"Greater Things Than These"

[dave c]

HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #132q, Re-Written 03OCT09

The Disciples’ Prayer—Part Seventeen: “Greater Things Than These”

by rev dave c

Mt 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "`Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one' (NIV).

In John 3:5&6 Jesus says to us, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit (NIV). Beginning with verse 42 of First Corinthians 15, Paul expands for us this teaching from Christ, ...So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (NIV).

Now, as it was 2,000 years ago, the children of God look with anticipation for the coming of the Kingdom with some confusion as to the nature of how it is to be manifested here on Earth. Just like today, many of the people of God in the First Century sought material well being as proof positive that the Kingdom had come/it was in the process of coming. Luke 19:11 tells us, ...[the Jews of Christ’s era] thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once (NIV). Earlier in Luke 17:20&21, we are told, Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation [meaning, it is not visible], 21 nor will people say, `Here it is,' or `There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you [better translated as, ‘the Kingdom of God is among you/in your midst’] (NIV)." In fact Jesus proclaimed in John 3:3,"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (NIV). The Kingdom is visible only to those who have gained the spiritual eyes to discern it.

Paul exhorts us in Romans 14:17&18, ...For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men (NIV). In these verses he is telling us that it is futile to seek the Kingdom in the physical aspects of this existence, as exemplified by the need for food and drink. The Kingdom resides in the spiritual aspects of a righteous life born of obedience to the laws of God and man; the peace that is beyond understanding because Jesus is our almighty Creator and faithful Sustainer; and the joy that is available only through the knowledge of the hope of resurrection that has been sealed for us by the Holy Spirit. Truly, anyone whose life exhibits this righteousness, peace, and joy is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Similarly, Paul informs us in First Corinthians 4:20, the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (NIV). Although the Apostle to the Gentiles is specifically referring to those in Corinth who arrogantly challenged his authority, in a broader sense he is espousing the futility of looking for the Kingdom within the realm of our rational natures. The word translated talk in the NIV is logos (Strong’s #3056), which means our mental faculties, as well as an expressed thought, or written word. Power is from the Greek dunamis (Strong's #1411, from #1410), and means force (literally or figuratively); specially, miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself). The Kingdom of God is not a matter of our just thinking, or reading, or listening, or writing, or speaking about it. The Kingdom of God is evidenced by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. Friends, we should be expecting and witnessing miraculous events in our own lives, and in the lives of those who surround us.

Please do not misunderstand me. We know that, as God’s children, our Heavenly Father wants all good things for us...materially, rationally, and spiritually. His chief concerns, however, are for those things that will not burn up in the refining fires yet to come; the things that are eternal. Listen to the words of Jesus from John 14:11-14, Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (NIV). ...Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these. “Greater things than these” requires righteousness, peace, joy, and miraculous power. Amen.