February 25, 2003

Last day in Jaipur

Last day in Jaipur
Our last day in Jaipur has been very busy. We have been able to buy only a few things, but we will bring home a carpet, masala tea, some table cloths, and some small gifts for our grandchildren.
We have been together with precious people all day and experienced the presence of God among the covenant community. It is very clear that God has been with us and used us as a blessing to the people as we ourselves have been blessed. Solveig has been sharing some insight on raising children. She has been very practical and has given excellent examples from our own experience in raising six children! So many people were helped by what she shared.
When we left we had a moving farewell with lots of hugging and encouraging words.
We look forward coming back to spend more time with these precious people of God.

February 24, 2003

Healing of relationships

Healing of relationships
When we met the Orissa people the other day we realized that something sad had happened. Their relationship was no longer a happy one. Instead of unity we found discord. That caused us to pray and seek the Lord to be able to bring a resolve to the problem and bring restoration of harmony among the brothers. Today we have had several meetings with them and brought everything out into the light. By the grace of God we were able to establish some common ground for a start and to proceed from there. Zephry shared his insight and through his wisdom the brothers were able to solve their differences. The Spirit of God cam among us bringing healing of relationships through forgiveness and humbleness.
I am so happy that the enemy did not succeed in separating brothers but that the Spirit of God succeeded in bringing unity and harmony. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and planning for the future as relationships were restored. God is so good!

February 23, 2003

A sunday of healing

A sunday of healing
Today we have been with the covenant community and seen the grace of God! The Rotary Club was packed with people who had EXPERIENCED the transforming power of God. I was so excited when people eagerly told their stories of how God had been helping them in their everyday life.
At the end of the gathering we prayed for a lot of people and the power of God was present to heal. Headache left, stomach pain left, back pain left. legs that could not move started to move. One man that was laying down because he was so ill, was instantly healed. He could raise up and walk!
This has really been a Sunday of many healings!

February 21, 2003

Arriving in India

Arriving in India
Yesterday morning we arrived in Jaipur. Our friend Zephry waited for us at the airport giving us a heartwarm welcome. It was so good to see him and his family as we went to be with them after some sleep in the morning.
Brenda and Zephry are great friends. They are precious people, totally committed to the Lord. They have such a lovely family. We are always refreshed being with them. Yesterday we once again had a very delicious and tasteful meal with them.
Today we have been with some of the leaders in the covenant community in Jaipur. Solveig and were both blessed as they were sharing some of the insights they had gain through some of our previous visits. I am so excited to be with some many kind and zealous people and to be able to interact with them. My life is being enriched by being with such people.
This evening Zephry took us to a beautiful tea parlour in Jaipur called Wagh Bakri. We really enjoyed the fresh tea they served and I bought one kilo of tea to take home. On a beautiful picture on the wall I discovered this inscription: "If a man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty!" I cuold fully agree with him - but to some degree only! Tea is a gift of God to mankind and when one has learnt to enjoy it as such it brings freshness and understanding of beauty. However knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life, enable us to appreciate and understand both truth an beauty even if we have no tea in our stomach. But off cause with tea in you everything in life tastes better!

