Those who come to the Father by faith, in repentance, will receive all the kisses of God. He gives us the kiss of a new heart and a new spirit. Our hearts of stone are turned to hearts of flesh by the grace of God. We are kissed with strong assurance. Though the prodigal may have intense fears of walking away again, we see that the father is not apprehensive that the son will disgrace his mercy and forgiveness. For the Father knows that of those who are His, He will not lose one of them.

But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. – Luke 15:20
The kiss of the father in the parable of the prodigal son is full of meaning. The prodigal has returned home, but only after forsaking his father and laying waste to his inheritance. Living comfortably in his father’s house, the son wells up with pride and renounces his father’s authority. He requests his estate and leaves. Filling his life with evil, he takes harlots as his companions, feeds his lusts, and squanders his father’s precious gifts. Oh’ but the child of God is never outside their Father’s providence, and famine hits the land. The prodigal’s hopes are soon dashed upon the rocks of vanity and sin, and he finds himself in bondage.
He is joined to a citizen of that country where he is required to feed pigs. In this state, the lords of this country offer him nothing but to eat and sleep in the pig stalls. For a Jewish man to live with pigs is but another image of his descent into spiritual impurity. Sin brings temporary satisfaction but piles on long-lasting burdens, impossible to remove. The prodigal is in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction and delusion, but the grace of God is far-reaching, and the prodigal comes to himself and says, “It would be better to be a slave in my father’s house than to live here.” What a shame it is that many never come to themselves and never feel the burden of sin on their back, and what a pity many who do feel it never venture to go home. They die in their despair, seeking some way to have the burden removed. They sink ever slowly into the “slough of despond.” What a shame many have even taken their own lives in this despair.
In his unworthy state, covered in the stains and wounds of the foreign land, the prodigal walks slowly home, crestfallen, seeking only servitude in the house of his father. However, he is not even worthy of that, for dishonoring your father and mother is a crime worthy of death under the law.
When he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion. Our Father’s eyes are ever on us, even when we cannot see Him. When our heads hang low, dejected from our sin, He looks and has compassion: even when our pain is self-inflicted. The prodigal’s father then ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Before the son could say a word, the father had placed his lips upon his son. He did not wait until the filth was washed away. Nor was he concerned with any of the scoffings that the community might bring.
Oh, the kiss of the Father says so much. Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon on this parable, highlights what this kiss shows us. Here are a few of his points. The kiss shows much love for the son. There has been no loss of love in the heart of the father. No uncertainty in the love for his child has occurred due to his son’s crimes. The kiss demonstrates complete forgiveness, as it speaks of absolution. The debt the son incurred has been forgotten, and the burden of sin and guilt is gone. In the kisses of God, we see full restoration. The son is as much a son as he had ever been; the thoughts of servitude in his father’s house are to be rejected. No more food fit for swine, nor clothes fit for prisoners. There shall be a feast fit for royalty, a new robe is to be placed upon him, and a ring to signify to the world that he is part of his father’s family. The son has complete restoration, and all this happens before the son can speak his confession, which he has undoubtedly been rehearsing.
There is a beauty in true humility, for it does not flow from our natural self. It is the direct result of the working of the Spirit of God.
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The torch now passes to us, the revived company of Christ’s End Times army. Having been lavished with incomparable blessings and equipped with Heaven’s full authority, it is our charge to carry His unstoppable advance into every sphere of society. Through the weapons of the Church, the means of grace, faithful evangelism, and multiplying discipleship, we push forward Christ’s Kingdom invasion into territories still held captive. Brothers and sisters, the war for the world’s soul rages on! Will you take your place among the ranks of this fearless battalion? The Commander calls us to urgent duty—to see every enemy of God rendered helpless at the throne of Christ as the knowledge of His glory overspreads the Earth like waters covering the sea.

Introduction
From the most humble of beginnings, Jesus launched an unstoppable invasion of Satan’s realm that would shake the foundations of the world and wrestle back control from the prince and power of the air. With just twelve unlikely men, this peasant Rabbi from Nazareth set in motion a spiritual tsunami sweeping over Jerusalem, flooding through Judea and Samaria, and eventually inundating the entire Roman empire – toppling history’s greatest superpower from within.
