Jesus, Our Model of Kingdom Advancement by Larry Sparks

Day 19 of the “What Child is This?” Advent Devotional

But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Luke 11:20)

Jesus states that He cast out demons with the finger of God. In Matthew 12:28, His statement is phrased this way: “if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” These verses have so many implications to us—God’s ambassadors who are filled with the Holy Spirit and carry His Kingdom.

These Scriptures also present a reality that bring us full circle in our Advent Journey to beholding the glorious babe laying in the manger, Jesus the Anointed One. I remind you, He was and is the divine Son of God. He never ceased being God. He did not take a sabbatical or hiatus from being God during His time on Earth.

100% man, 100% God. Only God Himself could pull this off. Thinking about it too much and for too long not only causes our heads to hurt, but it can lead us into some dangerous directions as we attempt to make sense of something that, in the end, makes perfect sense to God and we must embrace it by faith. The mechanics are a mystery; the expression is not.

Here is the expression. God walked the Earth as Jesus. This is clear. While He was begotten of Father God, He entered the world like any other human being—through the womb of woman (albeit, this woman was a virgin).

He grew up. He matured. He learned. He was educated. Scripture even tells us that this Jesus “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk. 2:52). God in human form somehow increased in favor with God. I cannot explain it; I can only embrace it. Finally, Jesus taught us about the Kingdom of God and then demonstrated how to actually live out the lifestyle He taught about. He did not present realities that would be off limits to us. He didn’t give us pie-in-the-sky theology that sounded great and looked impressive, but was out of reach to non-God people.

We discover that God walked the Earth as a man for 3 ½ years to show humanity what type of lifestyle would become available after the cross. Jesus’ ministry, from the time He was baptized until Calvary, was a glorious invitation to you and I. He healed the sick and cast out demons and thus, increased the scope of His earthly reign by the Spirit of God. This same Holy Spirit lives inside of us. We discovered how Jesus is our great invitation into a lifestyle of Kingdom advancement and increase. Understand, Jesus did not come into the Earth to model something that was unattainable. He not only gave us the invitation and blueprint, but also gave us the power and ability to actually live this out.

Advent Prayer

Thank You, Father for sending the Holy Spirit and empowering me to accept the invitation. Jesus did not call me into something that was un-attainable; He modeled a lifestyle that was possible to every believer cleansed of sin and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Thank You, Lord that the supernatural life is my reality today!