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Matthew 9:13 NKJ
But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."It is easy to believe that Jesus spent much time in thought about how to start His mission, perhaps for years. Questions perhaps came to mind, "What should I say" or perhaps, "How do I let people know who I am". Jesus was a scholar of the Torah*, its prophecy, and what it taught. If there is one thing He knew, it was that mankind is sinful. He came to understand that mankind is in a very real personal battle of choosing between God and evil.
Over and over in the OT, even though the Hebrews lived as God’s chosen people, they turned their backs on God, lived in sin, got in trouble, and then turned back to God. Then they repented, were forgiven of their sinful ways, and lived in God’s glory.... for a while. That process continues for us today as we are most often not living in God’s will.
When Jesus was lead by the Holy Spirit into the desert for His time of fasting, discernment, and prayer on how to conduct His ministry, He had many temptations on how to start and conduct His ministry. He fended off the evil of the temptations with Torah scripture. As a great leader going into battle, Jesus was prepared.
As a great leader, as the Greatest Leader who ever walked this earth, as He was perfect in the knowledge that people have come to know through the ages. He lived the prophecy (Matthew 4:13-17) and in verse 17, he began as John preached: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’." His earthly ministry began, ended, continues today and hinges on one word to us, “Repent”.
It is clear from the Old Testament, and Jesus' statement on the cross that God’s merciful desire is to forgive us. But, it is not enough just to say we are sorry. We must truly, in humility, repent and change our ways. If we do not change our behaviors, it does not do much good to say we are sorry. In true repentance comes a change in behavior to seek His kingdom and achieve a Righteous relationship with God. Then, as Jesus said, we can be in the Kingdom of God. In our repentance, He promises that the Kingdom of God is at hand, near by, and around us.
And Where is the Kingdom?
Our Lord Jesus Christ clearly and directly tell us where the Kingdom of God is! From the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew relates in the Lords prayer this petition:
“Your kingdom come.
Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven."
This line is written in a style known as a literary parallelism and this writing style is used often in the Bible. In this instance, the second line helps amplifies and redefines the first!
This then is what that line means:
Where ever the Will of God is being done,
There too is the God’s Kingdom!
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
Matthew 4:17
Live Seeking,
Studying His Word,
Praying, and
Living in the Will of God,
and you are in His Kingdom.
Thanks be to God.
God is a God of Change! God’s Intentional Will is for us to Repent! Be forgiven and live in the Kingdom!
Pray for your Change. Continually pray daily for forgiveness of your sins and then continually experience God’s Kingdom He has for you, Here and NOW!
To God be the Glory.
Thanks Be to God
© lonnie coggins
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© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.com
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lonnie
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REFERENCES
* Torah - Jesus' Bible, namely the first five books of what we call the Old Testament. There was also Wisdom literature that He would probably read. Jesus quotes directly from the Torah in his desert experience to cast off the devil.
intro:
Jesus never made understanding Him difficult. In this writing, one will understand where we find the Kingdom of God. Jesus in the writing of Matthew, from an all too familiar passage, Jesus makes it clear about where we find the Kingdom.
http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2012/10/where-is-kingdom.html
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