February 18, 2003

Change of template
I am trying to do some changes to my blog enabling people to make contact. Hopefully it will work out!
We are going to India again!
Tomorrow we are going back to India, our second homeland! We love the great nation of India! The many different people-groups are special. The Indian people are great people and we enjoy being with our friends.
Hopefully I will be able to blog while we are traveling to the different places and give some insights of the beautiful people I am sure we will meet!
The judicial system in Israel
Laws are necessary in any kingdom; only the Kingdom of God has righteous laws justly administered. God made us to live in societies�family, local communities, community of God�s people, body politic, the communities of business and culture�and the Ten Commandments show God�s social ideal, as well as his purpose for individuals. The furthering of good order in society is the first use of the law.
According to Jesus Christ, the judicial system that God gave to the nation of Israel rested on the double love commandment:
Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' [Deut. 6: 5] This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' [Lev. 19: 18] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)
The Ten Commandments showed God�s ideal for the society: A God-fearing community, marked by common worship (1, 2, 3) and an accepted rhythm of work and rest (4), plus an unqualified respect for marriage and the family (5, 7), for property and owner�s rights (8, 10), for human life and each man�s claim on our protection (6), and for truth and honesty in all relationships (9).
We have already seen that righteousness and justice are the foundation of the rule of God; love and faithfulness go before him and are expressed in everything he does (Psalm 89:14). The claims of love, truth, righteousness and justice are absolute. They are not subject to adjustment for the sake of political expediency or personal preferences.
In the judicial system God gave the nation of Israel there was equality to the law. Everyone was subject to the same laws, all of which existed for the good of the entire community. The Law of God did not exist simply as a boundary fence to define unacceptable behaviour; it was to provoke right attitudes and provide clear paths for all to walk in. In fact we discover that the Law of God deals with the inner motivation of the heart as well as the external actions of the body.
The practical expression of love, truth, righteousness and justice in the nation of Israel was meant to be a powerful demonstration of the merciful rule of God to the surrounding nations. The heathen nations were governed largely by despotic rulers whose judicial system left much room for whim, bribery and self-interest. The priority of the Law: the God of love and righteousness first, others next and self last, was a bright light in the world of selfishness showing forth the excellencies of the government of God when it was practised by the covenant community of the people of God.

February 17, 2003

The presence of God
The commandments of God show us that God is interested in our entire life. No area of life is of no concern to God as he cares for our total wellbeing. Through his law God is promising his presence and help to his covenant community. He has made himself available us through prayer. In the Bible we find many promises linked to living according to the Law of God, but it may all be summed up in the blessed presence of God among his people.
The presence of God will be manifest in many blessed ways among the people who obey the covenantal laws of God. We will just quote a few places from the Bible to show how the presence of God is seen among his people:
If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land - your grain, new wine and oil - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you. (Deuteronomy 7:12-15)
All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity - in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground - in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. (Deuteronomy 28:2-13)

February 14, 2003

Wisdom
Wisdom is in the Bible always linked with wise living. To have wisdom is the same as having a skill; to be wise is to be skilful at living well. In the Biblical understanding skill and wisdom are two sides of the same coin. We could say that in the Bible wisdom is the same as the skill of living according to God�s intention. The benefit of wisdom is that it does everything right, it is skilful in mastering the diverse situations of life to bring blessing to everyone.
God is telling Moses that when the covenant community of the people of God lived according to the Word of God they would be viewed as a wise community and a people of understanding of righteous living. Through applying the Law of God in everyday living the nation of Israel was to demonstrate the wisdom of God. They had to put the ideals, concepts, philosophy, ethics and the politics of the Kingdom of God to work by carefully observing the commandments of God. Living according to the Word of God will always bring righteousness, peace and joy, that is harmony, to a society and causing other peoples to acknowledge the wisdom of that kind of living and help them to believe the theology behind it and put their trust in God.

February 13, 2003

A kingdom of priests
Jacob brought all his twelve sons to Egypt because of a great famine. God had already arranged for his son Joseph to arrive beforehand and to be next to the king of Egypt in authority. The descendants of Jacob, the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them (Exodus 1:7). The new king, who did not know Joseph, was frightened by the growth of the Israelites. Therefore he made them slaves and oppressed them with forced labour. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. This oppression continued for a long period and the Israelites cried out to God:
The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. (Exodus 2:23-25)
As the time drew near for God to fulfil his promise to Abraham, Moses was born. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defence and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, `Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?' "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, `Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: `I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look (Acts 7:20-32), but the Lord spoke to him and commissioned him to go to the Israelites and bring them out of Egypt:
"Therefore, say to the Israelites: `I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'" (Exodus 6:6-8)
To make a long story short, Moses managed to bring the entire people of Israel out of the slavery of Egypt and eventually to possess the promised land. At the Mount Sinai God made a covenant with the people of Israel. At Mount Sinai Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said:
"This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: `You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." (Exodus 19:3-6)
So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and eventually set before all the people all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD. Then God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant which expounded the ten initial commandments (Exodus 24:3-8).
By establishing this covenant with the people of Israel God is making them a kingdom of priest to prophetically foreshadow the coming Kingdom of God. Their call was to live according to the will of God, expressed through the Law of God, thus being a people ruled by God and displaying the righteousness and peace of God to all the surrounding nations. As a sample of the Kingdom of God the nation of Israel was to draw all nations to submit to the rule of God through be a blessing to all the families of the earth.
God identified three things that would characterise the nation of Israel as a sample of the Kingdom of God: Wisdom, the presence of God, the judicial system. Through these three characteristics of the covenant community of the Kingdom of God, the nation of Israel was to influence the world and bring the blessing of God to all the other nations:
See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:5-8)

