| CHAPTER 4— THE GATEWAY TO ETERNITY The Kingdom of Heaven As Jesus began his public ministry, he declared, “The kingdom of heaven is close to you.”[163]—the Greek word translated “near” means “close to you; here.” The people looked around, and didn’t see anything different; all they saw was this teacher, Jesus. By this, he was announcing that he was going to demonstrate how he runs his “kingdom.” During the 3½ years of his ministry, he showed us how he will rule his universe for the rest of eternity. The people in Christ’s day had long awaited for the Messiah—God’s promised Savior[164] to come. They wanted to be a part of the promised kingdom. They supposed they qualified as citizens of his coming reign. Christ commented on how careful they had been to observe all the religious laws. To all outward appearances, they were obedient to every one of God’s commandments. Here was an entire nation who said they loved God, and were waiting for his kingdom; yet when Jesus declared the true nature of his kingdom, they rejected him as the Messiah. When he said God was like him, they even said he was demon-possessed[165]. They did not like his way of ruling, and eventually they killed him. “We will not have this man Jesus to rule over us!” they cried as they called for his death[166]. The Cycle of Death Jesus began his ministry by explaining the foundational law on which the entire universe runs. He told the people, “You have heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ”[167] This is the universal law of reaping and sowing[168]. If someone treats you badly, they deserve like treatment in return. Contrary to some teaching, Jesus did not abolish or deny the law of reaping and sowing. He never denied that people have freedom of choice to retaliate, or say that those who hurt others do not deserve what they receive; but he made it very clear that anyone who lives by the principle of “using fire against fire” would be destroyed in the process. He said, “all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”[169] Jesus said, “You have heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say unto you...’” I have a better way. The fallen nature justifies retaliation and revenge by using words like justice and saying, “They deserve it!” Satan is quick to remind us of “an eye for an eye,” because when you “give people what they rightly deserve,” you have now sown evil, and a sure harvest will return to you. It becomes a vicious circle that never ends until it destroys everyone. “An eye for an eye” eventually leaves everyone blind. The cycle of death must be broken. |
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| 163 Matthew 4:17 164 Hebrew Mashiach—“anointed,” meaning “The One God personally chose or appointed” The Greek word, chistos, is where we get the word “Christ” from. 165 John 7:20 166 Luke 19:14 167 Matthew 5:38 168 see chapter 1 169 Matthew 26:52 170 John 10:27, 28; John 11:26; John 6:47 |
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