Matthew 16.19 and 23 promise, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven. ..Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.

God loves humanity. He entrusts that which He wants most to us for accomplishing. In the beginning He created one man and one woman for populating not only the world but His eternal kingdom. Two people, responsible for bringing into existence all people, because God wants billions of people, to live with Him forever. Awesome responsibility (and one main reason why God does not support the homosexual lifestyle).

Our rebellion against God creates a chasm with God that can only be bridged through Jesus the Savior. The responsibility for bringing all humanity to reconciliation with God through Jesus has been given to those already reconciled to Him (the keys of the kingdom). People will spend eternity in heaven or hell determined by their restoration with God through Jesus Christ or not.

The means for heralding that necessity of reconciliation and teaching obedience to God’s ways has been given to the Church. Failure to obey the Great Commission is failure to bring people into God’s eternal kingdom. What keeps us from obedience to God so that men can be restored to God? Focusing on human concerns and not the concerns of God.

We are a hindrance to the Spirit’s work in peoples lives when we remain self absorbed. We are to focus instead on God’s love for humanity by expressing that love to humanity through service, giving and sharing the Good News of reconciliation through Jesus the Savior.