Success and Failure Blog

7. Believe that Jesus Christ is returning to establish his kingdom

The believer does not only believe in the person of Jesus Christ, but believes also in his purpose and his message. The ultimate objective for God’s infallible purpose in Christ is to fulfill the everlasting covenant and promise which he made to Abraham and his descendants.

It is stated that, “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that they might receive the full rights as sons.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, so that by faith they might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Because they are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into their hearts crying, “Abba! Father” So they are no longer slaves, but sons, and since they are sons, God has also made them heirs. Heirs to the promise God made to Abraham and his descendants (Gal.4:4-8; Gal.3:14).

In confirming the immutability of the covenant which God made to Abraham and his descendants, the apostle Paul wrote; “Brethren, let us take an example from every day life. Just as no one can set aside, or add to a human covenant that has been duly established so it is in this case: The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The scripture does not say “and to seeds”, meaning many people, but “and to your seed”, meaning one person, who is Christ” (Gal. 3:15-16).

And regarding the promise the Lord made to David he says; “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety, this is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.’

“For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices” (Jer.33:14-17).

Both offices of King and Priest were fulfilled by Melchizedek, thus guaranteeing the continual existence of both the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

And with regards to the everlasting covenant the Lord made with the house of Israel the prophet Isaiah wrote; “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord will perform it.” (Isaiah 9: 6-7).

The first message Jesus brought when he came to Galilee preaching the gospel of God was, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe the gospel.” (Mk.1:14-15). When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he replied, The kingdom of God is not coming with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is, or there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Lk.17:20-22).

The kingdom of God establishing itself on earth was revealed to the first world ruling king in a dream during the days of Daniel the prophet. In unveiling the dream to the king the prophet Daniel said; “The stone which you saw O king that was cut out, but not by human hands, and struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain (kingdom) and filled the whole earth” (Dan.2:34-35).

In interpreting the dream to the king Daniel said; “You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the sons of men, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, making you rule over them all, you are the head of gold.” Daniel inform the king saying; after you will arise three other kingdoms inferior to you, and in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has made known to you what will take place in the future. The dream is certain and its interpretation is sure” (Dan. 2:36-45).

According to Daniel the kingdom of God will be established during the reign of the fourth kingdom (the Roman Empire). He wrote; “As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it in pieces.” But the court, shall sit in judgment and his dominion shall be taken away, and to be consumed and destroyed to the end.

And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High’ their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them: (Dan. 7:23, 26-27).

The kingdom of God is the principal and ultimate objective for our righteous way of living. It is stated that when Jesus returns he will separate the sheep from the goats, and say to the sheep on his right hand, “Come you are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matt.25:34).

The prerequisite for inheriting the kingdom of God is the immortality of our body; because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Now in order for the immortal to put on immortality, and for the perishable to become imperishable, the Holy Spirit must dwell in the individual; because it is only if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you.

The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, nor will the immoral, idolaters, adulterers, sexual perverts, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, and robbers inherit the kingdom of God.

Those who are guaranteed inheriting the kingdom of God, and reaps God’s ultimate plan for man are those who drinks the water that Christ has given which is his blood, and that will become in him a spring of water, which is the Holy Spirit, welling up to everlasting life, which is the immortality of the human body. This is what believing in Jesus Christ entails, it is not merely a vague nebulous ideology with little or no substance.

8. Believe that Jesus Christ is the Eternal One

The believer believes that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He retained the same glory which he had with the Father before time began. He said to his disciples, “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” In his prayer to the Father he said, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the foundation of the world.”
He said again, “…Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you, as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him.’
“And this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was” (John 16:28; 17:1-5).

Yes to believe in Jesus Christ one must believe that, “…His years are throughout all generations. Of old he laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of his hands. They will perish, but he will endure; yes, all of them will grow old like a garment; like a cloak he will change them, and they will be changed, but he is the same, and his years will have no end. The children of his servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before him” (Psalms 102:24-28).

