Words about the Word - Clint Chapman - Maranatha Fellowship
Lately the Lord has put upon my heart to read the Word of God with a kingdom mindset. And this is hard to do for many believers because we were not raised under a king but we live in a democracy. Instead of a King we have a President, a congress and a senate to make decisions and laws for us as citizens. But when a King makes a decree, it becomes the law of the land. When we read the Word of God, it can be hard to understand what Jesus was talking about when he said in this mission statement in Matthew 4:17 “from the time Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The words “at hand” means the kingdom has arrived. It is hard to understand what He was saying if you don’t have any clue how a Kingdom and a King rules. Jesus was saying He had come to restore the Kingdom of God on earth.
When God created heaven, He created His kingdom. In heaven there are laws, standards, values, morals. The kingdom operates under the desires of the King and the royal family. And when God wanted to extend his Kingdom, He created the universe, the planets and ultimately the earth. Psalms 24:1 “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” The earth was an extension of His Kingdom and He created man to live upon the earth as His royal children. This is why Jesus taught us to pray “thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But something changed all of this. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden made a choice that forever changed the future of man. Adam decided to file independence from the Kingdom of God when he took the fruit from the tree of knowledge and ate. As soon as He did this, the Governing spirit left Adam and Eve, and death entered the earth. Man chose Independence from God and His Kingdom, and death and murder entered the earth. Adam stole something that did not belong to him, and he handed it to Lucifer the fallen cherub. Man was cursed by this independence and from then on he governed himself and the world turned to chaos.
Jesus came to earth to bring back and to establish what Adam had lost. The Kingdom of God and the Governing Spirit. You see, a King always has a Governor to help Him rule. A King will have His Home country, but to the other colonies that belong in His Kingdom, He sends His Governor to enforce His dominion and authority. And the Governor knows the desires and the will of the King. The Governor rules in the physical absence of the King. Our King Jesus was born in a manger and was wrapped in swaddling clothes, He grew up in the synagogues, at 33 He began to minister, was later falsely accused, arrested, tried, beaten, crucified, buried, and then raised from the dead to sit at the right hand of the Father. And He did all of this as a King so He could give us back the Governor, The Holy Spirit.
Luke 24:46 “and so it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day!” When He died, they didn’t kill Him. He said “it is finished” and He gave up the Ghost. He released the governor in the earth. The Holy Spirit was trapped in one man until Jesus released it for you and me. It was not beaten or crucified out of Him. The Governor, the Holy Spirit was released to establish the Kingdom of God in the King’s absence. For the King went back to His home Kingdom to sit at the right hand of His Father. And the Father’s promise to mankind was delivered. Hail Jesus, you’re my King!
