Living in the Kingdom

November 20, 2007

By Greg Ebie

Jesus came preaching that the kingdom of God had come. Jesus said, “The time promised by God has come at last!” (Mark 1:15, NLT). Jesus was making it clear that what the Old Testament prophets had prophesied was now taking place; God’s Word was coming to pass. The Kingdom had come.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day knew if what He said was true then Jesus must be God’s promised Messiah. But Jesus didn’t look like the Messiah they were expecting; they were looking for a Messiah to kick out the Romans and make the kingdom of Israel great again.

But in light of Jesus’ miracles, they could not just write Him off. How could Jesus cast out demons and perform signs and wonders? Their solution: Jesus did not do these things with God’s power but with Satan’s.

Jesus responded with a pointed question.

“How can Satan cast out Satan? … A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse” (Mark 3:23,24).

Jesus pointed out the flaw in their logic. If Jesus was casting out demons by Satan’s power then the devil was shooting himself in the foot and it was only a matter of time until Satan would destroy his entire kingdom. The only other option was that Jesus had in fact announced the coming of God’s kingdom and proved the arrival of the Kingdom with signs and wonders through the power of God.

What Jesus said and did makes it clear the kingdom of God stands in opposition to the dominion of Satan. God’s kingdom would not be established through an earthly kingdom in Israel or anyplace else. The kingdom of God is a spiritual reality that has come to destroy Satan’s rule in this world.

All the evidence pointed to the reality Jesus was triumphing over the devil; demons were cast out, the sick recovered. That evidence continues today.

Jesus continues to show that the kingdom of God has come and Satan is defeated. Jesus still heals the sick; He still has authority over demons. No kingdom is divided against itself.

As followers of Christ, if we want to stand with Jesus let’s discover ways to oppose the works of evil around us. Jesus has established the kingdom of God with power and authority. He wants to exercise that power and authority through our faithful obedience.

D. Greg Ebie is senior pastor of Praise Assembly of God in Garrettsville, Ohio, and an author of Daily Bread devotionals.