“The Blessings of Sonship” No. 10 by Rev. Toru Asai

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it (Mat 11:12).

We, as heirs of God, have come to inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is where God's will and his good work of salvation, such as health and prosperity, love and peace, and the restoration of what was lost or destroyed, are being done. John the Baptist in his ministry taught the Jews that having Abraham as their (external) father would not automatically make them God's heirs, and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. As a result, many had come to inherit the kingdom of God by seeking God's righteousness. Jesus saw it, and described it as in the above scripture. Obviously, the same result and phenomenon were seen in the ministry of Jesus who took over that of John.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. … people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, … followed him (4:23-25).

Here, we see a very important truth that we need to know if we desire to live as God's heirs. God's kingdom is something we must seek in order to lay hold of it. Be aware that the kingdom of God in this sense is not the heaven that you will enter when you finish your life on earth. For heaven, you do not need to fight, but for the spiritual kingdom of God on earth, you need to fight and take it by the force of your faith. Even if you are entitled to all the blessings promised in the Bible as God's heir, no blessings will come to you automatically without seeking and taking them by faith. And this truth leads us to another important truth: that is, God has called all of us who are believers to be the forceful men and women who would go out and lay hold of God's kingdom, not only for ourselves, but also for our family members, friends, and the others around us. Believers are all, in this sense, warriors for God's kingdom, who go out to the places where Satan and all his spiritual forces are at work, and fight against them so that the kingdom of God be built there. In fact, this task of God's heirs is well illustrated in the story of the sending of spies to the Promised Land and its aftermath.

The Lord said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders (Num 13:1-2)."

The land that had been promised to them would not be given to them automatically. God sent spies to the land to see if the people would desire to possess it or not. They had to desire it, and were required to go and take it by force. Yet, to our surprise, they did not desire it, and refused to possess it.

All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert (14:2-3)!

Having been filled with fear and complaints, they dumped the promise of God together will all the blessings they were about to receive. And they did not realize that it was a great rebellion against God.

The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them (v. 11)?"

As the people of Israel came out of Egypt to enter and take the Promised Land, we believers were saved from the world in order to lay hold of God's kingdom. Let us be strong and courageous like Joshua and Caleb who said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it!"