February 11, 2003

I am writing a book
I guess that everyone has already figured out that I am writing a book on the Kingdom of God. That is why I have included parts of it here at my blog.
For the time being writing is my first priority even though it is difficult to maintain that for the last week as I have had to attend several conferences. At the moment I am with the pastors in the Pastoral Network in Bergen at a gathering for two days at Gullbotn. We are having a time of deep honesty and of real sharing of hearts as we are praying for one another and for the welfare of the city in which we live.
Yesterday we heard of some exciting developments and new initiatives among the churches. New churches are being planted and new people are being reached with the gospel!

February 10, 2003

The Kingdom of God was foreshadowed in the kingdom of Israel
The glorious God of Love revealed himself to Abraham, the forefather of the people of Israel, while he was still living in Mesopotamia (now part of Iraq). God called him to leave his country and his people to go to a distant land that God would show him.
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3)
By faith Abraham obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. When he arrived to the promised land he lived like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents. He refused to settle in any of the cities of the land for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By admitting he was an alien and stranger in the land of Canaan Abraham showed that he was looking for country of his own; that he was longing for a better country � a heavenly one; even though God promised him the land:
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates - the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." (Genesis 15:18-21)
From the covenantal promises God made with Abraham we come to understand that it was through his seed that God wanted to bless every family on earth. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob became the founding fathers of the nation of the twelve tribes of Israel. God repeated the same covenantal promises given to Abraham to his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Before Jacob died he gave this prophecy concerning the coming king:
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler�s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his. (Gen 49:10)
From this prophecy we understand that God worked towards a time in history when his plan would take a big step forward, people would be obedient to his rule and live in the blessing of salvation.

February 08, 2003

Church-planter retreat
This weekend I find myself at a retreat for church-planters and the team around them. It is the Norwegian DAWN committee that is arranging the retreat at Horve Leir near Stavanger.
The first evening was a very good start of the weekend. Three church-planters gave their reports of what they were doing, how it was going, they gave very honest reports of challenges, disappointments as well as victories. It was refreshing to listen to them as they told their story of God workings in them and through them. I was filled with thankfulness to God for this new thing taking place in our nation. Just a few years ago staring new churches was an anathema in most Christian circles in Norway. Today there is a total change. About 70 people attend this church-planter retreat. Ten years back it would have been unbelievable!
Yet what we are seeing today is only a small but good beginning. This nation is going to be radically changed. New and relevant churches, that is covenant communities of the Kingdom of God will be established in every suburb, in every village, in every town and city, at all universities and colleges! The Lord is pouring out his Spirit in unprecedented ways in these days! The harvest is plentiful and ready for harvesting in our nation.
Lord, send plenty of harvesters to our nation!

