What does it mean to be spiritually lost? We often hear Christians talk about the “lost.” The lost are people who have either not heard the gospel or who have decided that following Jesus is not for them. It also includes good, moral, religious people who do not have a personal trust in Jesus as both lord and savior. Those who are lost do not know that they are lost. Unless their eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit they see no need for Jesus in their lives. That is because the things of God are spiritually discerned. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18 | NIV).

Jesus proclaimed he “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10 | NIV). He used this short parable to summarize what he meant. “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:4-7 | NIV).

The Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Christ and Kingdom of Heaven are synonymous. They do not refer to a specific geographic location or people. They describe God’s reign in a place and in a people who acknowledge his authority and submit to his sovereign will. The purpose of the kingdom is to redeem people from worldly influence and Satan’s control. (Matthew 4, Luke 4) In the New Testament the terms represent the divine authority to rule that God has given Jesus. “The kingdom of God is the redemptive rule of God in Jesus defeating Satan and the powers of evil and delivering people from the sway of evil.” [1] It is established in the hearts of believers through childlike belief. (Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:15 and Luke 18:17)

God’s kingdom is on the move. Sometimes it may seem like it is advancing at a snail’s pace, but, rest assured, it is advancing. Jesus prayed, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) The kingdom represents a return to God’s original plan for humankind; a time when it comprised both heaven and earth. Then, his relationship with people was so intimate he walked on earth in the cool of the morning and interacted, face-to-face with them. (Genesis 3:8) But, Satan, a fallen angel, introduced the disobedience of sin, severing that relationship.

Reign implies absolute influence and control. And there is a battle for every human soul. Two kingdoms are in direct opposition and deadly competition. God has always reigned in heaven. But since his ejection from heaven, Satan has ruled the earth. Until Jesus’s reign is completely established, Satan is the ruler of the world. Whether you realize it or not, you are a citizen of one kingdom or the other. If you are not serving God as a disciple of Jesus, you are serving Satan and if nothing changes you are destined to spend eternity with him and his angels in the place of punishment reserved for them. (Matthew 25:41) Those who continually resist the gospel have been spiritually blinded. (2 Corinthians 4:4) But God has always offered a way to leave Satan’s kingdom. He has reigned in the hearts and lives of everyone who demonstrated faith in him before the incarnation; people like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Ruth and David.  Since then, he has been both savior and lord in all who are Christ’s disciples.

For now, the best way to understand the kingdom concept is “already,” but “not yet.” The kingdom exists in the hearts of believers who are striving to live God’s way in the world. But, his consolidated kingdom will eventually encompass all of creation. Until then he has given divine ruling authority to Jesus (Luke 22:29), who proclaimed his supernatural rule during his earthly ministry. (John 18:36) Although there is a spiritual battle raging for control of human souls (Ephesians 6:12), the end of the story has already been written. God’s kingdom on earth will be fully restored when Jesus returns, (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) Satan is destroyed (Revelation 20:10) and all believers who have died are raised to eternal life and clothed in incorruptible bodies. (1 Corinthians 15:53-54) Once he has completed his rule by subduing all enemies, Jesus will return the kingdom to his Father. (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) When that happens God will live among his people for all eternity. (Revelation 21:3) God wins!

[1] G.E Ladd, “Kingdom of Christ, God, Heaven,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell, (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing, 2001) p. 658.

The incarnation describes the Son of God wrapping himself in human flesh to save humanity from the penalty of sin. Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defined incarnation as, “The act of clothing with flesh. The act of assuming flesh, or of taking a human body and the nature of man; as the incarnation of the Son of God. The apostle Paul explained it like this. “Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us” (Philippians 2:6-7 | CEV). He relinquished for a time his rightful place as the Second Person of the Trinity to take on characteristics he did not previously possess—those of a human being. He did not divest himself of his divinity, rather he became one person with a divine nature who always spoke of himself as a “me” not an “us.” He was one person with two natures, not two persons in one body. In effect, the Creator took on the character of his creation; manifesting the traits of both as a singular entity.

When we speak of the incarnation we begin with the familiar Christmas story. Mary, a virgin, was miraculously impregnated by God and gave birth to Jesus, God’s son. He was born fully human and fully God, yet without sin. He is God-man. Because he did not have an earthly father, he did not become a new, human being—born in sin. Instead he lived and died apart from the covenant of works and free from sin. Even though he was tempted in every respect as other humans he never succombed to sin’s temptation. Because he remained sinless he was able to serve as the atoning sacrifice for all humankind. The death of God’s only begotten son demonstrated God’s mercy and satisfied his judgment. Jesus took the punishment we deserved in order to repair the relationship between God and humankind. “This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God” (1 John 4:10 | MSG).

“The Holy Spirit is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the believer.”  That is how author of Christian Theology,  Millard J. Erickson, discribed the role the Holy Spirit plays in the life of a believer. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998, p. 862) Although he is considered the third person of the Trinity, that does not mean he is less important than the Father or the Son. He is equally God.

The last instruction Jesus gave his disciples was, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4-5 | NIV). When that happened, everyone that was filled with the Holy Spirit spoke in other tongues. You can read all about it in Chapter 2 of the Book of Acts.

God’s Spirit lives inside the true believer. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16 | RSV) His presence marks us as genuine Christ-followers. “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit . . .” (Ephesians 1:13 | ESV). We don’t need a list of rules because he guides, teaches and reminds us what it looks like to glorify God by the way we live. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26 | NIV).

He opens our eyes to Scripture and facilitates our understanding of what God reveals to us about himself. “However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-11 | NIV).

Finally, the Holy Spirit prays for us when we are at a loss for words. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” Romans 8:26-27 | ESV).

Sadly, there is a lot of disagreement over whether speaking in tongues, along with the other spiritual gifts, are for the contemporary church. That likely results from lack of experience, rather that solid exegesis. There is no biblical evidence that tongues or the other gifts of the Spirit ceased with the apostles or that they even ceased at all. There is no reason to believe that they are not all available to us today.

The apostle Paul took great pains to explain the importance of spiritual gifts, including tongues, in 1 Corinthians 12. Why would he do that if they were only temporary? In an age when people are too proud to walk to an altar to repent, it is no wonder we do not hear very much about speaking in tongues. It requires complete surrender to God—an abandonment of self-will and self-control. It is a supernatural experience that has no natural equivalent.

There is no Scripture that asserts being filled with the Holy Spirit requires the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues, but that seems to have been the pattern in the 1st century church. Practically every time we read where people received the Holy Spirit, they spoke in tongues. (Acts 2:4, 10:46, and 19:6) One can’t help but wonder, if it is available and, if the apostle Paul considered it important, “ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you” (1 Corinthians 14:18) why wouldn’t we want it, along with the other spiritual gifts? “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1 | ESV).