13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4.
A kingdom is a realm or region in which something is dominant. Neither can there be a king without a kingdom, nor can there be a kingdom without a king. Those whom the king rules over are called subjects. Also, the king must have something to rule with, which is usually called the Law of the Kingdom.
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, Colossians 1:13
In the above Colossians, we can justify that there are two kingdoms on earth: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil. You cannot be neutral; you cannot belong to the two at the same time; you must belong to one. Having established a little foundation, we can flash back to say to ourselves that, in the beginning, there were no two kingdoms, but one. That kingdom was given to a king to rule over—Adam. Let’s see it in Genesis 1:27–29.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
This kingdom was ruled, administered, and controlled by the word of God. The nature of the kingdom was holiness; there was no sickness, immorality, or violence; it was simply a kingdom of God. The law that was guiding that kingdom was the word of God; it was a kingdom of such quality that Adam and his wife were both naked yet unashamed. This speaks of the transparency of the kingdom; it was a delightful domain (Eden).
Every kingdom, or instead, every king-to-be in a kingdom, would have something of promise to the people to get their interest. Similarly, God had things He promised them as partakers of the kingdom. The privilege of the kingdom gave Adam the right to name everything in the garden.
Regardless of whatever position God places you in and what commitment He designates in your care, He must test your obedience. He must be sure whether you are reliable, whether He can commit His task to you, and whether He can go to sleep with His two eyes closed. Obedience cannot be known without opposition; if there is no contrary force trying to pervert the instruction given to you to do otherwise, it cannot be said of you that you are obedient. But when you are challenged against the instruction given to you but stand by the instruction and refuse the opposition, then you are obedient.
God has been fellowshipping with Adam and his wife, He never had a reason to ask where he was, because he was always in his position. But one day, another king came with his manifesto, and it seemed lovely to the woman that she accepted it and sold the idea to her husband. Unknown to them, that was a test for them, which they failed, and God came asking, “where are thou?”
The devil was created for this purpose -God must test His own children to be sure you are reliable, to be sure you are loyal to His modus operandi. It is important you know this, so that when the tempter comes, you will not sell out your loyalty to the devil. When the devil came in the garden, he didn’t come with threatening, he wasn’t with gun to shut them down if they refuse him, he only sold to them his value system, and they chose it. That is the exact same thing the devil is doing to us, selling to us his manifesto, and it is our choice that we have made. Whether God or Satan, you will not be compelled to obedience, it is your choice!
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. James 1:13-14
The devil came in the garden and came with what he has to offer, he preached his own kingdom to them, did his campaign and went his way. However, the kingdom of the devil was established by “choice.” The kingdom was divided into two by choice. Let’s see it:
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3:1-7
They betrayed God’s trust and chose the kingdom of the devil by choice. God had to come down to drive them into the kingdom they chose. The devil will never tell you what is ahead of the glamour he is showing you; every action or choice has its consequence. Think about it. If it is the devil, every pleasure he is showing you has its danger. The commandments of God seem caging-in-nature because God will tell you the pros and cons of them, and because we are flesh, we are quickly enticed by what gives us freedom, whether it is in disguise or not. A wise man will think of the end of every action. But come to think of it, God is not a deceiver; everything that will happen to us in this journey has been foretold to us in His world, so we will know when scenes begin to unfold. He told us we would be hated, persecuted, and even killed. This tells us that those who are following God are not following Him because He deceived them into His kingdom. God will tell you the end of your choice, whether God’s or the Devil’s.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:7-13
Because of this untaught decision made, we all have been subjected to the kingdom of darkness, and that is where we are now—not just that, but also that we have our choices to make.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. Deuteronomy 30:15-18
There is a condition revealed to us about the journey in the wilderness that tells us that our baptism in the name of Jesus Christ is good, but that’s not all required; we are going to be tested. As long as the rapture has not taken place yet, you need to keep your loyalty to God’s kingdom.
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 1Cor. 10:1-6
The Kingdom of this world is a kingdom of beast, that is why everyone is behaving as such, living with no fear or regard for God. That is why God blocked The Way to the tree of life. Men, since the fall, have been searching out how to get back to the Tree of Life. This only signifies that we once had it. You can only search for what you have lost. Adam and Eve knew they had lost something because God did not take away their memory. Since then, every man has been searching and researching on how to get back to the beginning when everything was fine; they are looking for the way back, yet never have they come to the knowledge of the truth. They have invented science, religion, politics, and all they could think of to find peace, but none has given peace. Jesus Christ told us that HE IS THE WAY. He is the peace the world is looking for.
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14
For those who believe in Christ, there is hope for us. We may have been subjected into this world of vanity and kingdom of darkness, there is hope for those who, by choice, are choosing the way of Christ.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Romans 8.
Out of the research of men to make life better, they have come so far to establish democracy. But democracy will only end in handing over the world to man—the antichrist.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. Daniel 11
Soon, the Prince of Peace will establish His Kingdom on earth. This is the hope of the believers.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9:6-7
As we groan in this tabernacle, we have an assurance that we shall be delivered from this bondage of corruption into glorious liberty, for the earnest expectation of creation waits for the manifestation of the Son of God. Let us keep our hearts focused and our paths in the light of the gospel. Soon, the bridegroom will come, and His kingdom will be established on earth.