February 07, 2003

The reign of sin and death
Mankind was given a new start outside the Garden of Eden to fulfil the mandate to rule and have dominion on behalf of God and bring the entire world into subjection to the will of God. However it didn�t last long to realise that mankind seem to be unable to bring in the kingdom of God to this earth.
The enmity that God told would take place between the offspring of the enemy of God and the offspring of the woman came to the surface very soon in the very first family! Their elder son became a covenant breaker, a murder, as he refused to be his brother�s keeper but was overcome by the sin of jealousy.
Throughout the Bible we find this struggle between the good and the bad people described. The Bible gives a very realistic picture of mankind and how all people are influenced by the sin of our forefathers. At the time of Noah the wickedness had become so great that it inflicted a terrific pain in the heart of God. The human community had become totally corrupt by sin:
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6:5-6)
But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD. He was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Therefore God decided to save the world from further corruption by wiping out all the evil people through a flood and bring the earth to a new start again through the righteous Noah and his family.
God commanded Noah to make an ark for the survival of him and his family together with two of all living creatures, male and female. He gave Noah exact instruction of how the ark was to be built and Noah did everything just as God commanded him. When the ark was finished Noah and his family and all the animals and birds that God wanted to save entered the ark. Then God let the flood come on the earth. The waters covered the earth for about a year and every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out (Genesis 7-8).
When the floodwaters had dried up on the earth God told Noah to get out of the ark and to bring out all the living creatures that was with him. Then God made an everlasting covenant with Noah, his descendants and with every living creature that never again would all life be cut off like this and that never again there would be a flood to destroy the earth. God put the rainbow as a sign of his covenant in the clouds.
The flood was the righteous judgement of a holy God of Love on the wickedness that was about to destroy mankind. In this way the Creator and Sovereign God exercised his right to rule and bring judgement into his world. The patience and goodness of God hold back the judgement for a long time, but eventually the old wicked world was destroyed and a new earth came forth through the water of judgement as the word of God says:
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7)
Noah and his family had a fresh start on a cleansed earth under the sign of an everlasting covenant. However it didn�t go long before sin started to manifest itself again. The apostle Paul is explaining that mankind had become the subject to sin and death because of Adam�s sin and rebellion:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned - for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:12-19)
The entire Bible story is the story of the reign of sin and death over mankind until the arrival of Christ who brought in the Kingdom of God that people could be saved from the dominion of darkness � sin and death. We will look more into this wonderful truth in following chapters.
Even in the midst of the reign of sin and death the Bible tells us of many people who submitted to God and his good guidance and acknowledged his Lordship. These people served God�s plan of salvation. God made his plan known to certain individuals, a family, a nation, a people. We find that Abraham and his descendants are central in God�s plan of salvation.

February 06, 2003

God the good and almighty Ruler
When God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth, the climax of his creational work is found in what the triune God said concerning the people he was about to create:
Then God said, �Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.� So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, �Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.� (Gen. 1:26-28)
Mankind was created in the image of the triune God to rule and reign on God�s behalf. God has the right to rule as He is the Almighty Creator and it is He who holds the whole creation in existence. God can do everything He wishes to do, He has no restrictions. He knows everything and is able to do everything.
In the beginning, before anything existed, the triune God was the sovereign Lord who decided to create the world. He included humanity in his plan. Man was the crowning piece of God�s creation, created in the image of God to be a picture of Him and to represent his rule - God�s kingdom on earth.
God created the most beautiful surroundings for man in the Garden of Eden and placed him to guard it and subdue it, to make it a garden for the Lord. Man had a wonderful fellowship with God, the Creator. They lived in peace and harmony together with open lines of communication. God and man lived in a glorious fellowship and God revealed his plans to man and established a covenant with Adam, the first man.
The Almighty Creator and King gave the people created in his own relational image the chance to choose good or evil represented by the Tree of Knowledge. Mankind was made responsible for the choices they made and the consequences of these choices. From the very first records in the Bible we discover that even if God is almighty he never forces his good will on people against their wishes. God�s desire is that people, of their own free will, shall love and serve him and live securely under his dominion and protection.
Unfortunately the first man chose to be disobedient and rebel against God and his plan. He sinned. Because the wages of sin is death, man died spiritually and was separated from God, and at that moment no longer represented the rule of God. The Devil, God�s opponent and the originator of sin, had managed to seduce man and apparently foil God�s plan.
But even so God had full control over the situation which was not a surprise to him. Because God is a holy God, a community of love, he used what had happened to begin to make known his love to mankind in a new way through the plan of salvation for mankind in his kingdom. In the fullness of time the woman would play a deciding role in bringing salvation to mankind by giving birth to a Saviour who would free humanity from the tyranny of sin.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. (Gen. 3:15)
God shows, in this way, that he always overrules the attacks of the evil one and allows good to come out of every situation. Because God is good he always rules in such a way that is for the good of humanity. God loves us and will always rescue us when evil threatens to destroy us.
Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. (Gen 50:20)
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28)
Even though God had to throw Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, it was done to hinder that their sinful state became permanent. When they found themselves overwhelmed by guilt and shame, and were unable to cover their nakedness, God provided a covering for them. Through the promise of the offspring of the woman to overcome the enemy God showed himself as a God of forgiveness and restoration. God did not leave mankind to on their own but was with them in securing that the Seed of the woman would overcome and bring in his kingdom.

