The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is described in the following verse not only by what it is, but by what it is not. Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. NKJV

The context of Roman 14 is that some were eating foods that were formerly unclean but have been made pure through the work of Christ. Some believers were weak in the faith and had not yet come to that understanding. Paul’s instructions were not to offend the weak or unlearned brother over an issue that is of no eternal consequence. Old Covenant believers were defiled by many things such as touching a leper or eating the flesh of unclean animals. But New Covenant believers have power to sanctify and cleanse food, (see 1Timothy 4) and, touch and cleanse the leper as ministers of Christ. (See Matt. 10:8) Jesus said, in Matthew 15:11, that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man but what comes out of it. Some had found fault with Jesus and His disciples for eating with unwashed hands. Jesus wanted them to understand that men were defiled by the attitudes of their hearts, and what proceeded from their mouths, rather than by what went into the mouth.

The truth must always be spoken or conveyed in love. Love would rather go without than cause a weaker brother to be offended over food. The Kingdom of God is manifested through a heart of love toward God and our fellow man, not a list of rules we keep. The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Scribes and the Pharisees did not manifest the Kingdom; in fact, Jesus rebuked them, saying: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” (See Matt. 23:13) The scribes and Pharisees were very appearance oriented. They liked to sit in places of prominence, to greet people in the market place and be called Rabbi (Teacher). Their garments had wide hems, or borders, with scripture text written on them, so that they would appear as God’s authorities. They used the commandments of God and the Law of Moses for an opportunity to lord it over the people. Jesus said that these Pharisees did not enter the Kingdom and even prevented others who desired to enter. The Kingdom is not a show of power and authority directly over flesh and blood but over the spiritual forces of darkness, which will indirectly affect human behavior. The spiritual leaders of that day had fallen under the influence of darkness while supposing that they were leading people into the light. Jesus called them blind leaders of the blind.

The Kingdom is Righteousness

Jesus told His followers that, unless their righteousness exceeded that of the scribes and Pharisees, they would not enter the Kingdom of God. (See Matthew 5:20) The righteousness of the Pharisees was only external and of human effort, not compatible with a Kingdom that ruled from within the heart. Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the religious Pharisees many times yet they repented not, but rather sought to destroy Him. True righteousness draws opposition from those whose righteousness is of human effort. From the beginning, we find that Cain became angry and killed his brother Abel because God was not pleased with his offering. Cain offered fruit from cursed ground that required toil and the sweat of the brow to produce. His offering was typical of human effort or self righteousness which is to God as filthy rags. Abel’s offering was typical of the sacrifice of Christ, the innocent blood of the lamb. The same spirit that drove Cain to kill his brother also drove the religious people of Jesus’ day to destroy Him. The same spirit is alive and at work today, stirring up opposition against the righteous.

In this present age, His Kingdom is revealed by power over demon spirits that hold people in bondage. Jesus said: “If I cast out devils by the finger of God it is because the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” (See Luke 11:20) We read in Luke 17:20: Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation ; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." NKJV

Kingdom righteousness is a matter of the heart. It is firstly a position of right standing with God; secondly, it produces good works and obedience to God’s laws from the heart. True righteousness is not flaunted before men as if it were a merit badge or a rank of authority over our fellow man. True righteousness would rather go hungry than to offend a weaker brother with food or drink.

Kingdom Righteousness is also by faith. The Pharisees counted themselves righteous by their ability to avoid the physical acts of sin--- that is known as righteousness by the works of the law. Righteousness by faith is not attained by anything we could do or any sin we could avoid, but by believing on and trusting in the cleansing work of Christ on the cross. When we believe His word and receive His gift of righteousness then we are declared righteous before all heaven and earth. The spiritual powers of darkness know that we are righteous because we have been translated from under their dark power into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. (See Colossians 1:13) The Pharisees remained under the influence of darkness because they trusted in human effort and wisdom to do God’s will. If that be possible then Jesus Christ died in vain.

