Thy Nation Come
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17
The political-ness of this statement is often lost in modern translation. After-all, America is a Nation. Not a Kingdom.
· A Nation is a politically organized community of people.
· A Kingdom is a politically organized community of people headed by a King.
Since we do not live in a Kingdom under a King, we tend to let this highly political statement by Jesus go unnoticed and we are unchanged as a result. Jesus is offering to convert our loyalty and national identity to His. To accept His Kingship and rule. To become part of His Kingdom under His Kingship. Let me start off by saying this is the first message of Jesus to the world. And it has two parts.
1. The First and most important word of the Gospel “Repent”.
2. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. (Within your grasp)
Jesus tells us
“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” Matthew 17:20–21
You cannot see it. But, it is in your midst. Within your grasp. We can have it if we reach out for it. But, if we cannot see it how will we seek for it?
“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?…But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:31,33
Jesus mentions the Kingdom of Heaven 106 times and tells us to seek it FIRST. Even before food and clothing. Does that sound important? In this highly political climate today, we have Christians spending most of their time building the Nation of America. Seeking to make it great again. Some are seeking a revolt. But neither side is seeking “FIRST the Kingdom of Heaven”. Most do not even know what it is. It’s not in their common vernacular. So we walk right past it without giving it real thought. Can we do a little exercise with some verses? Something to bring out the original shocking political message we often miss. Let us see how political and life changing this message was 2000 years ago and should still be today.
What if you re-read all that Jesus said about Kingdom with a new perspective? Imagine if Jesus said this:
“Repent, for the NATION of heaven is at hand.”(Matt 3:2 ESV)
What if Jesus was preaching about a new NATION?
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the NATION and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. (Matt 4:23 ESV)
What if we were told to pray for it?
“Your NATION come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mat 6:10 ESV)
What if you were told this NATION was to be Top Priority?
But seek first the NATION of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Mat 6:33 ESV)
What if Jesus told you that this NATION was not just the after-life?
And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The NATION of heaven is at hand.’ (Matt 10:7 ESV)
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the NATION of God has come upon you. (Matt 12:28 ESV)
Is it on purpose that this NATION/Kingdom idea has been hidden from people?
And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the NATION of heaven, but to them it has not been given. (Matt 13:11 ESV)
When anyone hears the word of the NATION and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. (Matt 13:19 ESV)
Remember now….We are in a Roman Occupied Province. Here comes this Carpenter saying a new NATION is among us. How will we respond to it?
“The NATION of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Mat 13:44 ESV)
But, how can we obtain it? Can we gain access to this NATION like the Zealots believe? By sword?
From the days of John the Baptist until now the NATION of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. (Mat 11:12 ESV)
Or must we renew our worldly hearts and minds to gain access?
and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the NATION of heaven. (Mat 18:3 ESV)
If our hearts do not change, can we still keep it?
Therefore I tell you, the NATION of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. (Mat 21:43 ESV)
Are there dangers of missing the NATION of Heaven?
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the NATION of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. (Mat 23:13 ESV)
Is this even a BIG Deal?
And this gospel of the NATION will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Mat 24:14 ESV)
But, isn’t that sort of what we are doing when we vote for better leaders? Building the Kingdom on Earth?
Jesus answered, “My NATION is not of this world. If my NATION were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my NATION is not from the world.”(John 18:36 ESV)
Click HERE to read a larger list of Verses including NATION/Kingdom
Do these verses now get your attention?
Did you sit up in your chair reading it as I did? Did reading them with NATION instead of Kingdom make you uncomfortable? Good. Can you see how upsetting this might have been to hear with Caesar’s name posted on every gate? Roman soldiers walking by and this guy is talking about a new NATION? Today this message is just as politically charged as 2000 years ago. This Kingdom message is still being offered to all humans under the rule of Herod, Caesar, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, or Donald J Trump. “The NATION of Heaven is at hand.”
Have you ever considered that Jesus was offering an alternative Kingdom? With a new King? You may be loyal to your Supreme Leader/ King/President now. But, Jesus wants to be your King. Don’t expect Jesus to stand on a stage and beg for your votes. He simply invites you to be subject to His Kingship by His deeds. If you believe in Him, Follow Him. Its quite simple. If you don’t believe, then don’t follow.
Today we think of the “Kingdom of Heaven” as some metaphorical symbolism of a place in the after-life. Something over “Yonder”. Not something “at hand”. And until we die, we should make the nation of America our main focus. After-all, “Its what God would want”, right? This wrong thinking turns the message of Jesus into:
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is only after you die…But, focus on the nation of your birth until then.” (Patriotis 12:37)
What if we Christians (Christ Followers) decided to truly take Jesus up on His offer to be our King? What if we were to Seek His Kingdom FIRST? Trading our Earthly (Fleshly) minded national loyalty for a Heavenly One. What would we look like then? Would we be set apart? A “Holy Nation” within a worldly nation?
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a Holy Nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9
Allow this to sink in. The Kingdom of Heaven holds Your citizenship.
“But our Citizenship is in Heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” Phil 3:20
We are sojourners to this planet. To this America. The entire world is our mission field only. We have a mission and a purpose.
“Set your minds on things that are above, NOT on things that are on Earth.” Col 3:20
As subjects of the Nation of Heaven, we are on mission for our King. Do not be distracted by Earthly things. Earthly ideals. Civilian (Human) matters.
“No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.” 2 Timothy 2:4
IF you are a Soldier of Christ, get your focus back on the mission given to you by our commanding officer, Jesus.
Many today are teaching that we have a dual citizenship. And by this, they argue that we are to serve two kings. Both our Earthly king (Trump, Obama, Biden, etc) and also our Heavenly King Jesus. But I argue, this is biblically impossible.
