The Kingdom of Heaven vs The Kingdom of This World
Jesus answered and said, “My kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36).
Jesus said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.” (John 18:23).
Jesus said, “you are not of the world, [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this, the world hates you.” (John 15:19).
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (The Apostle Paul, Ephesians 6:12).
Despite these clear words from the Bible, and for some strange reason, it seems many Christians, including pastors, theologians, and the like, seem to think that we are warring with people who hold certain political, social and religious views. They seem to think that we are in a war of worldviews and a war of words.
It is in one of these worlds, the weapons of warfare are crafted by the minds and hands of men and women. They range from words of deceit, lies, anger, spite, hate and division to knives, guns, bombs, beatings, torture, imprisonment, and death. These are of the passions of the flesh.
In the Other of these worlds, the weapons of warfare are truth, freedom, righteousness, the Gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
One brings death and defeat; the Other brings in peace and life.
I hear pastors and Christian apologists use phrases like, “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to say nothing” as a defense for using political and social means to wage war against forces that are antithetical to the Gospel of Christ.
The Word of God is both our defense and our offense. It is our full armor against the weapons of darkness and our sword in battle.
How is this so? This is the mystery: Everything that is seen comes from that which is unseen. Every thought and idea originates from the unseen world, whether of darkness or of light, and is manifest in this natural world.
The natural ‘seen world’ is simply the ashes of creation. Fighting in the natural is swinging at shadows of the past. It is fruitless and has no lasting effect.
But engaging the enemy of the kingdom of this world in the Spiritual realm of the Kingdom of Heaven, puts an end to evil at its root.
Therefore, we must take up the full armor of God, so that we will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, we must stand firm. We must belt our waist with truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness, and strap on our feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all this, we must take up the shield of faith with which we will are able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (See Ephesians 6).
We must pray at all times in the Spirit, and with every prayer and request, we must stay alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints.
This is the way.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
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