The Kingdom of God is a Relational Kingdom!
Romans 13
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, September 10.
The Apostle Paul focuses us on what is the crucial human need of our lives: relationships. As one of my old pastors, the Rev. Ren Wallen, used to say, “The Kingdom of God is a relational kingdom.” It was the lens through which he not only saw the gospel, but called the church into obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ.
Paul commands in Romans 13:8-10, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Truly, our relationships on earth are the litmus test of our faith in Jesus Christ! In other words, how we love our neighbor tells us the truth about whether or not we truly love God. What destroys our relationships? Sin destroys relationships… Not being right with God leads to a distortion of what matters in our daily lives and that puts pressure on our relationships (at home or work or church) to do more for us than they can possible do and that is a heavy burden that crushes them. People can never do for you what only Jesus can!
Seize the moment and prioritize relationships starting with getting right in your #1 relationship with Jesus! Until you prioritize Him, you will be bound up in your sin nature’s selfishness to use people for your own happiness. Only the Spirit can set us free to truly love as Christ first loved us! The health of your relationships tells you the truth about your faith in Jesus; the Kingdom of God is a relational kingdom!
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