The Kingdom Jesus Wants

November 10, 2025November 9, 2025Todd R 2 Comments

At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, He spent 40 days alone in the wilderness and at the end of this time was confronted directly by the devil with three temptations. In the first, the temptation was to fulfill His physical need for food. In the second, to display His power presumptuously. This post will focus on the third temptation, as recorded in Matthew 4:8-10:

“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’””

As with the first and second temptations, Jesus uses God’s Word to combat the temptations, in this case quoting Deuteronomy 6:13. Jesus knew that to live a life of perfect obedience, He needed to worship God only in every action He took. Even one action that gave in to Satan’s ideas for Him would have made Him an imperfect sacrifice and we would all still be dead in our sins. There would be no Christianity and no salvation for anyone.

But I also think Jesus knew that the kingdoms of the world just weren’t worth ruling. Sinful people need a Savior who can heal them, before anyone will be able to rule them. Therefore, Jesus was not interested in the unredeemed kingdoms of the world, but in redeeming His people and building His perfect kingdom person by person. The world as it is just isn’t good enough.

After all, what good is a kingdom full of people who only worship the wrong things? What good is a world without hope of redemption in Christ? In his book A History of Christianity, British historian Paul Johnson doesn’t shy away from the evils of the world and the failings of the church, which some say disprove that there’s a loving God. However, in the epilogue Johnson asks what if there was no Christianity at all?

“Certainly, mankind without Christianity conjures up a dismal prospect. The record of mankind with Christianity is daunting enough… for there is a cruel and pitiless nature in man which is sometimes impervious to Christian restraints and encouragements. But without these restraints, bereft of these encouragements, how much more horrific the history of these last 2,000 years must have been!”[1]

On the other hand, what if Christianity is true? In a world redeemed by Christ, man does not have “a cruel and pitiless nature,” but the perfect sinless nature of Jesus. There will be nothing but encouragements to live a life of love for God and others. Restraints won’t even be needed.

This is the kingdom that Jesus finds worth ruling, and will rule, eternally, thanks to His overcoming of Satan’s temptations and perfect life of obedient love, so we someday may have a perfect life. In this kingdom,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’””

Eternally. Amen.

[1] Johnson, Paul. A History of Christianity. (1976). P. 517.

“The Sea was No More”

July 2, 2025July 1, 2025Todd R 1 Comment

One of my favorite places to be is the ocean. I love the roar of the waves and the feel of the sand. I love catching waves with a boogie board or just bodysurfing. Being in the ocean is my “happy place.” But will it be that for me in heaven? Will it be like that, only better, or will it be something completely different?

The Bible doesn’t provide us with a lot of specifics about what the afterlife will be like, but the Apostle John’s vision in Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” Once upon a time, that last phrase – “the sea was no more” – bothered me a little bit. How could one of my favorite things on earth not exist in heaven?

Two thoughts have gotten me over that, and I’m no longer bothered by it.

First, that “the sea was no more” may not be literal. What does that mean? While the sea was part of God’s original creation and declared “very good”, later it is described as a source of chaos and evil, where Leviathan lives and the serpent emerges. In ancient times, the sea was seen as chaotic and dangerous. It was something to be feared and avoided. In Canaan and other ancient societies, many believed there were gods over the sea and when the sea became stormy and unruly, it meant those gods needed to be appeased. Therefore, when we see Moses parting the sea, or see Jesus calming the sea in a storm, or even walking on the sea, we are seeing God’s power over not only the chaos and disorder of the literal and the figurative sea, but also His power over the supposed Canaanite gods. In that pantheon, Baal was the storm god and Asherah, the goddess of the sea, was his consort. So, if “the sea was no more” is meant figuratively, John’s vision tells us that in heaven the sea will no longer be a fearful and dangerous symbol of chaos and death. Whatever ‘gods’ we imagine rule the sea will be conquered. The chaos that the sea symbolizes will not exist at all: the entire world will be ordered according to God’s perfect will and mankind’s work to make the whole earth like Eden. “The sea was no more” is a good thing.

The second thought is that if God says a perfect world has no literal sea, I need to trust Him. I don’t get to choose what’s in heaven and what isn’t, but God does and is infinitely more qualified to make that decision! While the images of heaven we get in the Bible are obscure and difficult to understand, they do make it clear that heaven will be more amazing and glorious than anything we could imagine, or that we could achieve ourselves. “The sea was no more” is a good thing again.

So, whatever your favorite things are here on earth, God has something much better in mind. It will be the “very good” world He intended from the beginning, no matter what our expectations of it are or what we’d wish it to be. It will the perfect “happy place” for all of God’s people.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”