341. Possess the Kingdom
Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
The saints are all the believers in Jesus Christ; we have been declared saintly, or holy, by the death and resurrection of Christ. The kingdom that Jesus took back from the Evil Empire has been given to the saints. He gives the kingdom and the believers take it. He gives by grace and we take it by faith. We are justified by grace, through faith, on account of Christ. When we are born anew we enter the kingdom; we are born of water and the Spirit. This is the gift of God; God gives. And more: the Holy Spirit creates the faith in the inward spirit to take (believe) it.
In the experience of the OT people of God, God gave them the Promised Land but under Joshua they still had to go in and possess it. They mostly conquered the Land, but not completely; pockets of evil still remained. These became thorns in the side and temptations to idolatry under the judges and the kings. The people of God could never shake spiritual adultery and idolatry until the judgments of Exile. After they lost everything, they remembered the Lord and His Word and Promises. And they still had the Kingdom. But not until Jesus came and preached the Kingdom of God did the people of God begin to realize that the kingdom was spiritual and invisible in the hearts of Jesus’ followers. Many did not receive Jesus or His Kingdom because they could not see it with physical eyes. Therefore, they did not possess it.
This giving by free grace and taking, or possessing, by faith presents a theological issue for us to grapple with: How does one possess what is given? God gives the Kingdom, but we must still possess it. It seems to say that grace is on God’s side, but faith is on our side. He gives and we take. If we don’t take, we don’t have. So how do we possess? The truth is that faith is a gift also, Faith is God’s working. He creates, produces and grows the faith. It appears like we are doing the possessing, but it is actually the Lord who does it. He grants faith in the Gospel. God gives the Kingdom and He also gives the faith to possess it. Who really gets the credit for the Conquest of the Land? The Lord, or Joshua? God gets all the credit, but Joshua and the elders get the blame for not completing the job.
We have possessed the Kingdom, and we have it forever and ever. We have eternal life. One problem we have, however, is that we don’t always use, or exercise, or enjoy the promises and blessings of the Kingdom we have been given. Everyone faces one obstacle: we think we must do something, we have to do it ourselves, we make a decision, we make the effort, we do the good works, we show kindness, and we love. It takes faith to admit that everything good in our life God does; and everything bad in our life we do. Oh, how we need this promise of possession.