What did Jesus mean when he said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”?
Jesus promised that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. How does that help you and me get rid of guilt and shame? In these Freedom Friday episodes, we’ve talked about facing your past, the mistakes you’ve made, how important it is to see and accept your true spiritual identity as a child of God, made in God’s image and likeness, and that’s getting a fresh perspective on who you really are.
But sometimes it’s kind of hard to hold on to that view of who you are with everything that goes on in daily life. If you’re struggling to do what’s right as a good human being, that’s great, but it’s time to get a higher spiritual perspective of who you are. One of the fundamental and revolutionary ideas
Now think about that for a minute. Let it soak deep into your heart. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. We still really don’t believe Jesus.
The kingdom of heaven is at hand, not later
We’ve been taught and believe that heaven is someplace we go after we die. It’s later. But right now, it’s time to accept Jesus’s promise that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
What are the implications of that statement, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, here and now?
You can’t see heaven with your eyeballs, but you can discern it with your spiritual senses, your awareness of things of the spirit. And the only way for this to happen is that God is revealing it to you right now.
Well, here’s an analogy that might help. Right now, there are electronic signals coming from satellites in space and cell phone towers that transmit all kinds of information and data. You can’t see those with your eyes, but you know they’re there because you can open your computer or your cell phone or your tablet or whatever and get those messages, see those videos, listen to that music.
Those electronic signals are there. You just can’t see them. That’s kind of the way the kingdom of heaven is. It is here spiritually. You just cannot see it with your eyes.
Jesus could see heaven at hand
Jesus could see that the kingdom of heaven is here, and he told us about it in parables and metaphors in words that we could begin to understand what he was talking about.
So now, let’s do a little exercise here. Whether it makes sense or whether you believe it or not, for just this discussion’s sake, let’s say the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
What are the implications of that? And specifically, for you? In heaven, the Bible tells us there is no sickness or sin, no pain or fear, no tears, no suffering, No death. No sorrow. That’s what’s true in heaven now and forever.
Okay, so now let’s ask, in this kingdom of heaven that is at hand, what is true about you right now in this heaven?
The Bible says God will not even remember your sins. As God’s image and likeness, you won’t either. No sin can enter heaven, and not even your memory of this sin can enter heaven. Right now, God sees you in heaven as pure, innocent, free, and whole. This is what’s true about you right now in heaven, which Jesus says is at hand.
You can see that the kingdom of heaven is at hand
The more you can begin to see and accept this is who you really are, as a child of God in heaven, the more you’re going to bring this into your daily life here on earth. And if you get caught up in the struggles or guilt from the past, or maybe a wave of sin washes over you, it’s time to shift your perspective.
Quit looking at yourself from the perspective of what’s going on here on earth, what happened in the past, what happened here on earth, what’s going on here on earth. Shift your perspective and ask yourself: What is true about me right now in the kingdom of heaven?”
Jesus promised that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, here and now. What is true about you in the kingdom of heaven right now? You are good. You are full of love. You are full of life. You are full of joy. You have dominion.
You are free from sin or guilt or pain or shame or sorrow. And you are shining forth as the image and likeness of God, and your light is lighting up the whole universe.
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by learning to think, pray, and love like Jesus. Contact him here.
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