Upcoming Events
Entering the Kingdom of God
Sep 10, 04:43 PM
Monday, September 10, 2007
“Enter through the narrow gate.” Matthew 7:13
The Bible uses words to convey concepts and images. One of the keys to in-depth study of the Bible is to diligently work to discern the concept or image being conveyed by the words. That is not the only factor involved in Bible study, but it is a very important one. It is very much like the process involved when one speaks through an interpreter of another language. The speaker is conveying a concept and chooses words which are hopefully adequate to express the idea the speaker wants to communicate. The interpreter listens carefully to the speaker, straining to understand the heart of the thought being communicated and then chooses appropriate words to interpret that concept to the audience. The Bible uses human words to convey the thoughts, activity, and nature of God.
It has been said that words are the skin of living thoughts. Learning to distinguish between Biblical concepts can do much to help us understand the life of faith.
For instance, in Hebrews 3 talks about “entering” the rest of God. The idea of entering is important to consider. What does it mean to “enter” something? How does that concept affect how we approach the subject? How does the concept of entering differ from “doing” something. We would never say that a person “did” the army, but we would certainly say that someone “entered” it.
If I do something, there is the implication that I perform a task; there is a beginning and an end, a starting point and completion. Entering, however, implies a perpetual state of being. I entered the building. Sure, there can potentially be an exit, but as along as I am inside, I have entered it and this describes the state in which I find myself.
The point is this: While there are indeed many things we must do in order to be faithful to God and to others, the life of faith, like the Kingdom of God itself, is a state of being which we enter. We sign up for it. We bring ourselves to it. We walk inside it. We surround ourselves with it. We immerse ourselves in it. We establish our identity through our citizenship and participation.
In Mark 10:15, Jesus sais, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” You can see that there are in fact two important activities Jesus lifts up in this verse: entering and receiving. Now – consider diligently what He means when He uses the term “receive.”