The Pilgrims made a compact to usher in the kingdom of God. or literally to "advance the kingdom of God." Little doctrine did they know but that Christ will usher in His kingdom, and that His kingdom is not of this world. America is supposedly the "Great Experiment." They would've done a better job of it and speeded His coming (cf. 2 Pet. 3:12); we ought to always be about "hastening the day of His coming." The question is how this is accomplished. It doesn't mean passing legislation or beginning new governments such as a great experiment. Or like the Social Experiment that failed called Prohibition. Jesus gave us the Great Commission to spread the good news and make disciples, some seek the Second Great Commission to reform society to their agenda and to be a social gospel to help the needy and down and out, we must be lights and not just turn stones into bread but spread the good news.
Jesus kingdom would reign in human hearts, not on the throne of an earthly king or monarch. All authority has been given Him. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords and we are to make this real in our lives, not force it on others. We don't conquer territory in the name of Christ, but hearts with love. We love them into the kingdom. "Love conquers a multitude of sins," God promised Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing and God saves us to be a blessing (cf. Zech. 8:13) and we are heirs of Abraham as believers.
We never stop expanding Christ's kingdom and when He comes the church age will cease and Satan will have a pass or permission to bring in his idea of a kingdom dominated by him and the antichrist. There have been many antichrists so to speak that had the notion to conquer the world: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler, et alia. The ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires all aspired to world domination, but the Spirit restrains the evil one. The spirit of antichrist is already here.
We are never to despair that God is not in control ("Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD"). His Providence is governing all events and creatures small and great. Yes, God doesn't just reign, He rules ("For the kingdom is the LORD's, and he is the governor among the nations") not like a do-nothing king or the monarch of the UK who has no powers though they reign. But we are to receive Christ as Lord of our hearts and let Christ's kingdom grow from there by the preaching of the gospel message and living it out as witnesses. We must admit we are not in charge, nor is any earthly ruler in charge, without any reservations in our lordship decisions--submission is an issue for some.
("The king's heart is in the hands of the LORD..."). What does this mean but we owe complete allegiance and obedience to Christ. We pledge allegiance to the Lamb on the throne! No governor or ruler can do anything outside God's will or permission (cf. Lam. 3:37). We must be encouraged that the only king who is capable of ruling hearts is Jesus. He has been called the Emperor of love. Christ is indeed the only Potentate and Ruler of heaven, the entire universe, not just earth--all things visible and invisible.
We must not just render lip service to God but bow in obedience to His sovereignty. Every knee shall bow to Him! This obedience is to the command to repent and stop the charade or hypocrisy and also to put our complete faith and submission in Christ as Lord and trust as Him as Savior. Christ demands the throne room of our hearts, the pass key to our complete soul, and if He isn't there, we are there and in control of our lives, it cannot be neutral! We must give Christ the ownership of our lives.
We must remember that Satan owns the soul of the infidel and actually influences him to evil and sin, and the only way to get free from his tyranny and power is to surrender to Jesus: We must say "No!" to Satan before saying "Yes" to Jesus. It is obvious that Satan is having his heyday and we must seek to be set free. "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed." But after the church age, Satan will have his day to do as he wills: to take over the world for a period of tribulation on earth. After we belong to Christ, we are no longer in Satan's kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, and belong to God in His kingdom and are protected from the evil one who cannot touch us. Soli Deo Gloria!
About Me
- Karl Broberg
- I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.