The kingdom of God belongs to those who love God
As we’ve seen above, for a person to enter the kingdom of God he must understand that he needs to be sinless to enter in, and that he is not sinless and so he cannot enter in without outside help. Another key requirement is that the person must want to enter in because that is where God is. That is, the person must love God and want to be with God. That is why the scriptures say that the kingdom of heaven is promised to people who love God.
Jas 2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
The kingdom of heaven is promised to those who love God so much that they want to be where He is.
Those who love God will do whatever He asks of them (that is, they will meet all the requirements that He has for entering the kingdom of heaven), and God will make all things work for their good, and they will end up in His kingdom.
Rom 8:28-30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
There are a lot of people who want to go to heaven because it is a far better alternative that Hell. Hell is a place of torment, but heaven is a place of comfort. People want to go to heaven because they want comfort and not torture. However, God has promised the kingdom of God to those who love Him, not to those who love comfort. It is worth spending time meditating on this fact!
Ask yourself this: if God were in Hell and the devil were in heaven, would you still want to go to heaven?
Those who love God also love the children of God.
1 Jn 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
1 Jn 3:14-15 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Jn 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Examine yourself then! If there is even one child of God whom you don’t love you cannot say that you love God.
What does it mean to "love your brother"? Love is patient, love is kind, … (1 Cor 13).
The Christians today spend huge amounts of money to reach the lost. They show a great deal of love towards those who are lost. But what happens when a lost person gets saved and becomes our brother or sister? We are called to love our brother. Unfortunately, what I see is that the church today is filled with people who do not love their brother. They backbite against their brother and sister. They are jealous of their brother, and cannot handle it when things go well to their brother. The kingdom of God is not promised to such people.
Even if we start well, and belong to the kingdom of God in the beginning, that does not guarantee that we will belong to the kingdom of God in the end.
The Ephesians began well, but in the end they left their first love and were in danger of having the lampstand taken away from them.
Rev 2:4-5 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.’
Solomon loved the Lord initially but in the end his wives turned his heart away from God.
1 Ki 3:3 Now Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
1 Ki 11:4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father {had been.}
In the light of this, we (both you and I) need to ensure that we not only begin well, but also end well.
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