Monday, April 07, 2014

Great Brain Robbery

Very few Christians believe that the church will establish the Kingdom of God in this age. Most believe that the gospel will be successful at times and that some churches will grow very large, but they do not expect that the Kingdom of God to come in their time. The possibility never occurs to them. For many Christians, the next big thing is the second coming. They do not mind if the situation in the world gets worse and worse, because they see it as a sign that the coming of Jesus is getting closer. Therefore, they do not really want to see the Kingdom coming closer.

The popular belief that Jesus will return to establish the Kingdom of God is Satan’s greatest lie. He has used it successfully to cripple the church and rob us of our inheritance. He has fooled us into believing that we do not have to the Kingdom, because Jesus will do it for us when he returns. Unfortunately, although this idea is popular, it is not true. The Bible teaches that Jesus will return to receive the kingdom from the church, so that he can hand it back to the Father (1 Cor 15:24,25).

Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God incessantly. His gospel was a gospel of the kingdom. It was not a gospel of Kingdom at the end of age. It was a gospel of the Kingdom of God at hand, now. He commissioned the church to bring in the kingdom, now.

This seems strange to us. Jesus' view of the Kingdom is different from the view of most Christians. The reason is that many Christians have unwittingly accepted a lie from Satan. He has fooled us into believing that Jesus will establish the Kingdom when he returns. He has fooled us into believing that we don't have to do it, because Jesus will do it for us. The problem with this is that he has robbed us of our inheritance. The Kingdom of God is our inheritance.

When we read the Scriptures, we tend to shift the passages that promise victory to after the Second Coming. The Scriptures that promise hard times are assigned to the current age. This is part of the lie that Satan has sold us. The reality is that most of the passages about victory are meant for this age. We have been robbed of these promises of hope.

A corporate mental stronghold is a false idea that takes hold in a culture so that it is wisely accepted. The belief that Jesus will build the Kingdom of God when he returns is a corporate mental stronghold that has bound up the Church.

Jesus' view of the Kingdom is very different. His gospel was a gospel of the Kingdom now, not a gospel of Kingdom at the end of age. His was a gospel of the Kingdom of God at hand, so he commissioned the church to establish the Kingdom, now.

The Bible is clear about the result of the battle.

  • Jesus won.
  • Satan lost.
We should not be acting if he has won?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes. Some church groups could be mistaken for waiting rooms rather than command centres.