We have just covered the first two of four points examining the intimate connection between the Kingdom (the rule and reign, or kingship of God) and the Holy Spirit.

Point 1: Where God’s kingship is present and advancing by His Spirit, his saving work is evident.

Point 2: Where God’s kingship is present and advancing by His Spirit, people are receiving and showing fidelity to him as king.

In conclusion, I have two final observations to share.

Point 3: Where God’s kingship is present and advancing by His Spirit, there is divine instruction with attendant human responsibility.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:14-15).

Please note that the sacred writings Paul references are the books that compile the Hebrew Bible, known in their tradition as the Tanakh, which we regrettably refer to as the Old Testament. He goes on to say that these texts are God-breathed. YHWH gives His Word to his redeemed, and as they receive and respond to his revelation, He reigns over them and through them in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Jewish children begin their study of the Torah, the five books of Moses, the first verse they memorize is Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD alone.” The Hebrew word echad is translated as “one,” but in context here it most likely means “alone” or “only.” You are saying you will serve YHWH only, and you are not going to worship other gods.

Interestingly, the second verse they memorize is Moses commanded us a law [torah] as a heritage for the assembly of Jacob (Deut 33:4). Jewish children are taught that God’s Word is an inheritance, a legacy. One, they are responsible for respecting and protecting.

Notice verse 5, Thus the LORD became king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.

Jeshurun is a term for Israel in their ideal, highest spiritual condition. The word Jeshurun comes from the word yashar, “to be upright.” Israel only comes to their full standing as Jeshurun when God is ruling unrivaled. Likewise, you who have experienced the redeeming work of Israel’s Messiah only enter into your highest spiritual condition as he reigns over you.

Do you see the picture? It sheds fresh light on the way John closes his first letter, Little children, keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21).

Point 4: Where God’s kingship is present and advancing by His Spirit, the powerful works of Jesus are being replicated.

Peter, full of that same Spirit proclaims: As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that (Acts 10:36-39)

In Jeremiah 31:31 we read, Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. And verse 33, I will put my torah within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

God promised a renewal of his covenant love. First, it requires the forgiveness of sins. Then he will write his Word in us, on our hearts.

Deuteronomy 9:10 says this regarding the first Torah: YHWH gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God. Finger of God is a euphemism for the Spirit of God: But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you (Luke 11:20).

How do you suppose God is going to write His Word on your heart?

You guessed it: You are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Cor 3:3).

Regarding His new covenant intentions, God continues His revelation in Ezekiel 36:25-27: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

What will this indwelling Spirit do? Empower you to joyfully keep his commandments and help you faithfully walk in the good works, in Christ Jesus, which God prepared in advance. This is the new covenant made possible by Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Hallelujah!

I have sometimes wondered why Jesus didn’t write a book. One day, it dawned on me. Jesus did write books. His work as an author continues to this day. You are a living book; I am a living book; we are living books. The Spirit is writing stories of who the Father is and what the Son has done for us. These are books worth reading; these are stories worth hearing.

Please hear this, it is key. Spirit-filled Kingdom living is a partnership; a collaboration. God initiates, and we respond to His grace in faith, which is a work of the Spirit. We then shoulder the responsibility to will and to do, by the power of that same Spirit within us.

Every time we say “yes” to the living God, His kingship expands and advances both in us and in our world.

What is it that uniquely distinguishes Christians as those of the Messiah (Christ)? It is the indwelling presence of the Spirit. What we have failed to understand is that the Spirit of God is a spirit of truth. The one who originally wrote the Torah is now rewriting his heart upon our hearts.

Exactly what does God’s Word look like when embodied, when lived out in the flesh? Jesus of Nazareth, the Spirit-man.

Where the Spirit is:

• The saving work of Jesus is evident
• There is divine instruction with attendant human responsibility
• God’s rule and reign is present and advancing
• People are receiving and showing fidelity to the Father
• And the mighty deeds of Jesus are being replicated

That, my friends, sounds like good news!