Christ is King of a Spiritual Kingdom
Isaiah 9:7
“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
Jesus was standing before Pilate at His trial before His crucifixion. His accusers said He declared He was king of the Jews. Pilate asked if He was a king. Among other things Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
It is a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly one, which Israel was hoping for. His kingdom does not have borders. We find later His kingdom is the church of Christ! We belong to His kingdom by faith.
Colossians 1:13 “(The Father) has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Everyone who believes in Jesus, repents of their sin, confesses that Jesus will now be their Lord and Master commits to being a follower of Jesus becomes part of His kingdom. From Pentecost they declared their allegiance by being baptized. Christians spread out everywhere.
You can only be part of His kingdom if you want to be. Yes, the Spirit calls you to Him. The Spirit convicts; the Spirit cleanses. We are redeemed because of the crucifixion of Jesus for our sins. When we say yes to Jesus, He makes us citizens of the eternal kingdom. You can’t become a Christian because you’ve been born of Christian parents. You have to make your own personal choice of faith.
Jesus made the call voluntary to His disciples, but He also made it plain who was in charge. When Jesus came upon Zacchaeus, He did not ask him “Zacchaeus I’d like to make an appoint with you personally and could you have lunch with me. Can you take some time out of your busy schedule and discuss the kingdom of God? I mean if it is inconvenient we can make is later. How about a week from Thursday?”
Jesus as king said, “Come down, Zacchaeus. I’m going to your house today.” Zacchaeus needed to decide if Jesus was going to be King of his life or not. Jesus was going to increase His kingdom by followers and disciples who take Him seriously and respond to His call - “Leave what you are doing and follow me.”.
He told this to the rich young ruler and that young wealthy man did not do what Jesus told him for he had much too many riches. The riches were more important than the kingdom of Christ. We must meet Jesus on His terms not on ours. If He is King of your life, then you obey Him. If you do not obey Him then He is not King.
The good news is that the kingdom will never end. It says that the gates of Hell cannot prevail against the church of Christ. There is nothing that can stop it. It will also endure forever because it is a spiritual kingdom. It lasts forever and ever.