What started as a fringe rabble of outcasts and nobodies exploded into a global force that now totals over 2.5 billion worshipers, with no signs of slowing. This was no accident in human history. This is not the story of a band of losers who bumble along in a world getting rotten until their Savior tractor beams them back home to the mothership. This was always the Creator’s intent – that His image-bearing people would multiply and fill the Earth with true worshipers who willingly obey His reign (Genesis 1:28). Though sin brought devastation and ruin, Jesus, the greater Adam, has restored humanity to her purpose. He has forgiven us of our sins and re-invested us with our original Adamic authority to advance God’s Kingdom to all peoples and places, leading the Church to bring God’s blessings to every family and ethnicity on Earth (Genesis 12:1-3). Just as Jacob prophesied, the nations will one day rally under Judah’s scepter of righteousness, rendering complete allegiance to Shiloh, who is Christ the King (Genesis 49:10). From that tiniest mustard seed, a revolution was unleashed that cannot be stopped until it has brought the entire world under the shade of its branches. This is the kind of unstoppable Kingdom that Jesus is building.
Beyond the book of Genesis, we looked at how the Exodus and the story of Israel prove the doctrine of Postmillennialism. We saw how the era of the kings collapsed in fantastic failure but looked forward to a true and better King who would make good on all of these promises. We saw how God gave the people of Israel Postmillennial anthems to sing in the book of Psalms. And how He gave them postmillennial hopes and promises throughout the prophets. Last week, we examined how the Gospel of Matthew proves a postmillennial eschatology, where Christ’s Kingdom progressively grows and expands, filling the entire Earth before His return. Through Jesus’ parables, teachings, proclamations, and the Lord’s Prayer itself, Matthew paints a stunning portrait of how this Kingdom will take over the world like Georgia Kudzu.
And that is what we are going to be talking about today. We will show how the Kingdom landed on the shores of Earth like the Americans upon the beaches of Normandy. We will show how Jesus eradicated the fiercest enemy of His Kingdom, which is the devil and His demons, along with the unlikely loyalists who aligned themselves with His vision. In conclusion, from the Gospels, we will see how this Kingdom that put down its enemies in the first century will build and grow throughout all centuries until there is nothing left for it to conquer.
Phase 1: The Arrival of the Kingdom
For centuries, the prophets strained to glimpse through the veil, longing for the day when Heaven’s invading force would storm the sin-stained beaches of this embattled world. Isaiah foretold a light shattering the darkness (Isaiah 9:2), a Son given who would bear endless peace upon His shoulders (Isaiah 9:6-7). The Prophet Malachi proclaimed the Lord was coming, but who could endure the day of His arrival (Malachi 3:1-2)?
At last, with the coming of Christ, the longships of God’s Kingdom were sighted on the horizon. As the prophesied Dayspring from on high (Luke 1:78), Jesus marched through the dusty paths of Palestine, sounding the trumpet blasts that the long-awaited invasion was now imminent – “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” (Mark 1:15) John the Baptist’s voice echoed from the wilderness – prepare, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near (Matthew 3:2)!
This was no temporary skirmish but the beginning of an unstoppable, eternal occupation. As the angel decreed, Christ’s Kingdom would know no end, unlike the fragile, fading dynasties of mere earthly kings (Luke 1:33). The joyous shouts of the people greeted the Messiah’s advent into Jerusalem – “Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our father David!” (Mark 11:10) They recognized in this humble rabbi the Conquering King who would reestablish David’s throne forever.
Jesus was the D-Day of the ages, the point-man of Heaven’s liberating army who had burst upon the world’s beaches to re-subjugate the planet to its rightful Ruler. His very presence revealed that the ancient prophecies had found their fulfillment – the Kingdom Moses foretold was no longer a vision but a tangible reality unfolding before their eyes (Luke 10:9). This was no political coup achieved through human strength, but an unstoppable invasion from the realm of untainted holiness and omnipotent authority (John 18:36).
As Christ’s feet hit the embattled shores, every ritual, tradition, and earthly pretension was exposed as a hollow symbol that must now submit before the unveiled reality. He was the true Temple, the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, the Feast of Heaven’s own deliverance. The old order lay obsolete before this invading Sovereign who had come to pitch His beachhead into the human heart and raise His flag of willing allegiance over all people and nations.
This spearheaded an advancing occupation – not to timidly coexist alongside the capitals of sin and death but to utterly displace them. What began as a small force would grow into an ever-increasing onslaught until the entirety of enemy territory was liberated and reclaimed for God’s eternal dominion (Mark 4:30-32). This mustard seed of a regiment would become an overwhelming surge, unfurling its banner of freedom outward until filling the whole Earth.
