Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Book Installment)
Living in the Kingdom of God
Chapter 10 – Knowing the King
The Old Testament prophets not only foresaw the coming of the kingdom of God and its King, they also foresaw something very distinctive about the King and His subjects.
The kingdom of God is distinct from all other kingdoms not only in that its King is God, but also in that every single one of His subjects can have a personal relationship with that King.
Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
Jeremiah 31:32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jeremiah 31:34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
In every other kingdom, there is competition among the subjects for face time with the king. The kingdom of God not only allows every royal subject to know the King personally, it encourages everyone to make knowing Him their highest priority.
Jeremiah 9:23 Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;
Jeremiah 9:24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.
During His earthly life, Jesus spoke of Himself and His role in precisely this personal way.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
In ancient times, kings and their subjects were portrayed figuratively as shepherd and sheep. Thus, “the Lord is my shepherd” equates to “the Lord is my King.”
These and similar biblical passages help us realize the intimacy of relationship that Adam and Eve lost when they sinned in the garden of Eden. They were just getting to know God when they became estranged.
All the years between Eden and Jesus’ Second Coming gave opportunity for the words and deeds of our Creator-Redeemer to be documented. We thus “have the receipts” of His love for us.
John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
He died an undeserved and gruesome death to achieve a personal relationship with each of us.
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