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NASB | John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:3 Jesus answered him, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again [reborn from above--spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified], he cannot [ever] see and experience the kingdom of God." |
Bible Question: What do it means when people say The Kingdom of god? What is it? |
Bible Answer: Jesus said (in Matthew 6) that we should seek the kingdom of God. From that context we can see what the kingdom of God is not. He was speaking about the temptation to focus on material things. We need to turn away from those things in order to seek the kingdom of God. Paul says the same thing in Romans 14, that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. So the person who is seeking the kingdom of God does not place physical and material things at the top of his priorities. He does not live for those things. So, he does not trust in riches. He sets his affection on things above, not on things on the earth. He does not lay treasures upon earth. We cannot look for the kingdom of God with our physical eyes either. It is a matter of the heart. Jesus said (Luke 17) that “the kingdom of God does not come with observation”. It is within us. If we have an idea what the kingdom of God is not, we may be ready to look then at what it is. The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14). That is what we should seek. We should hunger and thirst after righteousness. We should let the peace of God rule in our hearts (Colossians 3). We should lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6). We should seek those things which are above (Colossians 3). We should set our affection on things above. That is what it means to seek the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is in us, and among us. But it is the realm in which he rules. It is apparent then, that God wants to establish his kingdom in our hearts and in our midst. We should want that. We should sanctify the Lord in our hearts (1 Peter 3). We should recognize him as Lord of our lives and of the church. We should submit ourselves to his will in our personal lives and in our fellowships. We should pray, “Your will be done” (Matthew 6). The person who is not saved may well feel left out of all this. He needs to enter into the kingdom of God. As Jesus says (John 3), “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. We need to be born again. We should humble ourselves and exercise childlike faith in him. We cannot enter on our own merits. The religious leaders like Nicodemus were righteous in their own eyes. But Jesus says, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven”. Salvation. Righteousness. Peace. All of these things are spiritual. These are the kinds of things that constitute the kingdom of God. We should seek to be ruled by him. And these are the things we should seek, first of all. |