Yesterday I heard two messages that both mentioned the kingdom of God and I feel like God linked them together in a way that I had not considered before.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2
The word “repent” in this case comes from 2 Greek words meta, which means change, noeo’, which means mind. So, repent really means change one’s mind.
“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17
Combining these verses – it can be understood as Jesus encouraging us to change our minds, because righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit is at hand.
With that as background, I’d like to expand on the role of the mind and the kingdom of God.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2
“Transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That phrase itself points out how we can be transformed – changed from the inside out. The verse goes on to say what is possible when our minds are renewed, “that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” I want to live in such a way that I can prove the will of God. I think of this as meaning that I am able to demonstrate to others (and myself) the will of God. In other words, live out this life the way God wants. Please understand, this is not about salvation or how you get to heaven – that is about faith in the finished work of Jesus and making him Lord of your life. This is about how we live our life.
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10
Often the “kingdom of God” can feel theoretical.
Back to changing our mind and the kingdom of God. Often the “kingdom of God” can feel theoretical. That is why I love the Romans 14:7 verse so much because it brings it down to somethings that we can all relate to. In the message that I listen to yesterday, the speaker pointed out that sometimes we tend to focus more on the righteousness portion of the kingdom of God, but if we are not living in peace and joy and demonstrating these in our life, we are portraying an incomplete message of what the kingdom of God is.
The peace and joy portion of what makes up the kingdom of God reminds me of the post I recently put up about Romans 15:13. In that post I personalized the verse as “Now may the God of hope fill me with all joy and peace in believing, that I may about in hope by the power of the holy spirit.” Joy and peace are not things to muster up by some sort of forced will power, they are listed among the fruit of the spirit. This means like apples are fruit of an apple tree, joy and peace (among other things) are the fruit of the spirit.
