Kingdom of God

I thought I'd just pass along a couple points that W.E. Vine wrote in the forward of Fred Cundick's book on "The Kingdom in the Gospel of Matthew" concerning the Kingdom of God:

- The Kingdom of God, firstly, is the sphere of God's rule (Psa 22:28, 145:13; Luke 1:52)

- The Kingdom of God, secondly, is the sphere, at any given time, where His rule is acknowledged.

- The Kingdom of God is viewed in two ways. First at the present where enterance requires suffering for those who enter (2 Thes 1:5), and second in the future where it is associated with glory and reward (Matt 13:43, 25:34)

- The Kingdom of God is entered by new birth (John 3:3)

- The nature resulting from new birth is made evident by obedience and therefore it is said that only such as do the will of God shall enter His kingdom (Matthew 7:21).

- As to the future, the Lord taught His disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come." (Matthew 6:10). The verb there is in the aorist tense, where the author may be depicting an event that will not be a process but which will bring a catastrophe in the world without movement of time, followed by the establishment of righteousness and peace. Thus the character of the individual in the Kingdom of God is demonstrated by these two things, "righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17).

Cundick, Fredrick. The Kingdom in the Gospel of Matthew. John Ritchie Limited: Kilmarnock.

Beholding of Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2

Second blog post of the year. I was just reminded that I never seem to blog anymore. I thought I would share a connection given by the Spirit of God for your enjoyment and for His glory.

I am planning on speaking on Psalm 8 tomorrow at our local church. A thought just came to me connecting Hebrews 2:9 and Psalm 8:3. Psalm 8 is quoted over in Hebrews 2 where the writer is explaining the place that God gave man and Adam, and how our Lord Jesus took up that position that was abandoned by man when sin entered into the world.

The simple connection is in the "beholding." Psalm 8:3 it is David looking up into the starry sky, and beholding what God has revealed to Him of His glory. David is only seeing a glimpse of God's glory, because verse 1 has said that God "set His glory ABOVE the heavens." What is the writer of the Hebrews able to behold? "But we see JESUS..." We are able to get more than a glimpse. As we enjoy the person of Christ who has been revealed to us. As we meditate on the sweetness of His person, the impeccability of His sacrifice, and the splendour of His glorification.

John said that He beheld His glory (John 1:14). It is as if the glory that He set above the heavens came down, and thus in response to the fall of Adam and what God intended man to be we are able to see not only the perfect man but also the glory of God revealed... "But we see Jesus."