The Kingdom is Peace

Jesus is the prince of peace and He is King. Paul says in Colossians 3:15a “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts”.

The peace of the Kingdom is not of this world and cannot be measured by earthly standards. The world is only at peace when there is no conflict. The world I see is experiencing constant conflict in varying degrees. Most of us are not ducking bullets or experiencing a literal war, but some are. The streets of many American cities have become a war zone. A more common conflict may be with a coworker or a family member over trivial issues. Some may wonder how we could ever experience peace in the midst of all that is going on.

The peace of God’s Kingdom is also something that is hidden in the heart. It is not quenched or snuffed out by what goes on in the natural world. When Jesus was sleeping in the boat during the storm, his disciples frantically woke Him up because they thought He didn’t care if they all drowned. Jesus spoke peace to the wind, and the waves became still because peace was his weapon. While his disciples were overcome with fear Jesus remained at rest.

In Acts 27, Paul was aboard a ship as a prisoner. When they were overtaken by a storm at sea, he was able to take control of a frantic situation because he was walking in Kingdom peace. He did not rebuke the wind like Jesus, but a supernatural ability to speak with authority caused frantic men to obey him. That is amazing; usually, in that kind of situation, it is every man for himself. We must remember that Paul was a prisoner on board that ship and had no earthly authority over anyone there, but Kingdom authority will attract our attention especially if we are on the brink of disaster. It is undeniable that Paul’s peace and composure was a product of God’s Kingdom.

Some said of Jesus: “this man speaks with authority and not as the scribes” (See Matt. 7:29). The scribes were able to teach the scripture but their words lacked the ability to move men to obedience. In 1 Corinthians 4:20, Paul says that the Kingdom of God is not just words but power. Paul received the obedience of men aboard a ship in which he had no natural authority because he was operating in the authority of God’s peace.

The Kingdom is Joy

Joy is a result of righteousness and peace. When we receive His righteousness by faith, we also experience peace, knowing we are no longer at odds with God our creator. From God’s perspective, the work of Christ for our salvation was completed from the very foundation of the earth (See Hebrews 4), but we are still an enemy of God in our own mind (See Colossians 1:21) until we receive and appropriate His gift of righteousness and enter His Kingdom. We have Joy because our sins have been washed away, never to be remembered again, knowing that God is for us not against us.

The scripture also says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Our enemy has no weapon that can match peace or joy so his strategy is to cause us to lose them or to respond in fear. We must walk in faith to walk in Kingdom peace and joy, so fear is our enemy’s only effective weapon. Fear attempts to shock us into its control. It is the shock factor that can cause us to respond without peace or joy. Fear never forewarns us of its arrival. The purpose of the shock treatment is to get us to use our natural reasoning and carnal weapons, rather than the mind of Christ and the whole armor of God. But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, or natural, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of, or making extinct, enemy strongholds. (See 2 Corinthians 10:4)

Joy and peace are produced by the Spirit. When we walk in harmony with the Spirit of God we will sow to the Spirit and will reap life of the Spirit. Like peace, joy is not dependant upon having the right conditions in the natural. Usually pressure situations cause whatever is on the inside of us to come out. If we were thrown in jail for doing good, it might cause anger or revenge to rise up within us, but when Paul and Silas were thrown in prison they began to rejoice and sing songs of praise to God. (See Acts 16:25) Their joy activated the hidden power of God’s Kingdom. The earth shook and all the prison doors were opened. I often wondered why all the prisoners’ shackles fell off and not just those on Paul and Silas. Apparently none of them escaped, including Paul and Silas. The whole incident appears to have happened to bring salvation to the jailor and his household. Joy and praise release the power of God’s Kingdom to set prisoners free. The jailor was not bound by physical chains but he was set free from the bondage of sin.

I am reminded of a chorus we used to sing. “Joy is the flag that is flown from the castle of my heart when the King is in residence there”. Shackles falling off prisoners and cell doors opening are signs, in the natural, that King Jesus is present to set captives free.