God’s Kingdom: His people

EDITOR: Someone reads Luke 16:16 ‘ The law and the Prophets were until John……’ and suggests that the days of the law and the Prophets were ended. They refer to the preaching of God’s Kingdom, alluding to it as some future event in the making. I am baffled at the misconception seeing that the following verse speaks of the impossibility of the law being changed. The heavens and earth did not pass away at the time of John.

In Daniel chapter 2 verses 44 and 45 , we hear the prophet explaining to King Nebuchadnezzar the time of the setting up of God’s Kingdom. (Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom was not of the world. John 18:36) ‘ In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Verse 45 lists from bottom upwards all the kingdoms the kingdom of God would dismantle.

God called Abram out of the Ur of the Chaldees, ancient Babylon, and asked him to follow Him to a land he promised to his seed. Paul explained what entails being the seed of Abraham,(as he was later named). Galatians 3:29 says ‘ if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.’ His family were to be the cornerstone of God’s church, Jesus who came from the tribe of Judah, his great grandson, was the chief cornerstone.

The grandson of Abraham, Jacob had an encounter with Jesus which led to his transformation, his name was changed to Israel. The angel of the Lord said to him ‘thy name shall be no more called Jacob, but Israel for as a Prince has thought power God and man and has prevailed.’

Israel means overcomer, all who are born again through the Spirit of God and walk in minds controlled by the Spirit are the true Israel of God; not just those of the circumcision, for as Paul puts it ‘ Circumcision is nothing, neither is uncircumcision; but the keeping of the commandments of God.’ (1 Corinthians 7:19)
John introduced the ceremony that truly symbolized circumcision, water baptism represented the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It symbolized the putting away of the filth of the flesh and putting on Christ. Even the circumcised had to enter the Kingdom through baptism.

In Revelation 2 a blessing follows every message to the seven churches, a blessing to those who overcome, the people called by His name, (2 Chronicles 7:14) the people of His New Covenant. (Jeremiah 31:31.)

The Kingdom was set up from the beginning for all people ( Isaiah 56:7) with one law for all (Numbers 15:29) (Exodus 12:49) (Leviticus 24:22).

Dennis Trant ( aka Scrubb)