Of the increase of His Kingdom
Martha Olawale
“Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end...” Isaiah 9:7a
I’ve been hearing a lot about some people not wanting to have anything to do with God or identify as Christians. However, thinking that this reduces the effect of the work of redemption is relatively false as I see differently because I speak through the lens of God. While, like every generation, the battle for the hearts of humanity rages, millions are embracing the message of God’s love each year, and through them, what I see is the increase of His Kingdom.
Somehow, we flipped the script, mistaking the narrow road for the broad. There was never a suggestion in scripture that the broad gate leads to Heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13b-14, “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
If we think about the gravity of the essence of our faith and the power behind the force that has kept the story of the cross alive for thousands of years, we’ll approach evangelism with better resolve. It is not the acceptance of the multitude in one generation that authenticates the saving power of the cross; it is each soul saved year after year, generation after generation since Jesus paid the price for our sins. Twelve became one hundred and twenty and then millions. Jesus lives through each salvation story and herein lies our resolve.
To speak of the God who has defied time, the rise of kings, and the folding of kingdoms is the most incredible privilege anyone can have. And understanding this propels us to reach the world around us for Jesus, celebrating each soul’s salvation like a million people saved from death. Christ remains immutable to change because He exists beyond the earth's foundations, and we are simply banner bearers of a truth that never ends.
Christianity is not dying because it can’t. There are millions of Christians in all nooks and corners of the world, and in each is a fire, no matter how small, ignited by their new birth in Christ, and that fire will always give birth to more fires. Each day, even in the most unlikely places, many people still stream in surrender to the foot of that rugged cross at Calvary.
The story of the crucified and resurrected Christ did not give birth to a religion; it simply introduces us to the love of God. And from one generation to another, that love story keeps capturing the hearts of people, young, old, poor, and rich, from different creeds and languages across the globe. Imagine what the devil thought when he saw Jesus take His last breath on the cross. It looked like the end because he had no idea it was the beginning of the redemptive story of man’s return to his maker. No matter how much humanity tries, we can’t write Christ out of His story because our history and future are wrapped up in a fraction of who He is.
