Chapter ( Six )

A King’s Love for His Citizens

 Love’s Voluntary Limitation 

To fully understand the nature of the kingdom we have an opportunity to enter, we must see that the King-Son’s motivation for coming to earth was unqualified love for its inhabitants. He loved the people of the world so much that he voluntarily limited himself in significant ways in order to restore them to the kingdom. The New Testament writer John penned one of the best-known statements from the gospel writings: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Love is the nature of the King-Father and the King-Son.Jesus is the perfect representation of God in human form. He came to show us what God is like and to take away our fear of Him, enabling us to call him not only our King, but also our Father again, because we have the same Spirit within us. 

@The Governor’s Limitation. 

The King-Son’s voluntary limitation of himself was prompted by the limited way in which the Governor had been able to work with the earth’s inhabitants since the rebellion of humanity. As we noted earlier, the Governor could only come upon people in Old Testament times to do the work of the kingdom in specific instances; he could not work from withinthem yet. When the Son came to earth as the man Jesus, the Spirit could now live on earth within his body. Yet the Gover-nor still could not dwell in all of humanity. The King-Father’s plan was for the Governor to eventually be released into all human beings who would receive him through the provision of the King-Son. 

@The King-Son Limited Himself in order to Become Unlimited. 

Jesus’ teachings were filled with seeming paradoxes that contain great truths. For example, he taught that in order to live eternally, one had to die to oneself; in order to be strong in kingdom power, one had to be weak in oneself. He lived out a paradox by voluntarily limiting himself so that he could become unlimited in the lives of his followers those who became children of the King and received the Governor within them. Jesus limited himself in the following ways. He... 
√ emptied himself so that we could be full; became poor so that we could be rich. √ placed himself under the restrictions of a world of space and time so that we could be connected to the eternal kingdom. 
√ subjected himself to law so he could free those under it. √submitted to physical death so we could have eternal life.Paul wrote to the kingdom citizens in Philippi that Jesus,being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputa-tion, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.All the above are demonstrations of the King-Son’s powerful love for the inhabitants of earth. He did these things so that he could send the Governor back to us and in us with-out limitations. 
The Holy Spirit continues the ministry of Jesus on earth. Jesus told his disciples,And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.Let’s take a closer look at the ways in which the King-Son limited himself for our sakes. 

@Limited Himself from Glory. 

In a letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth, Paul wrote, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he become poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” The King-Son emp-tied himself of his heavenly power, glory, and riches to live as a physical, earthly being dependent on the King-Father for everything through the Spirit. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”When the Son became a man, he temporarily set aside his former glory. 

Just before his death, Jesus prayed, “Father, glo-rify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Only three of Jesus’ disciples were given a glimpse of this glory when he was on earth, when he was “transfigured” by the Father for a short time:Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by them-selves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. 

If you wish, I will put up three shelters one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”The effect of this experience on Peter, James, and John was overwhelming. The Son had set aside this magnificent glory to fulfill his mission on earth. 

@Limited Himself to Time and Space. 

The eternal King-Son also allowed himself to become restricted by time. He who owns the universe limited himself to a small region on a small planet during an earthly life of thirty-three years, where he could be in only one place at a time. He lived there, died there, rose again there, and even ascended to heaven from there. Eternity allowed itself to be limited within time, so that those in time could be reconnected to the eternal kingdom.

 @Limited Himself under Law. 

Paul wrote, “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” The law of Moses and the sacrificial system had been instituted for those who were disconnected from the King. Jesus had full access to, and total communion with, the heavenly Father; yet he submit-ted himself to all the requirements of the law so that he could perfectly fulfill them. 

Then, when we receive his perfect sac-rifice on our behalf, we are enabled to obey God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The book of the prophet Ezekiel says,I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.Jesus also submitted himself to the laws of nature in this physical world. 
Can you imagine God having a tired body? Being thirsty? Hungry? 

The God who created the whole world and all its oceans, lakes, and rivers had to ask someone else for a drink of water. The God who made the trees and their ability to bear fruit had to stop to pick fruit to eat. The God whom the psalmist said “neither slumbers nor sleeps” had to rest. In fact, Jesus was once so tired that he kept sleeping in the middle of a violent storm! He temporarily submitted himself to physical limitations in order to give back dominion power to humanity. @Limited Himself by Death. 

The Author of life had to look into the eyes of death. He met it face-to-face and submitted to it. Then he conquered it, taking away its sting from humanity. The prophet Isaiah said it pleased the King-Father for the King-Son to suffer and die. Why would it please him to have the Son experience agoniz-ing suffering and death? Again, it is because he didn’t want the earth’s inhabitants to experi-ence spiritual death as a result of their rebellion, and therefore the King-Son willingly died in our place. 

