Two Kingdoms: Which One Are You In?
 
by Jim Bramlett

 
Most people are unaware that there are two kingdoms operating in the earth, side by side. 
 
They are like parallel universes, except that they are polar opposites.  Better understanding of these kingdoms will help comprehend the stresses constantly going on around us, and how to avoid them.
 
Both kingdoms are very real.  One is visible and temporal; the other is invisible and eternal.  One is experienced in the sensory realm, with our five senses; the other is experienced and accessed in the spirit realm, by faith. 
 
These two kingdoms are described in the Holy Scriptures.  One of them is called the kingdom of “this world.”  The other is called “the Kingdom of God.”
 
English poet William Wordsworth wrote, "The World Is Too Much with Us."  He got that right!  Because it is experienced in the sensory realm, we are continuously pressured, tempted, and stressed by the world’s kingdom. 
 
Below are a few basic contrasts between the two kingdoms:
 

The kingdom of this world

 
Ruler.  The Bible calls Satan the “ruler of this world,” and “prince of this world” (John 12:21; 14:30).  He rules the world systems and institutions, such as governments, media, commerce, and academia.  That is why these entities can appear so evil and corrupt. 
 
This further explains why the world is filled with wars, crime, corruption, immorality, suffering, hate, sickness, death, and misinformation.  This explains why TV and other news are so negative.  Such 24/7 news is a daily diary of a lost planet under Satan’s control.
 
This authority by Satan is temporary and limited, lost to him by Adam, to whom it had been delegated by God. 
 
In the Bible, Jesus is referred to as the “last Adam.”  He took back what the first Adam lost through disobedience.  At the cross, Jesus defeated Satan and eternally stripped him of his authority.  However, until the end of the age, Satan remains temporally active through the minds of unredeemed people. 
 
Origins.  The kingdom of this world declares one of Satan’s greatest lies, that the universe and all life evolved from absolutely nothing, with no intelligent design or purpose, and that life has no meaning.  However, one prominent atheistic scientist admits that human life may have been planted on earth by an alien being, but he does not suggest how that being got created!  His irrational obsession to deny God and his own accountability before Him has caused this scientist to embrace absurdity.  Such is the condition of many academic minds today.  The Bible says of them, “Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22).
 
Morality.  Anything goes.  If it feels good, do it.  If there is no God or absolute truth, there are no constraints.  Men can have sex with and marry men, women can have sex with and marry women.  Little children can be sex objects of both.  Even sex with animals (bestiality) is tolerated.  Unborn babies can be brutally murdered, by the millions, for the sake of convenience.  In Satan’s kingdom, baby killing has become a huge industry, supported by top government and cultural leaders.
 
Religion.  This kingdom says there is no God, but for those who want to believe such a myth, all roads lead to Him, even Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.  Christianity is too narrow and must be ridiculed, rejected, and its adherents scorned, and in Muslim countries, killed.
 
Afterlife.  Life ends at death.  There is nothing later.  (Boy, they are in for a big surprise!)
 
Members of God’s invisible Kingdom, described below, co-exist in this kingdom and as God’s servants are responsible for manifesting acts of kindness, mercy and love in its opposite kingdom.  They must also tell the people of the world about God’s Kingdom and its King, His love for them, and how they can enter.
 
 

The Kingdom of God.

 
 Ruler.  Ruled by Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who created the universe.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:15- 16).

 Origins.  

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Morality.  

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis2:24).

 

“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

 Religion:

“There is no other name under heaven (besides Jesus) given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

 Afterlife. 
 
Jesus: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47).
 
Practical application: We should constantly affirm the truths of God’s Kingdom, or what God says in His Word about specific situations in your life, not what the world says or what the devil says.  Speak the language of Scripture.  You have heard the expression, “coinage of the realm,” that is, the currency of a country.  David Ingles says that our words are “the coinage of the Kingdom.” 
 
Ingles says there are two kinds of truth: (1) sense knowledge truth, which comes from the five senses and the physical world, and (2) revelation knowledge truth, which comes from God’s Word.  They are often in disagreement.  For example, sense knowledge may tell you that you are sick with an incurable illness.  But God’s Word says that He has laid your illness upon Jesus (Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 8:17, 1 Peter 2:24).  Do not confess negative sense knowledge, but only confess what God says about any situation.
 
This is not denial.  It is only the recognition of and the embracing of a higher, transcending truth.  The sickness may be a fact in the kingdom of this world, but truth in the Kingdom of God transcends it.  Spiritual forces are greater.  “Greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world” (1 John 4:4, KJV).
 

Which kingdom are you in?
 

The kingdom of this world is referred to as darkness.  It is depressing and without hope.  God’s Kingdom is referred to a light, full of hope, righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14:17). 
 
As humans, we cannot help but to be physically in the world.  But God says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world­the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life­is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
 
If you are in the kingdom of darkness that is passing away, get out now!  Pray and express your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, asking Him to save you.  He will.  That is why He came -- because He loves you.

(God) has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:  In whom we have redemption through his blood (Colossians 1:13-14).

 If you have not so already, get in God’s Kingdom now!
 
Once we are in God’s kingdom, we must be diligent to stay focused there.  We live in a body that is totally natural.  We must counter that with continuous prayer and study of God’s Word so that our bodies and minds will not give in to the sensory pressures around us.