Chapter 55 continued....
It doesn’t seem like a day went by in the three years of Jesus’ ministry where either a Priest, Sadducee, Rabbi, hired spy or the big boys of the Pharisees themself weren’t hounding Jesus to trip Him up. This time one of the big boys came up to him demanding to know when the ‘kingdom of God’ was to come.
Spiritually speaking, from insider insight, we all know that Satan was down right franticly being active to squealch any bit of the kingdom of God getting set-up in the domain of ‘his’ kingdom on earth. The baby killings at the time of Jesus’ birth, the slander propogated behind the backs of the holy parents implying that the ‘holy circumstances’ of Mary not be so virginhaft as told, the fight to overcome Jesus through the lust of the eyes, pride of life and lust of the flesh while in the desert of temptation. Besides the whole constant Pharisee or clergy opposition time and again. Lucifer was hotly defending his territory.
Now the men in charge wanted to have an answer about the kingdom of God.
How could our Lord make plausible spiritual realities to carnal minds like those of the opposition? How could he make clear to them that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” ,“the kingdom comes not with outward show” but that the “kingdom is within you”? Only the baptism by the Holy Spirit can heal such blindness and deafness of understanding. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know then, because they are spiritually discerned.”
EGW touches now on a point of great controversy among the Christian community of SDA as well as of the other denominations. The issue is : How active are Christians to be in politics with having the laws of God’s kingdom as their platform ? On this page, in this chapter, there is no example to follow from Jesus as to personal involvement in changing a corrupt and oppressive government. He had the stuff to do so but didn’t to so at that time. The crying abuses we are seeing today in our government of extortion, misuse of power, intolerance, cruelty or immorality of the staff was in Jesus’ day of ruling powers as well.
I know the American Christian Colilition is working for establishment of an earthly temporal government based on the teachings of Christ. They take it so well-meaning, believing that it is possible through legislation for getting the morals of people cleaned up. They are striving for the same which motivated the disciples with great impatience. The hope of a Christ ruling on earth. The people of today as the disciples of then (think of Judas) are trying to force the hand of the Lord before His time.
Some way or other we sure aren’t paying proper attention to the words of Jesus as he said “My kingdom is not of this world.” We are not taking Him seriously. His example showed that He attempted no civil reforms, made no campaign against national abuses, didn’t loose a word speaking bad about the national enemies, or play any terrorist games. He did not interfer with administration of those in power but kept aloof from the ruling government. Then, as well as now, Jesus wasn’t aiming to get control of courts or councils or legislative assemblies.
He knew that the remedy for the ills of bad governing of a land lie not in merely using human resources and external measures to get things cleaned up. He thought more radically than that. “To be efficient, the cure must reach men individually, and must regenerate the heart.” “..but by the implanting of Christ’s nature in humanity through the work of the Holy Spirit” will come in a righteous government.
Those of us who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, who have been cleansed from sin of the soul, who have been made justified by the authority of Jesus the Christ, and who are sanctified unto the Lord by the Spririt of our God know the power which was given to become the sons of God by the will of God. This godly power has regenerated our hearts to make us new creatures in Christ our Lord. WE then become ambassadors for Christ after being reconciled to God. Our main goal is now to say daily “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I , but Christ liveth in me.”
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN US!
~~~
Joan
~~~