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“The time
promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The
Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your
sins and believe the Good News!”
Mark 1:15(NLT)
The resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third
day opens for every person the possibility of the door to the Kingdom of
God.
There are keys which open this door:
The first Key is the Kingdom itself
Literally the Kingdom is the reign of
God in the hearts of those who receive him.
Jesus announced that the Kingdom had come near.
And that word indicates more an opportunity
than a period of time. The opportunity
for restored relationship with God, where God would dwell in the hearts of
those who choose to love and obey him was available.
Wesley called this …the immediate fruit of
God's reigning in the soul[2]
because having God on the inside brought righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit.[3]
The Second Key is Repentance
To “repent” is to think, and then act
differently. When you are headed in the
wrong direction, repentance means understanding that you’re going in the wrong
direction, and then acting on it to turn in the right direction.
The Third Key is To Believe the Good News
To “believe” is to have faith. Now this is not the kind of “faith” you have
in your college football team to win the championship. Rather it’s the kind of once-for-all trust
that places your past, present and eternity in God’s hands.
Believing the Good News, or the
Gospel means that you are choosing to count as true the birth of Jesus as
entirely true; you’re saying Jesus lived a sinless life, and died your sinner’s
death, taking your place on the cross.
You’re saying you believe that on the third day he arose from that hole
in the ground where they buried him, ascended into heaven to the right hand of
the Father, and is coming again one day to make all things new.
To cap it all off, you’re saying you stake
everything you are and hope to be on this fact that the Gospel is true – it’s a
one-way-door for you!
These are the keys to God’s Kingdom door, His
reign in your heart, you repenting of your sin, and believing the Gospel.
Did you know that all three of those keys are
already yours? They’re in your
heart…which also has a door. And this
door’s key God has chosen to never violate; it’s known as free will.
God has already opened the door to His
Kingdom. But the door to your heart is
closed against the pathway to God’s kingdom, and unless you open it you will
stay on the outside forever.
Here’s what God says about that door to your
heart:
“Look! I stand at the door
and knock. If you hear my voice and open
the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:20(NLT)
The keys are all in your hands; what will you
do?
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