As I have stated many times in my articles, when Jesus the Christ initiated His public ministry: He preached a very simple message: "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand". This was His mission statement and the only message He preached. He reminds me of a New Yorker, we are always straightforward. In one village where the people tried to keep Him all to themselves, He stated: "I must preach the Kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent".
Keep this in mind, announcing the arrival of a kingdom is one thing, proving its legitimacy is totally another. Without the demonstrated power and authority to back them up, the words of even a king are meaningless. A king without power is only a man with a fancy title. The Kingdom of Heaven however, is more than mere words; the eternal power of the almighty God gives it undeniable authority. Paul, the great ambassador of the King, in the first century, wrote: "For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power". By the way, Jesus the Christ came not only with the word of the Kingdom but with its power as well. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He gave sight to the blind. He cast demons out of people (they were agents of the pretender's illicit rule). He sent them packing. He healed and delivered all that came to Him. He even stated at one point: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you". Everywhere He went, in word and in power, Jesus the Christ demonstrated His authority, legitimacy and invincibility of His Father's Kingdom. Oh what a great King we have!
One day Jesus the Christ climbed a mountain with Peter, James and John, His three closest friends among His disciples. They spent the night there and they heard the voice of God and saw Jesus reveled in the glory of His true nature as the Son of God. This set the stage for a dramatic demonstration of Kingdom power that soon followed:
Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.
In the healing of this demon-possessed boy, Jesus demonstrated undeniable Kingdom power. That power was so irreversible that even the deeply entrenched agent of Satan's government, who had successfully withstood the disciples' concerted efforts to expel it, had to flee. Such is the power of the Kingdom of Heaven. Such is the power of the Garden Principle.
Matthew 4:17 Luke 4:43 I Corinthians 4:20
Matthew 12:28 Luke 9:37-43
~~W.R. Luchie
Keep this in mind, announcing the arrival of a kingdom is one thing, proving its legitimacy is totally another. Without the demonstrated power and authority to back them up, the words of even a king are meaningless. A king without power is only a man with a fancy title. The Kingdom of Heaven however, is more than mere words; the eternal power of the almighty God gives it undeniable authority. Paul, the great ambassador of the King, in the first century, wrote: "For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power". By the way, Jesus the Christ came not only with the word of the Kingdom but with its power as well. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He gave sight to the blind. He cast demons out of people (they were agents of the pretender's illicit rule). He sent them packing. He healed and delivered all that came to Him. He even stated at one point: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you". Everywhere He went, in word and in power, Jesus the Christ demonstrated His authority, legitimacy and invincibility of His Father's Kingdom. Oh what a great King we have!
One day Jesus the Christ climbed a mountain with Peter, James and John, His three closest friends among His disciples. They spent the night there and they heard the voice of God and saw Jesus reveled in the glory of His true nature as the Son of God. This set the stage for a dramatic demonstration of Kingdom power that soon followed:
Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.
In the healing of this demon-possessed boy, Jesus demonstrated undeniable Kingdom power. That power was so irreversible that even the deeply entrenched agent of Satan's government, who had successfully withstood the disciples' concerted efforts to expel it, had to flee. Such is the power of the Kingdom of Heaven. Such is the power of the Garden Principle.
Matthew 4:17 Luke 4:43 I Corinthians 4:20
Matthew 12:28 Luke 9:37-43
~~W.R. Luchie
