Entering the Kingdom
Read: John 3:1-20
Key Verse: John 3:3 – except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
We don’t understand the concept of a kingdom because we live in a democracy and in a democracy, we vote for president and government officials but in a kingdom, you don’t vote for the royal family you must be born into the royal family. Jesus is not a president, he is not a prime minister. He is a king, in fact he is the King of Kings. The only way into the Kingdom of God is that you must be born into it.
This is what Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about in John 3. Nicodemus heard Jesus speaking about the kingdom and demonstrating the power of God and he could not understand why with all their religion, with all their studying of the law, with all their knowledge of scripture – he never saw the power of God like that. In response to his question, Jesus said except the man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God – in other words, you cannot experience, you cannot enter, you cannot relate, you can’t even understand the kingdom. Why – I Corinthians 2:14 – But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. When you are not born again, you can only rely on human logic and cannot understand the kingdom. This is why Jesus said in John 3:5 Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Being born-again makes you a citizen of the kingdom.
We have made the born-again experience the whole gospel and it is only meant to be the beginning step. Following me, through our acceptance of Jesus we can enter the door of the kingdom. Now we have to learn to live, think and act like we know who we really are – children of the king and citizens of His Kingdom.
Thought of the day:
Now that I am born-again, how can I experience and exercise my rights, my privileges, my benefits and my responsibilities as a citizen of the Kingdom of God?