Not of this world?
From whence came such?
Go with me to John chapter 18 verse 36
And you will see as much.
Jesus answered,
My kingdom is not of this world:
If my kingdom were of this world,
Then would my servants fight,
That I should not be delivered to the Jews:
But now is my kingdom not from hence.
“They are not of the world,”
He said, referring his disciples
And like his disciples, the born again
Are his chosen people.
Not of this world,
But pilgrims on a journey
To a city not made with hands
In the heavenlies.
To the new Jerusalem
That John saw coming down,
There’s nowhere on this earth
Where it can be found.
“For here,” said the Apostle,
“We have no continuing city,
But we seek one to come.”
Paul continued definitively.
For he looked for a city
Meaning Abraham,
Whose builder and maker is God
That originated this plan.
A city with foundations,
Not of rock and stone,
But built on the rock, Christ Jesus,
That is, our heavenly home.
The Church is the kingdom
Of Jews and Gentiles,
Both purchased with Jesus’ blood
Which none can defile.
Not replacement theology
But the unfolding of a plan
Conceived in eternity by the Trinity
And not by man.
For verily was our salvation
Before the foundation of the earth:
To the Jew first and then the Gentile
Delivering both from the curse.
Not of this earth for either,
Jesus made this clear,
But of the new Jerusalem John saw
On Patmos Isle appear.
A kingdom that is spiritual
A kingdom within the born-again,
A kingdom that is eternal
A kingdom where Christ reigns.
And so, I reiterate
The reassuring words of Jesus
On which we can boldly stand
And in them place our trust.
Jesus answered,
My kingdom is not of this world:
If my kingdom were of this world,
Then would my servants fight,
That I should not be delivered to the Jews:
But now is my kingdom not from hence.
In the world
But surely not of the world
Yet, being the salt and the light
As we reflect God’s Word.
Stewart Russell © January 2, 2025
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