Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

Reading From Luke 21:20-38

“He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”—Luke 21:29-31

The Kingdom of God extends to wherever His rule has been established. We know from Scripture in I John 5:19, “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” But we also know from the Lord Jesus that, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst” And in Matthew 12:28 He said, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

From all of these passages, we know that Satan has his dominion of darkness but that Christ has His Kingdom of light within our hearts. Since we know that children of God are not under the control of the evil one, we can conclude that the Kingdom of God extends to wherever people have surrendered control to the Lord. In this way, the Kingdom is here and now.

But this process of bringing everything under the rule of Christ is not completed. It will be when the Lord returns to the Earth in the fullness of His power and glory. Until then, the children of God have much work for the Holy Spirit to do through them in continuing to bring Heaven to Earth by surrender, prayer and sharing His love and message of reconciliation.

“Lord Jesus, empower us with Your Spirit to minister in Your Name upon the Earth. Work through us as we choose to love and gently teach those around us. Guide us into our eternal destiny in Your family, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. You are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and we worship You. Amen.”

In him we have redemptionthrough his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

—Ephesians 1:7-10