ChristianBlessings

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The message of the Kingdom of God is establishing as much as is possible the reign of the King of the Kingdom of God on earth, through faith in Christ. Apostolic grace is a visible almost tangible factor in some men in this respect. True, biblical, apostolic evangelism is the proclamation of the Kingdom of God in the fullness of its blessings and promises, which we also call, ‘salvation’, as well as its manifestation.

Paul did what Jesus did. He may not have done it to the same degree as Christ, but he emulated the Saviour inasmuch as he did more than “preach the Kingdom”.  Paul demonstrated that the Kingdom was here and ready to be accessed, by demonstration of the rule of the King’s will.

He displayed its tangible reality in our time space world with the very ‘signs of the Kingdom’ that proved Christ was present, doing what He does best, i.e. save, heal, deliver and sanctify human lives. Paul, like Jesus, gave evidence in the public place that the Kingdom he was talking about had come. It was (and still is) in the “here” and the “now”. Paul fulfilled his role as Christ’s ambassador in a much more literal way than many Christian leaders think of today.

1 John 3: 8 states that “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (NASB). So it is hardly a challenging concept to understand that Christ inevitably came into collision with those areas where the prince of darkness, the devil himself, was ruling. The signs of the Kingdom were evidences that the devil was being forced to retreat. In fact, where he did not want to retreat he was literally thrown out wherever Christ was present. As it was, so it is. Where Christ is, the prince of this world is literally retreating before the advance of the King. As Jesus explained it at one point of time, once the strong man has been overpowered by the Stronger One, his possessions can be taken from him (Matthew 12:29; Luke 11:22).

Hebrews 2:14 and 15 teach us that “… since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” As a logical outcome from such a statement, we understand in retrospect that Christ’s authority over death was being exercised as He ministered to people’s “death situations.” The work of nullifying totally the devil’s rule over death itself was not completed until Christ committed Himself to the Father with His last breath (thus defeating satan’s authority over death while on this side of the grave), thereafter descending into hell and snatching the absolute authority of death and hell (the keys), and removing all the righteous dead who had died before that date from Sheol and lifting them to God’s presence (Ephesians 4:7-10). He also rose from the dead making the devil’s lease on the “authority over death” over and done with. The raising from the dead of Jairus’s daughter, the widow’s son at Nain, and Lazarus were merely hors deouvres to the main course of His defeat of death. The widow’s son, Jairus’s daughter and Lazarus would all, of course, have died again. But Christ, in the days of His flesh, conquered death and incipient death by His every action in healing and freeing the people. It was the plain, straightforward sign that the King and His Kingdom had begun to arrive. His rule was omnipotent. And those three and a bit years prior to His crucifiction were just a small taster of what is to follow when David’s Greater Son sits on David’s throne when He returns to earth.

This is the Gospel of the Kingdom. It’s all about the King and the power of His rule. That is why signs and wonders follow the preaching of this word. The fully declared word is part of the management of the miraculous.