Matthew 11:12

Kunle Olabode brings understanding to how the kingdom of God operates

Kunle Olabode

'And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.' Matthew 11:12

In teaching his followers to pray, Jesus includes a requirement to pray for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth; there is also a reference to the 'kingdom, power and glory'. The implications of these are numerous, including the fact that there are other kingdoms that strive to establish their own will and influences over mankind. There also is an indication that there is provision for power (force) to bring about God's kingdom rule on the earth. The focus of this article is on the kingdom force, with prayer that believers will understand and appropriate this force for their personal victory and the advancement of kingdom interests.

Believers in Christ are called to warfare since Satan, the arch enemy of believers and our God, makes war against the saints (Daniel 7:21). Consequently, followers of Christ are variously called God's battle axes, soldiers of the Cross, and commanded to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). God's eternal reign over the universe will ultimately be established by force after the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:13-16, 20:7-9).

Satan has several personal names and titles in the Bible, all of which point to his various evil activities and strategies against believers and all of God's creation. These tiles include adversary (1 Peter 5:8-9), serpent (2 Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 12:9), prince of the power of the air (Ephesian 2:1-3), and the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10); he is also called the tempter, enemy and the wicked one - Matthew 4:3, Matthew 13:19, 38-39.

Consequently, kingdom citizens are asked to put on the whole armour of God in the fight against the enemy (Ephesians 6:10-18). Kingdom force is exercised using spiritual weapons which encompass faith, love, praises & thanksgiving, holiness, joy and obedience to, and use of the word of God. In this exercise of kingdom force and spiritual warfare, there is promise of power from on high; the Lord fights for his people.

Thankfully, the Bible is full of proofs of superiority of the kingdom force over every other power; this is evidenced by the countless victories that God's people received and celebrated over different opposing circumstances and nations (Exodus 17:8-16, Joshua 6:20-21, Acts 15:22-26).

In conclusion, seeing that the God of heaven is for us, we should be encouraged to operate more under the banner of the support of heaven in our daily battles; our victory is assured (Romans 8:31-32).