| Looking for the Kingdom of God? |
by David A. DePra |
| And when He was demanded of the Pharisees when the |
| kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, |
| "The kingdom of God comes not with observation. Neither |
| shall they say 'Lo, here! Or, "Lo, there!" For behold, the |
| kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21) |
| The Jews of the first century had an understanding of the |
| kingdom of God which was merely physical. They were looking |
| for national kingdom; a literal place where the Messiah would |
| reign. The only question they had was as to when the Messiah |
| would come to reign and rule in Israel. |
| Jesus gave them an answer which was about as straight |
| forward as it could be. He said, "Your concept of the kingdom is |
| wrong. You think it's a physical kingdom you can see with you |
| eyes. It is not. It is a spiritual kingdom. Your Messiah wants to |
| reign and rule in your hearts." (see above passage) |
| The Pharisees never did get it. In fact, not even the apostles |
| fully understood what Jesus was talking about until after |
| Pentecost. It was only after they entered the kingdom of God |
| through the new birth in Christ that they understood the Truth. |
| Today, many of us know the kingdom of God is not a physical |
| kingdom. We know it isn't on the map. It doesn't have a phone |
| number. There is no street address. We know we can't point to |
| it and say, "This is the place where God reigns. This is the place |
| which belongs to Him more than any other. Come over here and |
| you will be in the kingdom of God." |
| Or do we know that? The fact is, there are thousands of us |
| today who don't seem to understand this simple Truth about the |
| kingdom of God. We ARE looking for "the special place" God |
| reigns. We are looking for the group, church, or ministry which |
| we think exemplifies the kingdom of God more than any other. |
| Here we see the tendency some of us have to link fellowship |
| with God with our association with the "right group." No, we |
| don't go as far as to suggest outright that we have to "be in the |
| right group" to "be in Christ." And we'd never go so far as to |
| actually call our group a "mediator unto God." But somehow, we |
| never cease trying to find that "special fellowship;" that one place |
| we think will make us "complete in God." Unless we are in a |
| group we consider "special," we aren't able to rest in Christ, nor |
| feel as if we are walking in His will. |
| We need to go back to the words of Jesus. He told the |
| Pharisees that they might just as well stop looking for the |
| kingdom of God in a place they could see with their eyes. The |
| kingdom of God is within the human heart. In other words, we |
| can stop our search for that special place or group. There is no |
| special place or group. There is only one Special Person. And |
| He is IN each one who has received Him as Saviour. |
| Danger |
| Have you ever wondered why many of us seek to find God in |
| a place or a group? Could it be because we don't really believe |
| -- I mean in a way that is real and vital -- that we are fully |
| complete in Christ by faith alone? There is a subtle fear and |
| restlessness in some of our hearts which tells us that unless we |
| belong to a special group, we can never fully belong to God. |
| Don't misunderstand. It isn't wrong to want to attend a good |
| church. We should want to attend a good church. The problem |
| begins when we step over the line and begin putting our trust in |
| the fact we are there. At that point, we have missed the mark. |
| And we will never find Christ in the way we expected. Why? |
| Because we are looking for Christ in a place. He isn't in a place. |
| He's in us. We simply need to believe it. |
| It is so important to get this straight. Failure to do so not only |
| leads to spiritual confusion, but can open us for real deception |
| and spiritual bondage. If I will not rest in Christ by faith, but will |
| only believe I am completed in Him by finding a special group, I |
| will probably end up "finding" it. This is one of the ways that |
| cultish groups trap people. They promise people exactly what |
| they want: Special access to God. And they usually do it without |
| preaching it in words. They either play on their pride by telling |
| them they are a "specially chosen one," or they play on their fear |
| by telling them they will lose out if they don't belong to the group. |
| If I'm not solid in Christ, I might fall for the trap. |
| Do you see what the key is to standing firm against such |
| deception? I must, as an individual, be strong in Christ. My faith |
| cannot be contigent upon others, or if they fall, I will also fall. |
| Only if I am strong in Christ as an individual, can I be an asset to |
| the Body of Christ. Then I will be able to help them stand, |
| instead of going down with them if they stumble. |
| We keep coming back to the foundation of Christianity: |
| Christ in the individual. The Body is composed of individuals in |
| whom Christ dwells. Christ does not sort of dwell "in a group," |
| but not in individuals. |
| Restoration |
| There are many groups today who are trying to restore the |
| Body of Christ back to what it was just after Pentecost. They |
| believe this will result in them experiencing what the early church |
| experienced. This is also one of the reasons why people try to |
| find a relationship with Christ through a group. They are aware |
| of the failings of most churches today, and want to experience |
| more. |
| This seems a noble cause. Afterall, the early church really |
| was wonderful, wasn't it? What could possibly be wrong with |
| wanting to be that way again? |
| Nothing. The problem, however, is the means by which some |
| seek to achieve such a lofty aspiration. Some read the Bible as |
| use it as a "blueprint" for the Body of Christ. They map out the |
| instructions given and say, "Now, we will go and do those things. |
| We will act like that, and be like that." So they start "loving one |
| another." They hug and cry and commit themselves to each |
| other. Some even pool their finances like they did in the book of |
| Acts. That, they feel, is really an example of Christian love. |
| Christian communes often spring up. These are supposedly |
| living examples of New Testament "body life." |
| What's wrong with that? In principle, not a thing. But let's |
| ask: What was the real source of what happened after |
| Pentecost? Remember, they didn't have a New Testament for a |
| blueprint. They didn't know how to conduct a prayer meeting, or |
| how to act like a group of Christians should act. But what |
| happened was real. Why? Because Christ in them was real. |
| And they were relying on Him. They believed Him. |
| Herein we see the futility of trying to "restore" the church to |
| what it once had. You don't have to restore the church to "what |
| it once had" because the church has never stopped having it! |
| Jesus Christ has always been here. The Holy Spirit hasn't left. |
| What needs to be restored is faith in Jesus Christ. The wonderful |
| Truth is, if you want to restore the Body to what God intended, |
| then start restoring individuals to what God intended. Start |
| teaching, preaching, and living the Truth that Christ is in the |
| individual, and start teaching individuals how to belong to Him. |
| The restoration of the church will then occur as a natural |
| by-product of each member holding fast to the Head. |
| Complete In Him |
| The source of every spiritual problem in the church today is |
| found in individuals. Individuals believe or don't believe. |
| Individuals preach and teach. Individuals sin against God. |
| Therefore, the only way in which the Body can come to function |
| in a healthy way is if individuals begin to walk in Truth. Thus, it is |
| clear that I am not going to find a special group who will make |
| me complete in Christ. I am complete in Him. I need to believe. |
| Then I will be a healthy influence in His Body. |
| Again we hear the words of Jesus: "And they shall say to you, |
| 'See here,' or 'See there.' Go not after them, nor follow them." |
| (Lk. 17:23) Why? Because Jesus Christ is not in a secret place. |
| Access to Him is not a matter of finding the right people to link |
| up with: "As lightning that lights out of one part under heaven |
| shines unto the other part under heaven, so shall also the Son of |
| Man be in His day." (Lk. 17:24) Apply this verse as you will to |
| the future Second Coming, but it also has a spiritual application |
| now: Jesus is accessible to all -- as lightning lights up the |
| whole heaven, seemingly everywhere all at once. And while we |
| may not always see or sense Him in a way we can document, we |
| can always believe. That is what it means to walk by faith.* |