Jesus was born a King. His birth was foretold by Old Testament prophets. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that of the increase of His government and peace there would be no end and He would sit on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6, 7). The angel Gabriel confirmed this to Mary, His mother (Luke 1:32, 33). Wise men came to worship Him as the King of the Jews at His birth (Matthew 2:1, 2); He was celebrated as King when He entered Jerusalem before He went to the cross (John 12:12-15); and He was called “King of the Jews,” at His crucifixion (Mathew 27:37). He came to bring the kingdom of God to earth as He preached repentance (to change your mind) for the kingdom of God was at hand (Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43; 8:1). He taught His disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Luke 11:2).
Jesus is the King of the kingdom and He is the kingdom. He said “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20, 21). He told many parables about the kingdom of God (Matthew 13) and demonstrated how it works (Matthew 12:28). However, many Jewish people in His day didn’t receive Him or the kingdom of God because they were looking for a physical kingdom where the king would come and release them from the Roman rule that was over the nation of Israel. They sought to make Jesus King (John 6:15). However, Jesus declared that His kingdom was not of this world but a spiritual kingdom; redemptive in nature (John 18:36, 37).
The Kingdom of God is the rule of God in the Spiritual realm. It is a sovereign Kingdom possessing supreme or ultimate power where He is the supreme ruler. The kingdom of God is not in word but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20) and was manifested through Jesus (Acts 10:38). God is Sovereign but He gave the dominion of the earth to man (Genesis 1:26-28). When Adam sinned, he gave the dominion of the earth to Satan who kept us in bondage to fear and the kingdom of darkness (Hebrews 2:15; Colossians 1:13; Romans 8:15). Jesus redeemed the kingdom and got it back for us through His death and resurrection (Colossians 2:14, 15). He came to set us free (Luke 4:18, 19).
So how do we enter into His kingdom and receive Him as King? First, we must be born again.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:3-6 (NKJV)
There may be someone reading this blog who doesn’t know Jesus as your personal Savior. This is the starting place to receive God’s love and forgiveness through His Son Jesus and all that He is and the abundant life He wants to give to you (John 10:10). I would like to give you this wonderful opportunity to ask Jesus into your heart and life to be your Savior and Lord.
The Bible says that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved and that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9, 10, 13). If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
If you would like to experience the love of God and to have peace with Him through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, pray this suggested prayer out loud right now. You can also pray in your own words. Remember, it is not words or prayer alone that will save you. Prayer is a way to reach out to the Lord and must be done in faith (completely trusting in Him to save you). Christ will save you if you pray these or similar words in faith.
Heavenly Father,
Your Word says that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved. I ask You to forgive me for my sins. I want to turn from them and turn to You. I am calling on You and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life. I believe that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for me. I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead and He is alive today. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me the Holy Spirt to live inside of me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and Your healing power in my life. I now belong to You. Help me to live for You and obey You all the days of my life.
In Jesus name, Amen.
If you prayed the prayer for salvation in faith, you are now a child of God and are in His family (John 1:12). When we receive Jesus as our Savior, we are rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13). The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within our spirit. We become born-again with the life and nature of God and are made righteous (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21). The Holy Spirit seals us as God’s own (2 Corinthians 1:22). He bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16) making us citizens of this heavenly kingdom (Philippians 3:20).
We make Jesus King of our lives by surrendering our hearts, wills and lives to Him completely. Total surrender to Him. What does surrender look like? Dying to self and living for Christ. Putting Him first and as top priority i.e. first in our thoughts, plans, decisions, time, etc. He becomes the Lord and ruler of our lives. Surrender is more than just yielding. It is about committing all that we are and have to Him.
We honor Him as our deserving King by putting Him first, by obeying Him and worshiping Him. Worship is giving honor, respect and attention to someone or something. True worship of God is surrender to Him. We will discover the power of kingdom living when we become His disciples (a learner and follower of a Master’s teachings).
We must make a decision to surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and follow Him daily. The Holy Spirit gives us the power and grace to do this and walk it out. The key to a truly fulfilling and abundant life is found in Jesus Christ; to be Christ centered. Everything in the universe is about Him and revolves around Him. Jesus holds all things together. All things were created for Him as well as by Him. He is the source (Colossians 1: 15-17).
When we look to other things to satisfy us, i.e. riches, perfect relationships, a great job, a dream home, etc.; we soon find that these leave us feeling empty. When we look to other things and don’t place Him first in our lives, it is idolatry. The children of Israel broke the first and second commandments often through idolatry and were judged by God for their sin. We may or may not have idols made with hands, but anything that takes first place in our hearts and lives before God is an idol.
Under the law, they were supposed to love Him with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:39). We can’t do this on our own. We can’t keep the law. It was only put in place to show us that we are not able to keep it and to bring us to Jesus as our Savior. Thank God we are not under the law and judgement but under grace. We need the Holy Spirit’s help to love God. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). However, grace does not give us a license to sin (Romans 6:1, 2). The New Testament law for us is fulfilled in this; “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14).
All things on earth are God’s blessings (I Corinthians 10:26; 2 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 6:17; Ephesians 1:3), but without Christ in the center of them, they are empty blessings. We can never be satisfied with the things that were created by the Creator apart from Him. We were created to have fellowship with Him and to worship Him. He is a God of relationship and has a longing for us and we were created with a longing for Him.
Jesus wants us to live an abundant life and the more we learn from Him and follow Him, the better our life will be. Jesus talked about what it means to follow Him and to become His disciple.
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” Luke 9:23, 24 (NKJV)
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” Matthew 10:38 (NKJV)
“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27 (NKJV)
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62 (NKJV)
We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and our minds to Him allowing Him to transform us into His image (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18). The trouble with living sacrifices is they keep getting up off the altar! In the Old Testament, the priests put the whole dead sacrifice on the altar. God wants all of us, not just a part of us.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1, 2 (NKJV)
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
When we seek His kingdom first and its righteous standard’s, then He takes care of everything else concerning our lives. We don’t need to worry!
When we first chose to follow Jesus, we didn’t understand all the implications of our decision but we simply responded to His invitation of love and forgiveness and made a commitment to follow Him. That’s all we needed to do to get started. When we had a revelation of who God is (Psalm 145:8; John 3:16) and what Christ had done for us, we gladly responded by giving Him our lives and following Him.
Your heavenly Father’s goal for us is to grow up, to mature and develop the characteristics of Jesus (Ephesians 4:11-16). He has a good plan for our lives and futures (Jeremiah 29:11). This plan is directly connected to choosing to surrender to Him and His perfect will as we see in His Word, the Bible. Abundant life is found in Jesus (John 10:10). There is a cost to discipleship but a life of discipleship is a key to the abundant life! Sonship opens the door to the kingdom. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:1 – 3 (NKJV)
Before we move on. Please ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart to see if it is fully surrendered to Jesus. If not, ask Him to forgive you and help you to surrender these areas in your life. You will not be disappointed. He loves you and has given all of Himself for you and wants you to give all of yourself to Him. There is coming a time when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). We don’t have to wait to bow our knee. We can experience abundant life now as we daily surrender to Him voluntarily!
Follow me on this exciting journey as we discover more about kingdom life and being a kingdom disciple in my upcoming blogs!
And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables. Mark 4:11 (NKJV)
Living the Abundant Life 