Satan’s blitzkrieg of deception and oppression had now met its match in the infinite reserves of the invading Kingdom. The beachhead had been secured. The Kingdom had landed on Earth’s bloodied shores. From its foothold in the Galilean hills, this invasion force would now relentlessly push its liberating march into every sphere of human existence until the entire global theater fell in resignation before the undisputed reign of God. The remaining resistance pockets of darkness could either concede and be emancipated into restoration or face the decisive overthrow the prophets foretold. This invading Kingdom would not cease its march until all enemies, foreign and domestic, were expelled and the Earth was filled with the glory of Christ the King.
Phase 2: The Battle Between Heaven and Hell
As Jesus landed upon the shores of this fallen world, being born of a virgin, He was not greeted with celebratory fanfare. In His earliest years, Satan tried to kill him through the mentally depraved puppet king named Herod, and this was just the beginning of the war efforts from hell that would be leveled on Christ. Satan and his demonic forces recognized the dire threat Jesus posed. They knew Jesus had not come to Earth to affirm their right to rule. He had come to dispel the spiritual squatters who had been living in God’s world, ruining His good Earth for far too long, which means His arrival signaled their demise. This is why Satan and the demons come out in a full-on military assault on Jesus all throughout the Gospels. This was their last stand before surrendering the world back into the hands of Christ (Matthew 28:18).
From the wilderness, where the serpent once slithered into the garden and brought deception to the line of men, Satan comes out to meet his Creator in the earliest part of Jesus’ ministry. After baptism and 40 days of fasting, Jesus was in a state of profound physical vulnerability when the enemy struck like the Luftwaffe over Poland. Wielding his age-old weapons of temptation and lies, Satan hurled his fiery darts upon our Lord, hoping to corrupt Him in the same way he had corrupted Adam. Yet, as we know, Christ deflected every assault and succeeded where Adam had failed.
With each repelled advance, the path was cleared for Jesus to launch an overwhelming counteroffensive on the powers of hell. Armed not with swords but with the word of God as His blade, the Lord engaged hellish minions all throughout Judea and Galilee.
Like surgical drone strikes levied against strategic targets, Christ precisely aimed His ministry at the forces of hell to liberate those held captive by unclean spirits. In the Capernaum synagogue, a man possessed by a demon cried out at the sight of Jesus, sensing his doom had arrived. With a single authoritative command from the Lord’s lips, the evil Spirit was silenced and expelled, powerless to disobey. Later in the Gerasene region, Jesus encountered a man invaded by a horde of demonic spirits who called themselves “Legion.” These foul entities pleaded not to be cast into the abyss. Yet with a single word from Christ, they were driven howling from their human host into a herd of pigs that then drowned themselves in the sea.
So thorough was this rout of demonic forces that the war-torn people of Galilee flooded to Jesus, bringing “all who were oppressed by the devil” to be liberated by Him. Like napalm torching an enemy-infested forest, the Lord’s commands incinerated the stranglehold the enemy had on the region, restoring those in captivity to freedom. Even the disciples were trained by Jesus to make war with the devils, exercising them and bringing deliverance to the captives, which became a hallmark sign that Jesus had shared His authority with them.
The final conquest, however, was reserved for Jesus alone. He dealt the crippling blow to Satan’s operations by binding “the strong man” through His sacrificial death. Rising triumphant over sin and death’s tyranny, Christ forever stripped the dark powers of their weapons, parading them as spoils of war in His wake as the conquering King.
The aftermath of this Heaven-sent D-Day left liberated multitudes in its wake, stunned casualties of divine grace, who encountered a love much more potent than any of their chains of oppression. In those days, Jesus launched much more than a few pop shots and guerilla skirmishes, but a full-on invasion. He came to the capital of Satanic oppression, where the enemy had centralized His power, and He threw down their strongholds and stranglehold over the people of God once and for all. That work began in Judah and Galilee; hell’s gates are still falling down as we faithful advance His Kingdom today.
Phase 3: Judgment Poured Out on Wicked Judah
While Jesus was engaged in warfare against the spiritual forces of wickedness, it became increasingly clear that the first-century Jewish people were not allies of God’s Kingdom. At every turn, they opposed Jesus, leading the Savior to expose them bluntly, declaring that they were not true descendants of Abraham but rather children of Satan who loved darkness and whose deeds were evil (John 8:44, John 3:19). This opposition is why Jesus also trained His sights on them in the spiritual battle.
