What is life?
We humans have many differing ideas about the meaning of life.
To some, life means still breathing on this planet regardless of circumstances. If I emerge from a serious accident still breathing, I am glad to be alive!
To others, really living means enjoying every possible pleasure, good or bad, filling their days and hours. “Living it up” is pure indulgence!
Still others are alive if they can do what they enjoy doing. For the rest of their time, they are only existing.
Life, for most people, means living and breathing on the earth, doing the best they can with what they have, and keeping on going until they stop breathing….then what?
Jesus made a startling statement to people to whom life was mostly a drag. The Jews lived under Roman occupation, often cruel and unjust, …and under the oppressive religious system of their religious overlords.
But Jesus said,
John 10:7-10 NLT
[7]… “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. [8] All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. [9] Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. [10] The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
Whaaat! “A rich and satisfying life” in this place, here, where I live, under this oppressive government that has bungled its mandate and made life intolerable? Is this possible?
Yes, it is!
Let’s look at life from a different perspective. What makes life intolerable? Is it our circumstances, or is it the way we interpret our circumstances? It depends on whether we live from the outside in, or from the inside out.
What do I mean?
Living from the outside in means that people and circumstances dictate my emotions and responses. Not only that but my response to people and circumstances are random, depending on whether they please me or not. Worse than that, my responses compound my feelings of fear, guilt, and shame when I react badly to whom or to what happens to cross me.
My circumstances often lead to depression because “poor me” becomes the trap to keep me “under the circumstances”. It’s all a vicious circle.
So, how can we escape this “inside out” mechanism?
First, of which we might be not be aware, there are two opposing realms in which we can live. The first is the realm of this world, according to its systems and its principles, in which we live to satisfy ourselves as best we can. We judge and react to everyone and everything in the world by our standards, and how they affect us.
Despite God’s law written on my conscience, I do as I please because I want to do as I please. When my conscience hurts me, I feel bad, so I take it out on others, punishing them for my feelings.
When everyone living under the world system behaves this way to some degree, the outcome is conflict and chaos.
There is another realm which Jesus came to reinstate after sin had set the course for disaster.
Mark 1:14-15 NIV
[14] “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. [15] “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Who was John and why was he put in prison?
According to ancient protocol, John was appointed to announce the arrival of a great king. Although Jesus came to earth as a king, He was disguised and functioned as a servant, Isaiah’s “Ebed Yahweh”, the servant of Yahweh to carry out the Father’s will on earth.
John 1:19, 23 NIV
[19] Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was…
[23] John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”
“According to the New Testament, Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he had publicly reproved Herod for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully taking his sister-in-law (his brother’s wife) as his second wife, Herodias. He then ordered him to be killed by beheading.”
(https://en.wikipedia.org)
So, with John’s task complete, Jesus took centre stage to announce the restoration of God’s kingdom on earth. He came as the king to restore estranged mankind to God through His death for sin, and to set up God’s reign of righteousness and peace in the hearts of those who believe in Him.
Two kingdoms…seen and unseen, that rule over the inhabitants of earth.
The world’s kingdom is ruled by a usurper who had designs on Jesus’ position as Lord.
Ephesians 2:1-3 NIV
[1] “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, [2] in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. [3] All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”
“Satan is called a prince because he is a ruler and possesses power to manifest evil in the world through influencing people and commanding demons.”
(https://www.gotquestions.org)
We are all born into this realm, held prisoner to its ways, and we live it out by gratifying our own sinful desires. Our circumstances dictate our responses and leave us unhappy and tormented by our guilt.
In the realm over which Jesus rules as king, our sin is forgiven, guilt removed, ad selfish domination is broken. We are free to do life together with fellow believers in unity and peace through unselfish service and mutual submission.
God’s peace monitors our responses and is only disturbed when we act towards others contrary to the kingdom’s constitution of love. We can respond from our inner freedom from guilt and shame; God’s love gives us complete confidence to trust Him in all circumstances; His sovereignty keeps us steady in times of trouble; His peace acts as the buffer against worry and anxiety.
Living from the inside out is God’s intention for us. Through our trust in His love, we can respond to whatever life in a hostile and uncertain world brings across our pathway instead of reacting in anger or fear to every circumstance.
Jesus called this way of living, “a rich and satisfying life.”
What makes the difference between living in the world and living in God’s kingdom in the world? 0ne simple response to Jesus.
Turn away from sin by trusting in Jesus as Supreme Authority over your life.
Mark 1:15 NIV
[15] “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”