The Reality Of Two Spiritual Kingdoms

One of the truly mind-blowing revelations for me as a new Christian was to receive insight into the reality of two spiritual kingdoms – the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light.  Prior to that revelation, this was something I used to mock and ridicule whenever I heard it mentioned.  My childhood religious upbringing gave mention of heaven and hell as places where one’s soul would end up upon death – heaven if you were good and hell if you were bad – but that was the extent of the teaching and my knowledge of such places and, probably the same applied for those who taught it.

It was not until I became born again by the Holy Spirit of God and began to receive His biblical revelation did I begin to get a grasp of these two kingdom realities and the impact either one has on each life – depending on which kingdom we live under.  In other words, once God delivered, washed and cleansed me from all my sin by the blood of Jesus Christ and placed me in His kingdom of light, that same light then began to shine in on the  darkness just like the Scripture says it does in Isaiah 9:2. Biblically, ‘darkness’ is illustrative of Satan’s kingdom, the way of sin, afflictions, moral depravity, ignorance, death and hell.

Once I saw the truth of these illustrations I had no problems in accepting the fact that I had been a servant in the kingdom of darkness for thirty-nine and a half years.  Neither did I have problems in accepting the fact that this is the reality for every human being, who has not become born again by the Holy Spirit of God.  No wonder the biblical Jesus Christ and His gospel message of repentance, freedom from sin and liberty in life is hated.  Satan will make sure of it, because each gain for God is a loss to him.  Satan knows that he was defeated the day Jesus rose from His death, but he does not want you and me to know that!

By the grace of God, it is through having this knowledge of the two spiritual kingdoms and the way each one has impacted my life that greatly underpins the motives I have for proclaiming the biblical Jesus Christ and His gospel.  Because I learned of my violations to God’s word, plus His patterns and principles living in that kingdom of darkness, I also  learned that if one will choose to stand on the word of God and embrace His patterns and principles come hell or high water, then God will shake hell or high water to make sure that person is supported and, if need be, vindicated.

During the early years of setting up our radio station a number of very gifted and experienced people took leading roles.  Some had come from commercial radio backgrounds as experienced broadcasters, technicians and programmers.  Collectively, there were many years of knowledge, experience and expertise among them, but sadly, for the most part, it was not to be of too much advantage.  Why?  Because of a clash of personalities and egos.  What should have worked to our advantage, worked to our disadvantage because they couldn’t work together as a team.

People love to say “knowledge is power.”  I say that is not true.  If all it took was knowledge to build a radio station for example, then we would have had one of the best imaginable.  So I disagree strongly with that statement, believing it comes from the kingdom of darkness.  You can have all the knowledge in the world but what good is it to you when it fails to deliver what it promises? So what is the alternative?  Wisdom. Wisdom is power.  The Bible tells us it is the principle thing Proverbs 4:7.  Wisdom shows us how to rightly apply knowledge.  However, there is no such thing as wisdom in the kingdom of darkness and that is one of the reasons the world doesn’t work.

True wisdom only comes from God – from the kingdom of light.  Which means we can only receive and participate in God’s wisdom as we allow Him to deliver us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His light.  For a countless, multitude of reasons I am very glad God took me from the darkness to the light, one of them being that it came in handy at the radio station.  At a crucial stage in our development I was asked to take up a leading role.  I knew next to nothing about radio, but I knew God and I knew people.  The attitude and behavior of those people was not new to me, however, nor offensive, having once lived in their kingdom only to act the same way. 

Nevertheless, once God confirmed to me that this calling was from Him I decided that  regardless of price to my personal future and reputation, things would be done God’s way.  Not being a Christian station, it was not wise to use ‘Christian-speak,’ so I spoke in terms of universal law.  The first thing we had to do was sort out our relationships.  I suggested that it was not important for us to like one another, but it was important that we work together in unity and harmony for the greater good, which was the station and that if we could not do that, then it would only be a matter of time when some would not be with us.

All membership, including the committee were volunteers so there was no suggestion of people getting fired and the antagonists knew that.  What they did not know was when they failed to co-operate when asked, I simply went to the Lord and highlighted the violation of His truths, patterns and principles.  As a result, the behavior of some changed, but mostly, He removed them from the station.  In the natural, some got “sick of it all” and left, others tried it on with manipulation, intimidation and threats, but in each individual case God acted in the supernatural and over the coming weeks, months and years they were gone – about twenty-three people all up.

One of the earliest problems created by ego, differing opinions and a lack of wisdom, was the misuse of finances which resulted in never having enough money to pay our debts or for the purchase of the right equipment.  I simply saw it as another violation of God’s way with money and explained to the people that if this practice was kept up then soon the place would fall over and collapse, the same way as things do when the principles of  gravity and physics are violated.  By the grace of God though, I was also blessed to  inform that if we got our finances in order, then we would always have money for our needs.

I haven’t been part of the management for twelve years, but God has honored those words for the last eighteen years.  We have never had a financial problem since and, we will not, provided we act according to what is right.  God was gracious with the dispensing of His wisdom.  We decided to send to all in whom we were in debt a partial monthly payment with a covering letter explaining that if they would accept those terms we would fulfill our obligations.

Within a year or so we were out of debt.  Not only did we get out of the red, but gradually we got well and truly into the black.  Opportunities were created for us whereby money came flowing in enabling us to buy the best radio equipment and it is ongoing.  God backed up every word He gave me to impart to the membership over those years and He still does so today whenever there is a need arising.

Most of the committee of management members during my time then and now have never claimed to be Christian in their belief systems.  But they have continued to embrace those same patterns and principles that were laid down all those years ago.  Personally, it is also my belief that the key people among them were and are people of such character that they would always have chosen to do right before wrong, but I am grateful for God in being used by Him to draw the distinctions between the two spiritual kingdoms – darkness and light – and the practical outcomes of embracing either one.  “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:5.