In the incarnation, the long-awaited invasion force of God’s Kingdom was sighted on the horizon, and the powers of hell were not its only target. As the Lord Himself marched through the dusty paths of Palestine, entering town after town like Joshua conquering Canaan, He sounded the trumpet blast that the long-prophesied Kingdom of God had finally arrived, proclaiming, “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” (Mark 1:15). For those willing to repent and turn to Jesus, this was glorious news of liberation. But for those who remained stubbornly opposed to Him and His Kingdom, they would be overwhelmed by the fury of its triumphant advance.
This was not merely a peaceful Kingdom endeavor but the outbreak of a spiritual war. For centuries, Israel had been God’s strategic outpost on Earth, the staging ground where His Kingdom forces could grow strong to eventually push outward in all directions. However, due to repeated disobedience, they allowed foreign oppression and influence to overrun the holy land. By the New Testament era, malign spiritual forces had been welcomed in through disobedience, revealing the destructive spiritual landscape the Jewish leaders had created. Their calling was to be a conduit of God’s blessing to all peoples, yet they had summoned His curses by breaking the covenant with Him.
In their blindness, the Jewish people obstructed and rejected their only hope of rescue, continually working to subvert Jesus’ mission at every turn. As His Kingdom invasion advanced, Jesus encountered the fiercest resistance from His own covenant people. The religious leaders arose as hostile insurgents – a militia in the service of hell itself – implacably opposing the Messiah. Like the Nazis seeking to exterminate God’s purposes in the 20th century, these hardened Jewish sects became entrenched pockets of opposition dedicated to destroying the Deliverer they should have embraced.
Despite witnessing Christ’s miraculous credentials and supernatural wisdom, they stubbornly rejected His rightful authority to rule. Their rejection metastasized into treacherous plots to murder the Prince of Peace Himself.
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There are only those who ignore the truth and those who seek to bring themselves in line with it. And so, more than ever, we must pray for the grace to bear witness to the truth of Christ with the love of Christ, with faithful hope in an outcome secured by the Savior whose heel crushed the father of lies.

In 2016, the Oxford Dictionaries word of the year was “post-truth,” because that’s when the word began showing up in multiple articles about political movements in the United States and Europe. The official definition reads: relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.
In a post-truth world, feelings trump facts, and personal subjectivity matters more than objective reality. Six years later, we’re swimming in post-truth cultural waters and trying, with increasing difficulty, to hold society together when even basic agreements over the nature of truth and reality become contested.
Truth-Resisters
The paradox of fallen humanity is that we both love and hate the truth. We long for the truth, as beggars hungry for something of substance, even while we despise the truth, as mini-tyrants who chafe at any notion there might be someone or something that exerts authority over us. Our longing for truth leads to the easy embrace of lies.
Why do we resist the truth? Because deep in our souls is the desire to be the masters of our own destiny, and truth too often gets in the way. Truth stands outside and above us. Truth doesn’t bow the knee to our preferences, no matter what Orwellian language we adopt, euphemisms we deploy, or pronouns we insist upon.
As John Webster wrote:
“The truth about the world is something over against us, something that we cannot subdue. Truth cannot be commanded; instead, it commands us. It forces us to acknowledge that the world and we within the world are what they are, independent of us. Truth blocks invention; when we reach the truth, we reach the limits of our wills. And it’s because truth is that kind of barrier against us that we have to find ways of circumventing it. We have to flee from the truth.”
In today’s world, we see two common strategies for fleeing from the truth.
Strategy #1: Relativize the Truth
One way we circumvent the truth is by relativizing it based on our experiences. That’s why we hear a lot these days about “speaking your truth” or “living your truth,” as if the word “truth” is now just a synonym for “perspective” or “experience.”
Yes, we should make room for sharing our perspectives and recounting our experiences. But if our tendency is to adorn “truth” with adjectives like my and your, and never the, we’re violating the very definition of “truth” to begin with. “Truth” is what’s right regardless of time, situation, or circumstance. It’s as valid for the young as it is for the old, for today as it is for yesterday.
Furthermore, when we think about truth in exclusively personal terms, we miss the adventure of seeking and finding something beyond the depths of our heart.
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