Yes, we are to submit to authority (Romans 13). If asked to walk one mile, walk two. If asked to pay taxes, pay them. If honor is due, pay it. But, we can only truly Serve ONE King. Jesus told us this clearly.
Another fact lost in modern translation.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Matt 6:24
Do Not dismiss this verse because the context was money. Here, Jesus applies a Universal Truth to the subject of money. “No One can serve Two Masters.” A few verses back Jesus says: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”v21 So, verse 24 is still in line with this Universal truth. If your heart cannot be in two places. Neither can the one you serve be Two.
I want to make the case that this verse directly speaks to our service to a president. We cannot serve two Presidents. We will love one and hate the other.
The Greek word here translated into “Master” is κυρίοις. An English transliteration would be “Kurios” or “Kyrios” . κυρίοις is the plural form. This same word is translated 667 times in the King James version as “Lord”. So Jesus was specifically saying, “You cannot serve two Lords.” At the time Jesus spoke these words, “Lord” also referred to a slave’s owner, the Roman Emperor, or the Chief. Kurios means to be “Supreme in authority.” To a Slave, that is the owner.
To a subject of the Roman Empire, that is the Emperor. To a Soldier, that is his commander. To the subject of a kingdom, it is their King. But to a Christian, “This title is given to: God, the Messiah”. And you cannot serve Two.
We Americans are not in a “kingdom” today. We are in a democratic republic. We do not have a Chief by birth. Our king is elected. Our commander in Chief is placed into the position of supreme authority by the people.
Many today would have you believe that installing a proper Chief or President is the number one priority of a Christian. “Our duty!” as I have been told. However, I argue that it is not the task of a soldier of Christ at all. It is no coincidence that Jesus used a Universal statement to make His point about money. It is known that you cannot serve two masters. By default you will love one and hate the other. HATE is a strong word. You might be thinking that you balance out your love of God and also of Trump. But, Jesus says “ he will be devoted to the one and despise the other”.
It is not new how God feels on the subject of being our one King. Israel has been guilty of missing the point for a few millennia. God offered to be the King of Israel in 1 Samuel 8.
“Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” (1 Samuel 8:5–9)
God goes on to explain how any and all human kings will fail us by His design. Why? Humans desire to be like the world. To have a king/President “as all the other nations have.” (v5) We want a warring president. A strong leader to protect us and give us what our hearts desire. We want to overthrow tyrannical leaders. To remove rules and laws governing us that our own opinions judge as unacceptable. When we are unhappy, we look towards the next human candidate. “Surely he/she will be better!” We have never learned. “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” But, is this isolated? Can the Bible truly be teaching this idea of God being our King?
Psalm 118:8–9 tells us to trust in God and not in the next Presidential candidate. To trust in a “Prince” means to hope that the current king’s son(the Prince) will be a better leader than his father (the current King).
It does not matter who will be President in 2021. We are still guilty of the same idolatry as the Jews coming our of Egypt. So we will still reap the promised results of 1 Samuel 8.
Many today firmly believe that Trump has been “Anointed” by God, 1 Samuel 8 still reminds us that nothing is new.
“Now appoint a king to lead us…” v5
It may be true that Trump was appointed by God. But, for what purpose? Is it possible that God would have changed His mind about human kings? Did He give up desiring to be our King and welcome us into His Kingdom? Did He finally decide to remove the old promise to give us kings/leaders/presidents that do not truly love us as He could? Perhaps we finally prayed enough to God to “appoint a king to lead us” and He did. No. We are deceiving ourselves. We have what we asked for because our hearts do not desire what God does. After a thousand years of learning the hard way, Jesus came preaching to Israel once more. This time in Person.
“Repent, for the NATION of Heaven is within your grasp.”
In the days of Herod and Caesar himself, This message may not have been clear. But, it was certainly political. Jesus was offering another NATION and another KING. The same message is given to us today. NOTHING has changed. God is still God. And He is King to those who call Him Lord and mean it.
Conclusion
In the days of Samuel and the days of Jesus, people yearned for a human king to give them what their tainted hearts desired. They rejected God to Samuel. They rejected Jesus when they realized He was not going to invade Rome. Not the way they expected anyways. The people felt oppressed. Subdued and over taxed. Had Jesus took up arms of steel and asked them to join him, they would have followed him to death. But, when Jesus took up the the weapon of Love and asked them to turn their cheek until they died, they fled. That was no King they wanted. Someone willing to go to death without a fight!? What is this? Is He some sort of coward? Just before death, instead of crying in defeat…Jesus cries out to the Father to forgive them. Broken and bleeding. Instead of begging for His life, He begged for theirs. The curtain broke. The skies went dark. The veil torn. The author of Creation dispensed. Never before had such a Weapon been yielded before us. No weapon of stone or steel could demolish the strongholds destroyed on that day. Jesus (the Word) weaponized Love. The weapon no one expected. The weapon that created all life, destroyed death. Jesus the one True King asks us now to follow Him. To repent. To submit to His mission. To join His Kingdom. The NATION of Heaven. To join His ranks. To take this weapon of love into the world by sharing the Good News.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corin 10:4–5)
Soldiers, We cannot serve two Masters. We cannot serve two Kings.
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. (Matt 12:30)
There is a spiritual war waging around us. Not for land or the next Earthly government seat. It is a battle for men’s souls. One side wields a Weapon that can destroy strongholds and save souls. The other side wields the weapon of distraction. We already know Who wins. It is finished.
“Thy Kingdom come.”
Pick a side. This is not a negotiation— — — This is an invasion.