February 04, 2003

Biblical understanding:
A kingdom is the authority to rule, the sovereignty of the king
There may be a realm over which a king exercises his authority; and there may be the people who belong to that realm and over whom authority is exercised; but these are secondary and derived meanings.
When the word of God in the Bible refers to God�s Kingdom, it always refers to His reign, His rule, His sovereignty
God�s Kingdom is His universal rule, His sovereignty over all the world.
The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Ps.103:19
God�s Kingdom is His power
They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, Ps. 145:11
God�s rule is everlasting
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. Ps. 145:13
The realm of the kingdom is heaven and earth, but there is reference to the permanence of this realm - God�s rule - dominion is everlasting
Synonyms for kingdom: power, might, glory - all expressions of authority
You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion (kingdom) and power and might and glory; Dan.2:37
Kingdom is rule
These terms identify the kingdom as the �rule� which God has given the king
God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.� Dan.5,26,31
The Babylonian realm and the people was nor brought to and end; they were only transferred to another ruler.
The rule of the king was terminated and given to another King - Darius
Kingdom is authority, the right to rule
And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. (Luke 19:11-12 KJV)
While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. (Luke 19:11-12 NIV)
When we compare these verses in the two different versions we realise that kingdom (Greek: basileia) is authority, the right to rule. To receive a kingdom is being appointed king. He did not go away to get a realm, an area over which to rule. The territory was there, the people was there, but he had no authority or right to rule, that is what he went away to get. He went away to receive kingly power or authority by being appointed king.

February 03, 2003

The days are full of excitements!
I just arrived back from England where I attended the funeral of the father of my son in law. It went very well. Daljinder Padam, my son in law, spoke very well at the crematorium. The hand of God is upon him and he is taking responsibility for his entire family as he is now made the head of his clan. Even in the midst of the sadness of loosing a dear father it has been exciting to be with Daljinder, Hanna, Taj Kristian and Jai Ruben. Solveig stays with them a few more days.
Today I will be attending a conference on city-reaching and transformation of society. Tonight I will meet several brothers coming together for a few days of prayer and seeking the Lord.
We are living in exciting days! Everyday God is good! Everyday he is doing great things! Everyday is full of excitement when we serve him!
What is a kingdom?
The two following modern answers are inadequate:
� A kingdom is primarily a realm over which a king exercises his authority
� A kingdom is the people belonging to a given realm
A dictionary will say that a kingdom is a state or monarchy the head of which is a king; dominion; realm. Therefore the Kingdom of Norway may be thought of as the citizens over whom King Harald exercises his rule, the subjects of his kingdom or that his kingdom is the geographical area over which he has dominion.
These two ideas will lead us astray from a correct understanding of Biblical truth � especially since our modern king has almost no power.
Some define the Kingdom of God as �The spiritual realm having God as its head�. This definition cannot do justice the fact that the triune God is a community of love, - a kingdom of love in himself, or to the verses which speak of the coming of the Kingdom in outward glory and power when Christ returns. On the other hand, if we begin with the idea of a future realm inaugurated by the return of Christ, we cannot do justice to the sayings about the Kingdom as a present reality.
If we begin with the idea of the Kingdom as people, we will identify the Kingdom with the Church, which really has no scriptural basis.