The story is told that legendary Spanish artist Pablo Picasso was virtually unknown when he painted his famous portrait of American writer Gertrude Stein in 1906. Picasso gave the portrait to Miss Stein since, as the artist recalled with a smile, at that time in his career “the difference between a gift and a sale were negligible.”

Some years later the painting attracted the interest of millionaire art collector Dr. Albert Barnes, who asked Miss Stein how much she paid Picasso for it. “Nothing,” she replied. Naturally, he gave it to me.” Dr. Barnes was very skeptical that such a priceless work of art could have been a gift.

If you have thought about God’s heart of kindness and compassion expressed in the gospel of the kingdom, you can really appreciate Dr. Barnes skepticism. Think about what believers have been given in Christ: forgiveness, eternal life, authority, destiny, and all the riches of heaven – this and so much more at a cost we could never have paid! A priceless gift offered to every human being for free. A rescue that was purchased by the shed blood of the perfect Son of God.       

But that’s not all of our gifts; we have the privilege of sharing this treasure with others. The good news of the kingdom is that God is establishing His rule and reign over all things. Any person can enter His eternal kingdom by turning from sin and trusting Christ alone. Then we engage as holy warriors in a united advance to bring all things under YHWH’s absolute supremacy and power.     

Four major military branches of the United States are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Four major forces in God’s kingdom advance are kindness, love, mercy, and grace. These mighty weapons are not of this world, and the forces of darkness cannot contend with them and will not win against them.