The Great Rescuer: Part 5

There had been so much distance for so long. How could we ever get back to God? How could we enter into His kingdom while we were captive to the dominion of darkness?

Our hearts ached from the pain of our world, but we were powerless to fix it.

But with Jesus, everything changed. While we could never reach God, in Jesus, God came to us. What had seemed so far off, so unreachable, so beyond, had come near. the invisible stepped into the visible. We were blinded to the spiritual realities all around us, so Jesus came to lift the veil.

The only world we had ever known was a fallen one, held captive by the powers of darkness. But Jesus, God himself, lived in His Kingdom. He longed for us to enter in, to come close to Him. So when His Father’s appointed time came, Jesus began to teach about His Kingdom and break the chains of the unkingdom.

Nicodemus recognized Jesus’s authority and wanted to know how to enter into His Kingdom. Jesus peeled back part of the veil and told him– a spiritual rebirth was needed. Transferring from the unkingdom into God’s kingdom involved His Spirit moving in person, restoring that person’s lifeline to God (John 3).  And entering into God’s Kingdom could happen in the midst of this captive world– because His kingdom was in their midst.

While Jesus revealed the truth of His Kingdom to anyone who would listen, He chose 12 ordinary men to get a front row look at His heart and life.

For 3 years, He walked through life with them, having conversations with them morning, noon, and night, living out the ways of His Kingdom teaching them how to really see. He often taught in parables– using physical illustrations to paint pictures of spiritual truths. But the light of truth often dawns slowly, and a lot of what He taught took them a while to understand.

While doing life with His 12 disciples, Jesus welcomed the masses of people who wanted time with Him. He taught them what His Kingdom is like– a place of love, joy, truth, justice, peace, grace, kindness, wholeness, health, and goodness.

He not only taught the ways of His Kingdom, He lived them out.

When a storm came up, causing chaos and fear, He stilled it. When bellies were hungry, He miraculously filled them. When people were sick, He healed them. When Satan spoke lives, He silenced him. When religious leaders were acting hypocritically, He rebuked them. When people needed forgiveness, He offered it to them. When Jesus came across something of the unkingdom, He stood against it and fixed it so it lined up with His. God is a God who mends the broken.

While many people saw Jesus for who He really was, not everyone did.

Blinded by their pride, the religious leaders were threatened by His power and arranged to have Him killed. And one night, in the cover of Darkness– most likely surrounded by the powers of Darkness– Jesus was arrested. Accused of trumped-up charges and tried on a mock court, Jesus, the only righteous judge, allowed himself to be condemned to die. The most powerful being of all submitted himself to the mockery, humiliation, and pain of the cross.

The crowds around the cross that day were unaware that God the Father was pouring out the sins of the world– past, present, and future sins– on His innocent, dying Son.

The sky darkened and acknowledgment of the spiritual transaction taking place. When the transfer of sin was complete, Jesus gave up His life to satisfy the cost and curse of sin. The great King was living out the ways of His kingdom– he was mending what was broken. He was setting His people free.

For three days, Jesus lay in a tomb and all hope seemed lost. Was all that He had said and done untrue?

But on the morning of the third day, Jesus’ dead heart started beating and He rose to life, showing that one more thing– death– has no place in His Kingdom.

And as a light dawned early that Sunday morning, the shocking truth must have dawned on the forces of darkness.

The one, true God had conquered the curse of sin and defeated death. Their hold on people was shattered. The rebellion was doomed.