The Kingdom Within

THE KINGDOM WITHIN   Paul OSullivan    spiritcode.podbean.com
When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the temple guards, he was then tried by the Jewish High Priest and the council of elders and then handed over to Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor of Judea. When Pilate questioned Jesus about being King of the Jews he asked him why he had been tried by his own people and why they had brought him to a Roman Governor for trial. He asked Jesus what he had done, and why was he claiming he was their king.
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting for me and not allowing me to even be put on trial. But my kingdom is not of this world.”- John 18:36

Jesus did not ever urge his disciples to protest against Roman authority or consider any hostility towards Roman rule, even though that is what they expected would happen, They were all convinced that the Kingdom would be an outward Kingdom ruled over by Jesus, and that the Roman Empire would be overthrown and that they would rule alongside of him with great power and authority.
But Jesus did not come to try and change the outward kingdom in which his disciples lived; he came to establish the kingdom that would live within them. 

In Matthew 20:20 There was an occasion when Jesus was teaching his disciples principles of the Kingdom of Heaven when the mother of James and John, a woman well known for her religious zeal came before him to ask a request of him. She knelt down, facing Jesus, with her two sons standing behind her. She said she had a favour to ask of him concerning her two sons. She asked if Jesus would give them a special place in his kingdom, to be seated next to him, one on his right hand and one on his left. 
There was a stunned silence and then irate sounds and heated words were hurled at the two sons from the rest of the disciples, and then even at one another, as it became clear that they were all coveting some special position themselves.
Jesus knew he had a difficult situation on his hands, so he addressed the mother first.
“You don’t know what you are asking for. It cannot be done that way.” Then Jesus addressed the men. He told them that what they were all wanting for themselves was not even his to give. He said that Father had given them all to him, and that Father alone gives place and position as he sees fit. He said that if they were to follow him then they must follow all the way. He told them that he had a cup of pain and sorrow that he must drink, and an ordeal of suffering that he must go through. He asked them if they were able to share that with him, instead of some position of importance that they thought they deserved.
They were all sobered by the rebuke, and surprised at the meanness that they had witnessed in their own hearts. Jesus went on to say that they could not behave like the Roman rulers, or their own religious leaders, who use their authority and positions of power to dominate others to get what they want out of them. He told them that true authority was serving one another, not competing with one another, and that he had been sent to serve, not to be served, and to lay down his life for others. 
That day they learned a lot about God and a lot about themselves. 
And it was obvious that they had been secretly coveting and competing for a special place in the order of this new earthly Kingdom that would be happening any time soon.

Jesus had to correct their tendency towards the power plays of political activism, some of them more than others. Peter would not be slow in lopping off the ear of the temple guard when Jesus was being arrested on the night he was betrayed by Judas, and Judas was the most zealous political activist of all who was bitterly disappointed when he realised that that Jesus had planned no imminent earthly Kingdom. James and John were also quite happy to hurl some fire from Heaven against the rejection shown to them once by the Samaritans, their political and religious opponents (Luke 9:54).

Many Christians today have a similar Christian activist mindset to that of those disciples. Jesus had to correct his disciples and prepare their hearts and minds to live in the power of a Kingdom within them rather than seek power in an earthy kingdom around them. 

The power of the Kingdom of God within is the power of God’s love, and it is that love that created us and that sent Jesus to die for us, and it is that love that was sent at Pentecost into our hearts through The Holy Spirit who releases that same love out to others. 
When we live that love out in caring and practical ways is what it means to be a witness to Christ. A witness is not just saying words. It is in being an influence for godliness wherever we are. The word for witness in the original Greek is ‘martus’ which also means martyr, so we need to have realistic expectations about how people will respond to that influence. Our godly influence will either be accepted and honoured or we will be penalised and intimidated.

That love is what Paul encouraged Timothy to focus on so that he would not fear the intimidation of those of corrupt power and influence in the church in Ephesus who were resisting his godly ways and rejecting his faithful teaching of the Gospel. 
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but the spirit of power and of love and of an ordered mind. 
Paul lived in that love that expresses the Kingdom power and that renews our minds. 
Paul started the church in Ephesus and appointed Timothy to care for the church after he left, and he had written to that church about the powerful work of the love of God in us through the Holy Spirit praying that they would ‘know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that they may be filled with all the fullness of God, giving honour to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to that power at work within us. 
Paul also wrote that ‘the love of God compelled him’ (existemi). It held him together and ordered his life (2Corinthians 5:14). 

The kingdom theme in the New Testament is part of the great cosmic battle of light over darkness, and everything in God’s plan is now according to a new order that flows from the life of God in the person of the Holy Spirit, who is changing us into the likeness of Jesus. That new order of the Kingdom love of God is influencing everything in our world around us and many will respond and embrace the message of the love and light of God, but many will reject it and continue in darkness despite ongoing global shakings and afflictions (Revelation 9:21 tells us that many harden their hearts and will not repent).

So we cannot achieve a perfected earthly kingdom on this earth in this age where every kind of corrupted kingdom authority will fight to maintain its flawed and limited power base. It cannot be perfected until Jesus returns from Heaven to rule and reign, and puts down all rebellion in the earth and in the heavens. And at that time it will come to pass; ‘that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9).
We finally take our place with him in that new Kingdom.
Until that time of his return, we live in an age where every kingdom on earth is being shaken. The only Kingdom that cannot be shaken is the Kingdom of God that dwells within us. We read that in Hebrews 12:28 … This means that all of creation will be shaken, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we have received a Kingdom that can never be shaken, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.

It is good for us to live in this this reality in our soul, our mind and emotions and will. It is the reality of the inner kingdom that can never be overcome, but finally overcomes all others. 
Our life and peace and refuge are found within our faith and trust in God’s love, as we identify as his bride being made ready for him, in purity of heart and faithfulness to his love and protective covering over us. Where he is we are, and where he goes, we go.