would lose access to the Tree of Life.  Satan knew that, once man ate of the forbidden fruit, he would begin to view himself as a god, being in control of his own destiny and morality. "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."  (Genesis 3:5)  Man would essentially then be guilty of the same pride and rebellion that caused Satan's fall.

 

Besides losing the eternal life that eating of the Tree of Life would have afforded them, God also cursed the ground because of Adam and Eve's sin.  No longer could they just walk through the garden and gather the fruits, herbs, and nuts that the Creator provided freely for them in the Garden of Eden.  Instead, they were now driven from that safe haven, and were forced to labor for their food by the sweat of their brow.  They would now have to fight with the thorns and thistles that competed with their crops in order to provide themselves food.  Allegorically, this illustrates the contrast between works and grace.  Under grace, God has provided us with the fruits of righteousness through faith.  As we trust in what Christ has provided and accomplished for us, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, and put on the fruits of the Spirit.  Under the law (the knowledge of good and evil), however, we are forced to labor for our righteousness through our own feeble efforts, and must constantly grapple with the thorns and thistles of sin in our life. 

 

In ancient times, the people of earth banned together under King Nimrod, and built a mighty city in the land of Shinar which they called Babylon.  In this city they began to build a great tower that they imagined would reach to heaven.  The people had one language at this time, and had a common purpose and a common goal.  Rather than obey God's command to replenish the earth, they stubbornly chose to build their one kingdom and refused to colonize the rest of the earth.  Rather than honor God, and be thankful to Him for His favor and blessings, they chose to take pride in the labor of their own hands, and glorified the work of man.  Again we see the hand of Satan working in the heart of man, seeking to exalt man the creation more than God the Creator, thereby inspiring and controlling his actions.  To frustrate their efforts, God confounded their speech so that they spoke different languages and could not communicate to one another.  This effectively caused them to spread out across the earth and ultimately form the various nations.   

 

Jesus came into the world to announce the good news of the kingdom of heaven.  This was a kingdom that would be invisible to the natural eye presently, but would be established over the whole earth in the fullness of time.  Jesus knew that He was not coming to earth to set Himself up as a king initially, but as the sacrificial Lamb of God whose blood would atone for the sins of the world.  He came to establish God's sovereignty and His kingdom in the hearts of men, and that kingdom would be in opposition to all the kingdoms of the visible world that Satan offered Him during His temptation in the wilderness.  That kingdom would be the stone that was "cut out of the mountain without hands" which would crush all earthly kingdoms in the last days (Daniel 2:45).  Jesus' answer to Satan was, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."  God will not tolerate our allegiance to anyone or anything besides Himself.  To do so is to bow down to the prince of this world, and to take his side in the great conflict.  James makes a very strong statement in his letter to the church.  He says, "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4).  It is crucial that we understand that the system of this world is being manipulated and directed by the enemy of God.  Its governments, its education, its fashions, and even (it grieves me to say this) much of its religion, is all engineered to exalt man and not God.  We must serve God alone!  And we must embrace His purpose and not our own will.

 

Before the fall, God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden.  There was a sweet, wholesome, and intimate fellowship between man and his heavenly Father.  Man was fully dependent upon the Creator, and trusted Him to provide all of his needs. Through sin, man lost that relationship with God, and became self-sufficient.  What we lost in Adam, we now can regain in Christ Jesus.  Jesus said we must again become like little children in our dependence on God to fulfill our spiritual and natural needs.  We can again enjoy the intimate fellowship that Adam once enjoyed through the indwelling of the Spirit in our hearts. 

 

Anything that seeks to unify the peoples of the world by promoting the works of man, whether it is an organization, a nation or group of nations, a church, or individuals, is a manifestation of the spirit of antichrist, and that entity is being manipulated behind the scenes by the god of this world, Satan.  This is humanism in its most basic form which deifies man, and idolizes the human will.  "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm [trusts in his own natural strength and ingenuity], and whose heart departeth from the LORD.  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is." (Jeremiah 17:5,7).  The only unifying factor that is truly godly is the believer's oneness in Christ.  When I put on Christ, and you put on Christ, we can become one body and one mind in Him.  One thing that characterized the early church was that they were "of one mind," and "of one accord."  Each member had a different function, but all members worked harmoniously as one.  Every Christian was taught to walk and talk with God, and be guided by His Holy Spirit.  Christianity was not just something they did on Sundays, it permeated their entire lives and dictated every facet of their existence, and every decision that they made.  This is different than the spirit of ecumenism that is being furthered by some Christian organizations.  They would have harmony at the expense of truth, ignoring the basic principles of godliness.     

 

As Christians, every one of us must settle it in our hearts that we belong to the Lord and must serve only Him.  He has purchased and ransomed us with His own life.  We have been bought with a price - He has shed His blood for our sakes.   If we love our lives, we will lose them; but if we lose our life for the sake of the kingdom of God, and for the King our Savior, then we will lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. 

 

Jesus told two parables that illustrated this principle of selling out to follow Him.  Both emphasize the importance of trading what men esteem valuable for that which God esteems of value.  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." (Matthew 13:44-46).  Trading what we have in the hand, or think that we can possess, for a reward that we must accept by faith is difficult for anyone.  The key is to recognize the treasure that has been placed before us in Christ and account that there is nothing that we are or possess that we are not willing to give freely in order to obtain it.  We must be like Moses who chose to, "Suffer affliction with the people of God, [rather] than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:25-27).  We may have to settle this question many times in our life, and we may have to count the cost at every fork in the road, but the reward will be unspeakable!  Like a mariner in a sinking ship who begins to cast all the cargo and personal belongings over the side in order to lighten the ship and make it to his safe haven, we find as we progress with the Lord that there are many things that are only weighing us down and could ultimately take us under if we don’t part with them.  It is not for me to point out every weight that may be hindering your walk with God, nor is it up to you to point out mine.  The Holy Spirit is more than capable of directing us and leading us into all truth.  We do need to encourage one another, however, to be sensitive to the Spirit and allow Him to lead us day by day.  He is faithful and He knows us better than we know ourselves.  His judgments are always true.  Praise His name!