ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY AUGUST 01, 2023.

SUBJECT : ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

Memory verse: "Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3 vs 5.) 

READ: John 3 vs 3 - 9:

3:3: Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

3:4: Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? C an he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?”

3:5: Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

3:6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

3:7: Do not marvel not that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

3:8: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes, and where it goes. So is every one who is born of the Spirit.”

INTIMATION:

The Kingdom of God is the sphere of God’s rule; it’s the sphere in which, at any given time, His rule is acknowledged. God has not relinquished His sovereignty in the face of rebellion, demoniac or human, but has declared His purpose of establishing His Kingdom. God calls upon all humans everywhere, without distinction of race or nationality, to submit voluntarily to His rule. Speaking generally, references to the Kingdom fall into two classes, the first, in which it is viewed as present and involving suffering for those who enter it (Second Thessalonians 1 vs 5); The second, in which it is viewed as future and is associated with reward (Matthew 25 vs 34), and glory (Matthew 13 vs 43).

The fundamental principle of the Kingdom is declared in the words of the Lord, “The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you,” (Luke 17 vs 21), that is, where the King is, there is the Kingdom. Thus at the present time and so far as the earth is concerned, where the King is and where His rule is acknowledged, is, first, in the heart of the individual believer, and then in the churches of God. 

Entrance into the Kingdom of God is by the “new birth,” for nothing that anyone may be by nature, or can attain to by any form of self-culture, avails in the spiritual realm. And as the new nature, received in the new birth, is made evident by obedience, it is further said that only such as do the will of God shall enter into His Kingdom.

Jesus stated what is necessary for the inclusion of the kingdom reign of Jesus in the heart of men, and thus, one’s participation in the community of God. The condition is the ‘new birth,’ the birth of the spirit by being regenerated by the power of God. The condition will be the manifestation of one’s response to all that God has done in order to bring one into a covenant relationship with Him. 

Based on the redemptive work of Jesus, God the Father forgives us, and sends the Holy Spirit to wash away our sins and continually renew us. All who welcome Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives are reborn spiritually, receiving new life from God—the new birth. Through faith in Christ, the new birth changes us from the inside—rearranging our attitudes, desires, and motives. 

Being born of God makes you spiritually alive and puts you in God’s family. When one is born of the Spirit, he or she is spiritually rejuvenated by the Holy Spirit through the sacrificial blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1 vs 7). In new birth, the Spirit does the work of sanctification without the perception of men. One must be born of the water of baptism, at which point, one is renewed by the Holy Spirit. Born of water is the response of the individual to the grace of God. 

What Jesus is saying is that unless one truly repents because of obedient faith, and is immersed into Christ, he or she cannot participate with Jesus in the kingdom of God. One is thus born anew in baptism by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Born of the Spirit is the work of God in the spirit realm beyond our understanding. The Spirit does His work to bring us forth from the grace of baptism pure of sin because we have relinquished by obedience to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the new nature You have imparted to me though my obedient faith in what Christ wrought for us in redemption. Give me the grace to live according to Your will, to avail me entrance to Your kingdom, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!