WE ARE THE KINGDOM OF GOD (REALITIES OF THE NEW CREATION LIFE UNVEILED)

In this exciting post, we are about to embark on a most unusual journey to unveil more realities of New Creation life. This truth may jag you up a bit, so brace yourself up for one of the craziest anti-religious expositions as we head into the territory where Divine Grace is the glee, as we uncover a subject that has hardly been majored on, which religion would never want you to venture into – a truth that is the reality of every Believer in Christ, of which we boldly declare: “We are the Kingdom of GOD!”

In Colossians 1: 13 Paul had shared a truth I have mused over for so long. He says;

Colossians 1: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Like so many I only understood this in a one-directional way. I thought the apostle was only talking about the fact that we Believers have been moved or transferred, in terms of a change of location, into the Kingdom of GOD, which is one of the meanings of the word translated. But as I studied and prayed further into this, I began to see more into the word translation, which Paul is talking about, than most Believers have realized. Finally, the veil was removed and I understood clearly what the apostle meant, which is what I am sharing here.

From my previous post on the Realities of the Kingdom of GOD, we had to learn that the Kingdom of GOD isn’t a place, but a condition or state of being or existence. Now we are going further than our previous post.

So, here we go!

THE KINGDOM OF HIS DEAR SON

The term Kingdom of His dear Son (Colossians 1: 14) is another term referring to the Kingdom of GOD. Hence, Paul tells us that we’ve been TRANSLATED into the Kingdom of the Father’s Son in love, i.e., into the Kingdom of GOD.

What this implies isn’t just that we’ve been transferred into the Kingdom of GOD in the sense of immigrants relocated to another country. The word 'translated' carries with it a far deeper meaning. It also points to the idea that we’ve been supernaturally changed into the Kingdom of GOD.

To clarify this, the Complete Word Study Dictionary of The New Testament by Spiros Zodhiates, tells us that the Greek word methistemi which has been rendered as 'translated' doesn’t just imply a change of place or location. Although in some other places in the New Testament, this is the way it has been rightly rendered to indicate the idea of change of location. For instance, it is rendered as 'remove' in its usual or ordinary meaning, in the following passage;

1 Corinthians 13: 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could REMOVE mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

It is also rendered as transfer, to transport, in its ordinary sense. But then it is also rendered as change, denoting not just a location change, but also a change in state or form.

Biblical Greek scholars have made it clear that the word methistemi as understood is a compound word derived from two other root Greek words; meta, which denotes a change of place or condition. And the second root word is histemi, meaning a change from one thing to another, movement from one place to another.

It is therefore clear what Paul is saying by the use of the word “translated” (methistemi) in Colossians 1: 13. He’s not necessarily saying that Jesus moved us into the Kingdom of GOD. This can’t be what he means because Jesus already made it clear that the Kingdom of GOD isn’t a place. It is not a lo here, or a lo there idea (Luke 17: 21).

Also, Romans 14: 17 clarifies that it is rather an experience than a place.

What Paul means In Colossians 1: 13 is that through the New Birth, we were changed into the Kingdom of GOD. In other words, we became the Kingdom of GOD.

Is it any wonder that Paul uses this word combination methistemi in a way that enables him to be able to express the truth or revelation that the Lord intends for us to have of who we are and our eternal privileges in Christ? He uses the word beyond its usual or ordinary meaning to describe what we have been spiritually changed into through the New Birth.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS A PERSON

Going further, we also need to realize that the Kingdom of GOD is not just an experience. If we stopped at that, then we'd be denying ourselves the enlightenment the Father desires we partake in, and the power we can from it.

The Kingdom of GOD is actually a person. It is more than just an experience.

First of all, it is referring to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We remember when Jesus told the Jews that the Kingdom of GOD was within them?

Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is WITHIN you.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) renders the word within as among.

Luke 17:21 “No one will say, ‘look here!’ or ‘There!’ For you see, the kingdom of God is AMONG you.”

Yet another translation says, ‘in the midst of you.’ This implies that Jesus was referring to Himself as the Kingdom of GOD personified in the midst of or among the Jews, yet they didn’t realize it, just as many today don’t realize who we are in Christ (1 John 3: 2). John is saying in this verse that what we are in Christ has not been fully revealed to the world, but when Jesus returns, the full revelation of what we are in Christ will be made clear for the world to realize that we’re exactly as Jesus is.

By the expression ‘within you’, Jesus wasn’t only saying the kingdom of GOD is an indwelling presence of GOD in us, He is also indicating that as He is the Kingdom of GOD personified, we also are the Kingdom of GOD embodied in human form, just as He is. This is rightly so because scripture confirms that as Christ is, so are we in this world (1 John 4: 17). We are what He is, and as He is. All the privileges He enjoys, we enjoy as well, hallelujah!

So, in His first advent, as Jesus described Himself as the Kingdom of GOD, in person, living among the Jews, we also are the Kingdom of GOD today living amid a crooked and perverse world, where we shine as lights.

Therefore, those who are always thinking of the Kingdom of GOD as a place, are missing the point of this truth that scripture has made bare to us.

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