He allowed himself to be limited in a physical human body, and to be limited by the experience of death, because only another human being could be a viable substitute for humanity. Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus had no sin, but he took all our sins on himself, and that is why he the perfect man, the Second Adam died.Yet Jesus was resurrected, never to be limited by death again. In the same way, when we enter into the kingdom, we receive eternal life, and death can’t keep our bodies in the grave forever. 

 Again, Paul wrote, “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.” The Son’s limitation of death brought unlimited life for us! Death has no ultimate claim on us because Jesus paid the punishment of death for us. As Paul said, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteous-ness of God”—so that we could receive eternal life and be in right standing with the kingdom again. 

This is another clear difference between the heavenly King and the human leaders we are familiar with. You don’t hear of presidents or prime ministers dying in office for the purpose of freeing their citizens. A leader may be assassinated for standing up for a cause or because of someone’s hatred or insanity. But to choose to die for his citizens? This is unheard of in our experience. 

Remember the words of the disciple John: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus compared his sacrifice for humanity to a shepherd laying down his life for his sheep: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep.” His death was a demonstration of pure love for his people. 

@The Promise of Unlimited Kingdom Influence.

 Jesus’ limiting of himself made possible the return of unlimited kingdom influence on earth. I’ve heard some people say longingly that they wish Jesus Christ was on earth today. They believe that if he were, and they met him personally, their lives would be different. Perhaps you wish for the same thing. I used to, also. But I’ve come to see that this is a bad wish; it’s not in our best interests. The transformation of our lives is possible because Jesus is no longer physically on earth. Why is this so? First, let’s consider the logistics of it.

 If Jesus was physically here, and you wanted to visit him, you’d have to pay for the plane fare to Palestine. After you arrived, you’d have to make your way through all the crowds just to try to get near him. And then, you couldn’t expect him to spend all his time with you. Think of the millions or billions of people who would also want to meet with him every day. Even so, we seem to hold on to the idea that Jesus’ physical presence on earth is what we need. 

This is because we haven’t realized that the Governor is now available to all people at all times. Jesus’ disciples made the same error we do. When the King-Son told his followers he was leaving earth to go back to the King-Father in the heavenly home country, they became depressed. They had become attached to Jesus’ physical presence in their lives, and they were afraid to lose it. Yet let’s look at Jesus’ response to this perspective:Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 

But I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you....In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.Jesus was saying that he had to return to heaven so that he could send the Governor to be with them always. They would not see Jesus after he went away, but when he sent the Gover-nor from heaven shortly thereafter, they would be indwelled with the Holy Spirit, who would guide them into all truth and remind them of everything Jesus had said to them.

When the Governor came, he wouldn’t be with them only in a limited way, such as Jesus had to be when he was ministering to someone else or alone praying to the Father. He would be with them continually, day and night, in all situations. Before, if Jesus was in Samaria, he couldn’t be in Galilee. If he was in Jerusalem, he couldn’t be in Bethany.We should be glad that he has returned to heaven because now the kingdom can be all over the world at the same time through the Holy Spirit, who lives in all kingdom citizens. 

Jesus assured his disciples, in essence, “My going away is for your good. The Governor is with you now, but he will be inyou.” It wasn’t Jesus’ purpose to physically remain on the earth because this would have stopped the King’s plan of restoration right before its culmination in the return of the Governor.When Jesus was arrested and crucified, Lucifer thought he had won the victory over the King that he had been look-ing for. Actually, he was being set up for total defeat. If Jesus hadn’t gone to the cross and been resurrected, we would still be trapped in rebellion and in the kingdom of darkness.

 If Jesus hadn’t returned to the heavenly home country and sent the Governor to fill us, the kingdom of God would not have been able to fully return to the earth. Jesus had said, in effect, “If I go to the cross, I will be able to draw all people to me and into the kingdom. I will be able to release billions of people into their original purpose of kingdom rulership and dominion.” Jesus limited himself, in the many ways that he did, out of self-sacrificial love and devotion to the estranged children of the King. He made reconciliation and restoration possible for all the inhabitants of the world. 

@A Priceless Gift for Humanity. 

We have seen all along that the most important person on earth is the Holy Spirit, the Governor of the heavenly kingdom. He is a priceless gift to humanity, and it delighted the King-Father to restore the Governor to us. Luke the physician recorded Jesus as saying to his disciples, “If you then, though you are evil [controlled by the kingdom of darkness], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven [Ruler of the kingdom of light] give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” He also said, “Your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”In the next chapter, we will see how the Governor returned to earth.