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The Daily Word of Righteousness
A Description of the Kingdom of God, #10
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
How many Churches are there? How many Bodies of Christ? How many Kingdoms of God?
We have such confusion today over the simple truth that there is only one Body of Christ; that the covenant of Moses has been superseded by the new covenant. Some Christians are teaching the Torah while others are making the observance of the Levitical feasts mandatory. Two thousand years have passed and we still are unable to believe the Apostle Paul when he stated that the cross of the Lord Jesus reconciled Jew and Gentile and created one new Man in Christ!
It is no wonder that some Christians, Jews and Gentiles alike, are returning to the Torah, in that the prevailing perversion of the grace of God into an excuse for sin has removed the moral strength from Christian doctrine. The Torah at least makes some moral demands on the worshiper.
It is not true that the Kingdom laws, such as the precepts set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, were for the Jews of Jesus' day only, and now that grace has come we no longer are under the discipline of the words of Christ our King.
When we accept this teaching we make the precepts of Christ and His Apostles of no effect by our tradition. The four Gospel accounts, as well as the Epistles of the Apostles, contain numerous exhortations to righteous and holy living. We are learning each day to obey these Kingdom laws, as the Spirit of God gives us the wisdom and power.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)
The preceding statement, as well as all the other words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Kingdom of God, will still be in effect when the heaven and earth pass away.
The true relationship between the Christian Church and the Kingdom of God is as follows.
The Lord Jesus Christ himself uniquely and perfectly is the Kingdom of God.
The Church, the Body of Christ, is the enlargement, the fullness of Christ. The Church is the royal priesthood of the Kingdom of God. The members of the Church, the Body of Christ, are the kings and priests of the Kingdom of God.
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
This is the true relationship between the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of God. The members of the Body of Christ, when they are filled with the Spirit of God and are walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus, hold the keys of the Kingdom. They possess the power and authority to close and open the doors of the Kingdom of God.
Because Christ in them governs both Heaven and earth, whatever the saints (when they are abiding in Christ) bind on the earth is bound in the heavens and whatever they loose on the earth is loosed in the heavens. When Christ is living and working in them they possess the authority to forgive and to retain sins (John 20:23).
To be continued.