Post by Once4all on Sept 6, 2011 23:28:33 GMT -5
The kingdom of God is defined in Romans as "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." This is how we can be in the kingdom of God now, in this life, on this earth, even before going to eternal glory.
The "Lord's Prayer" that Jesus instructed his disciples to pray is a prayer to God for sanctification. We pray for His kingdom to come within us; that is, for our righteousness, peace, and joy. ("The kingdom of God is within you" Luke 17:21).
"Your kingdom come, your will be done." What is the will of God for us? "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Okay, now I'm going to transition into the Lord's Supper.
First notice above that without sanctification, we will not see the Lord. A good reason to pray for it! Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, told his disciples that he would not drink the fruit of the vine (representing the blood of his covenant) again until he drinks it "new" with them "in my Father's kingdom."
If we think of the kingdom as a manifestation of righteousness within us (our sanctification), when that kingdom comes, we are new creatures, new wineskins.
What I'm getting at here is that when we are sanctified, when the kingdom of God has come within us, and we partake of the Lord's Supper, THAT is when Jesus drinks it with us in the kingdom of God.
This is hard to articulate and I know I did not do a very good job, especially in the second part about the Lord's Supper. I need to meditate on it some more, I think.
Romans 14:17-19 NASB
(17) for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
(18) For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
(19) So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
The "Lord's Prayer" that Jesus instructed his disciples to pray is a prayer to God for sanctification. We pray for His kingdom to come within us; that is, for our righteousness, peace, and joy. ("The kingdom of God is within you" Luke 17:21).
"Your kingdom come, your will be done." What is the will of God for us? "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Matthew 6:8-15 NASB
(8) "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
(9) "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
(10) 'Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
(11) 'Give us this day our daily bread.
(12) 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
(13) 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'
(14) "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
(15) "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Matthew 6:31-33 NASB
(31) "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'
(32) "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
(33) "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
1 Thessalonians 4:3a NASB
(3) For this is the will of God, your sanctification;
Okay, now I'm going to transition into the Lord's Supper.
Hebrews 12:14 NASB
(14) Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
First notice above that without sanctification, we will not see the Lord. A good reason to pray for it! Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, told his disciples that he would not drink the fruit of the vine (representing the blood of his covenant) again until he drinks it "new" with them "in my Father's kingdom."
Matthew 26:29 NASB
(29) "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
If we think of the kingdom as a manifestation of righteousness within us (our sanctification), when that kingdom comes, we are new creatures, new wineskins.
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
(17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Mark 2:22 NASB
(22) "No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins."
What I'm getting at here is that when we are sanctified, when the kingdom of God has come within us, and we partake of the Lord's Supper, THAT is when Jesus drinks it with us in the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 11:26-29 NASB
(26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
(27) Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
(28) But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
(29) For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
This is hard to articulate and I know I did not do a very good job, especially in the second part about the Lord's Supper. I need to meditate on it some more, I think.