I want us to look at an exchange in scripture between a judge and a witness giving testimony. The previous post to this blog discussed the concept of testimonial evidence and was titled Testify of the Invisible. So let us look at a scriptural account of testimony given to a judge. The judge in this case is Pontius Pilate, man working for Rome who is the lead in civil authority as Governor of Judaea. The witness is Jesus who is accused of being a King of people who are subject to the Caesar and we all know there can only be one king. So Pilate is forced to judge as to whether Emperor Tiberius is king or whether Jesus is King.
John 18:33-38 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.
Jesus clearly states, ”My Kingdom is not of this world”, “You say rightly that I am a king”, “I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” and “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” This blog is all about presenting evidence to establish the fact that the Kingdom of God (KoG) exists to a world that cannot see the truth of it. In a world where there can only be one king, Jesus is found guilty for His testimony and is sentenced to death. Jesus mission is simply to reveal the truth concerning an invisible Kingdom to this world of flesh and blood.
Any person that has realized the fact of their citizenship in the Kingdom of Christ has in essence has been given authority to carry out this simple mission. At His crucifixion a sign was placed on His cross with the charge of being a King of the Jews who were also subject to Rome a kingdom of this world. In fact the religious establishment who wanted Jesus dead argued that the claim of being a Son of God is punishable also by death. But to get Pilate to execute his secular authority the Chief priests testified also testified that “We have no king but Caesar and if you fail to convict you are no friend of Caesar” causing a conflict between the Roman kingdom of this world and God’s invisible Kingdom. Pilate looked for a way out offering to set one person free as a custom during Passover but the religion establishment chose another person instead of Jesus.
The world provides witness protection to those that provide evidence for the state. Many persons in America confuse Kingdoms and argue that America was founded on Christian principles. The nation of Rome was established before the KoG was revealed by Christ and America is also a kingdom of this world just contemporary of the testimony and revelation of Christ. The evolving constitution of America reflects a lot of that understanding but it falls far short of our goal of bringing heaven to earth. In my opinion it is the best kingdom on planet and over time more people are today receiving the benefits of its citizenship. But here is the test. From America’s point of view, America has enemies because its sovereignty does not extend to all citizens of earth. In fact America is very exclusive when deciding who gets citizenship and what nations are considered its allies.
From the point of view of the KoG the only enemies are those that have not yet been convinced that they are citizens. In fact as KoG citizens we are commanded by our King to love our enemies in hopes that they will become fellow citizens. When our King says we will be known by our love it is because we have the understanding that the boundaries of His Kingdom have no end and by grace we have been made joint heirs with the King and potentially every human on earth. All citizens of the KoG have been given authority to reconcile any person into the Kingdom. If we understand how to use Kingdom authority to that end then our witness is true and God will release power as a sign or a signature of His Kingdom.
There are many in the world claiming to be citizens of the Kingdom but because they misunderstand the purpose of their authority they are trying to extend an exclusive club-like membership. When Jesus testified that He was a son of God the religious authority at that time held a world view, not a kingdom view, and thus decided to take up allegiance with the Roman world kingdom. It would be easy to cast that same accusation on all religious people today that are claiming to be Christians but that too would be a misuse of Kingdom authority. Forgiveness, love, truth and mercy are the characteristics of our King and they are the foundation of His Kingdom. Having the testimony of Christ is evidence of His Kingdom.
The old testimony of the KoG used the law to bring knowledge. The desire was to establish an awareness of God’s presence by separating the things of the world from those things of God. God’s presence was taught to be recognized in specific places. Some things were holy and some things were not. The Jewish children placed a wall around their city and God gave them victory over the walled cities of the world. David’s famed city of Zion was supposed to be impenetrable by its enemies yet he captured the city. Those who continue to hold this old testimony put God in one city and continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem above all other cities.
John 17:22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one
Now today we have a greater testimony and the desire of God is for us to see and experience the unity of being with God and each other. Every human is a vessel capable of realizing the presence of God internal to their personal being. This is not a new desire of God it has just taken us a while to realize the reality of the Kingdom within. One of Jesus’ last prayers was for us to become aware of this unity. Today anyone accepting that truth has inherited the Kingdom and the authority to reconcile any person into the KoG. If we do not understand love for from Gods point of view we will not attempt to win over Kingdom enemies and they will remain blind to the truth their potential citizenship. Those who build walls and keep people out of the Kingdom are missing our purpose in the Kingdom.
Matthew 16:13-16 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
The KoG is vastly different from any other Kingdom in the materialistic world. If we use worldly interpretations for God’s Kingdom then we through ignorance have missed the mark and yet we are forgiven for that which we do not know. So daily when faced with the questions we answer wrong as to who is our neighbor and who is our brother or sister. If we cannot see Christ in others is because we failed to see Christ in ourselves. If we have the mind of Christ, when we meet a flesh and blood human for the first or fiftieth time do we possess the Spirit of the Kingdom to answer the question “who do you say that I am?”
Luke 2:48-50 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” 49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.
A true witness sees life from the point of view of the KoG. I encourage all who read this to revisit and meditate on the words of Christ and noticed that He was not talking from the flesh and blood kingdom point of view but from the KoG point of view. Christ had a consciousness of Father and His Kingdom and he testified in that authority. He revealed that we are siblings and joint heirs and that we can be one with our Father and each other.
John 14:9
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
John 14:19
“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
EVidence LOCKER 