April 20, 2019
In American politics we often hear about either the need for our government to do more or to do less. This may shock you but I am for and believe in the value and need for ever increasing government. Before you throw me off of a cliff or stop reading this post let me explain what I mean by this statement.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV) says “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” It is the ever increasing government of the Kingdom of Heaven of which I am for and hope for in the face of what seems to be ever increasing chaos in our world.
Jesus often spoke about the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? A kingdom is the domain of a king who is the sovereign ruler of a territory of the people who dwell there. When God created this world and formed man from the dust of the earth he gave mankind the mandate to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gen 1:28, NIV)
God created us to express his very nature and life by us believing what he says is true and then to believe that he has the power to do what he has promised.
God told Abraham “”I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed–the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom 4:17-21, NIV)
I love this story of Abraham and Sarah being childless and God coming to them in their old age and telling them that Sarah would conceive and bear a child fathered by Abraham. They desperately wanted a child that would become their heir, but they could not conceive a child even in their younger years because of Sarah being sterile. Years pass by with no conception of a child until they were so old that Abraham no longer had “seed” and Sarah had gone through menopause. Years before God had promised Abraham an heir but it had not yet happened. If you think you are in a situation where there is no hope for a change compare that to the situation that Sarah and Abraham faced. The passage above from Romans 4 is in reference to Genesis 18 where God appeared to both Abraham and Sarah and told them that within one year Sarah would bear a son by Abraham. Go back and again read the Romans 4 passage above. Believing what God speaks is not just mental assent. Our experiencing the reality of what God speaks is dependent upon our obedience by faith to what he has spoken.
In my mind I can see Abraham approaching Sarah and saying something like, “Sarah you heard what God spoke to both of us. We have walked with God long enough and seen him work in such ways that I know he cannot lie and that he has the power to do what he has spoken. Will you join with me by faith in believing that if we come together in an act of love that he will give life to our reproductively dead bodies?”
So what does this have to do with the government of Jesus of which there shall never be an end to its increase? We have been given authority to speak by faith of what is the desire of God our Father to be made manifest in the world we live in. It already exists in heaven but not on the earth.
That is why Jesus told his followers, ““But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.””(Mat 6:6-10, NIV)
The Greek word translated as room in the passage above means store-chamber, granary, barn or treasury. Jesus is speaking about entering into the heavenly storehouse of the Kingdom of Heaven and praying from there for what already exists in that place to be manifest here on the earth. In heaven there is no shortage of anything that is needed here on the earth.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luk 12:32-34, NIV)
So what does the word government mean in the Isaiah 9 passage above? I admit that I am a word nerd. I enjoy looking at the origin and meaning of words. I can often learn more about the meaning of a word by looking at other scriptures where the word is used. However, that did not help me when looking at the word government. It only occurs two times both of which are in Isaiah 9. However, in looking at this word I found a related word that opened up the meaning. The related word is in the account of where God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.
“And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Gen 32:27-28 KJV) Jacob means deceiver or twister. God had promised his parents that Jacob as the younger brother would rule over his older twin brother Esau. However, Jacob had lived his entire life trying to obtain by deception and trickery what was already his in Heaven because God had already promised it. God changed Jacob’s name after he realized that he could not wrestle the promise out of God and thus he named him Israel which means he rules as God, “for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
God has set his seal upon us and made us to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven. We represent King Jesus because we are members of his body. When we speak by faith what he is speaking, that already exists in heaven, then the Holy Spirit works to make it a reality here on the earth. Thus, of the increase of his government of righteousness, peace and joy there shall never be an end! Will you join with me believing in our hearts that God has the power to do whatever he promises, then by faith to speak it aloud over whatever situation we see that is contrary to the nature of God, and to obey whatever he tells us to do. If we do we shall see an end to the chaos that exists in our time, for God is a God of order not confusion.
Blessings,
Kevin