I used to live near to two different gas stations. The closer of the two stations generally always had the best prices per gallon. The other station was only a block down and the gas prices were only slighter higher. Naturally, I would often choose the closest location due to location and price value. I did, that is, until the day I noticed something strange and distressing. One day, with my gas tank on E, I pulled in and purchased enough to give me at least a half of a tank full. After I pumped the gas, I hopped back into the truck and prepared to drive away. Only I noticed that the gas gauge was still on E. I looked back at the gas pump. I had definitely pumped the gasoline and I had pumped about 10 gallons worth. So why did my gas tank still read empty? I went in and felt very embarrassed as I explained this to the attendant. The attendant only shrugged his shoulders and printed out a receipt of the sale. “You pumped it, and paid for it”, he stated indignantly.

I didn’t know what to believe. Obviously, I had pumped it and I had paid for it but my truck was simply not acknowledging these facts at all. The gas tank in my truck still registered empty. My husband, who was with me, said not to worry that maybe the gas gauge was stuck or that maybe, after I had driven for few minutes the gas was register in the tank. I had never had this happen before and it made no sense to me. I pumped the gas, so unless they had found away to cheat people at the pump, it should register in my tank! As high as gas prices were at the time, and still are for that matter, it was extremely concerning. I wasn’t sure what to do, but it was easy to see that I would not feel right about everything until that gasoline registered properly in my truck. I wouldn’t be sure how far I could drive in my vehicle if the gas gauge remained unaffected.

I decided to drive to the other gas station and put just a little bit more gasoline in the tank just to see what would happen. I only added about a gallon or two. To my surprise that little bit of fuel was all that was needed. The needle on the gas gauge raised up to over half full. So what had happened? Why had this fuel not only registered but caused the other fuel to finally register as well? There must be a difference in the type of fuel, I thought. Then, as I am always inclined to, I asked God if there was some other, more vital lesson in this for me. God used this situation to teach me a very important lesson.

It doesn’t matter what you spend your time doing or eating or drinking. If you do not get the right fuel, you may be full to overflowing with food, drink, and other substances however your spiritual fuel gauge will remain untouched and unaffected. Just the way my truck would not register the gas until I added a different fuel to the tank, our bodies can not register fullness and happiness and joy until we first fuel up with the type of fuel needed to fill the emptiness within ourselves.
A million pizzas, burgers, hot-fudge ice creams, sodas, books and magazines, beers, cigarettes, drugs, and other things can not and will not raise the needle of our spiritual fuel gauge. How can we be certain how far we can go in life and what great works we can really do in God, if we still go around feeling empty inside. The answer is we simply can not. How can we sate the emptiness and feel full of life, motivation, and a great passion to go about doing God’s will in our lives and for others. We must learn how to fill up correctly, and in such a way that the terrible emptiness disappears and frees us to do God’s will and find fulfillment in our lives.

If no food or drink or other substance will help me to feel full of vigor and purpose for life, what will? What type of fuel do I need? These are the questions that I asked myself. God’s answer amazed me. If we want to feel full of life and vibrancy, and if we desire to shine for God, we need more of God’s fuel! The fuel that God designed for us, and provided for us is His holy, powerful, and precious WORD. Without the WORD of God we can thrive and find the inner fullness we need to survive in this life. It was so simple and yet, I had repeatedly overlooked it.
John 6:35 (Amplified Bible)
35Jesus replied, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time).
Matthew 4:4 (Amplified Bible)
4But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Luke 1:37 (Amplified Bible)
37For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.
John 7:38 (Amplified Bible)
38He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.

True fulfillment comes from God and the His WORD which is Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life and the Living Water. The things of this world are not enough to satisfy us and sustain us. We must accept Christ as our Savior, read the bible and partake of the Bread of Life freely, and frequently. We must partake in the Living Water of God. Once we discover how to live according to God’s will and by His commandments, things change in our lives. We will become completely satisfied and truly filled. We will never be hungry or thirsty any more or at any time. That is a great promise.
We don’t have to go around full with a great emptiness. There is true fulfillment and immeasurable energy in Christ Jesus. It is a great fullness and meaningful purpose that will register in your smile, sparkle in your eyes, shine forth from your heart and overflow from your innermost being. It is a deep and glowing beauty that others will see in you and wonder of. If you feel empty inside after filling up on worldly things please accept the wonderful fulfillment and immeasurable energy of Jesus Christ today and share the unequalled beauty of it with others.

May your life be blessed and a blessing in Christ Jesus.