"Honey, stop doing that and come here to mommy."

"Do that one more time and I will kick your ass from here to kingdom come."

Such 'admonitions' are heard and remembered from our childhood. For me and others, the latter was far more common. Of course, no one can kick a person from here to kingdom come. That's hyperbole. Dad just wanted to make an impact.

Nowadays, most people - Christians even, believe that Jesus the Lord of Love would loathe to use such language toward people. And certainly not to His redeemed children. Those who hold such views rarely read the Bible, and believe it even less. Our ideas about love seem formed from the pampered bubble of down pillows and drug store greeting cards, not the harsh rigors of persecution and treachery from governments and neighbors alike. Not from an environment where genuine love is a matter of survival.

When I sent my kids to their rooms for discipline, it often hurt me more than them. I would search my mind and heart for some way to justly bring them out. To restore them to favor.

Consider these oft-quoted statements from Jesus:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Mt 11:28

I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. Rev 21:6b

Now ponder these lesser-known statements from our same Jesus:

*If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.*Mt 16:25

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mk 8:36

I know your deeds, that you were neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Rev 3:15, 16

But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Rev 21:8

Those Whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Rev 3:19

Different words to different people for different reasons. The Word of God is unchangeable. It is applied to the person and situation for which it is intended.

Some may think, "I don't believe the Bible, so what it says has no bearing on me."

Actually, it doesn't quite work like that. That millions once believed the earth was flat, changed nothing at all. It's true that individuals live in the constraints of their beliefs which alter their perception of reality. But it doesn't alter reality one bit. Whatever one believes about gravity does not exempt them from the consequences of stepping off the roof of their house.

No one condemns their parents for cross scoldings that prevented their demise. We should understand that Jesus' tender words are the gentle cords of love that allure us. The harsh words are His mercy, busting down the door, to rescue us from the destruction of unquenchable fire.

One might say that the fire of hell is hyperbole or exaggeration. However, when God uses hyperbole to explain things good or bad, it's because mere language cannot approach the magnitude of the matter being communicated. It's either infinitely more glorious than words, or inexpressibly more terrifying.

How may I get out of this world's dying system and into Jesus's Kingdom of light, joy and never-ending life?

That's the right question. And it takes us back to 'kingdom come.' Jesus's Kingdom has already come. It is available to you this red-hot moment. Entering His Kingdom is very easy. Be assured though, the price is high. Many people are unclear about what is involved in entering into this new life; why it's necessary; how it's done. Let me try to explain:

The first father of mankind, Adam, was a physical creature whose soul and spirit were in union with God, his Father. As such, he was eternal and glorious in nature. While limited to earth, he carried infinite power and supply inside him to rule the earth in all ways; Then God said, “Let us make man in our image . . . and let them have dominion . . . over all the earth.

God also set in earth another immutable edict that all created things must reproduce after its own kind. Therefore, Adam and Eve's children would be just like them. God's glory and goodness would fill the earth and multiply from generation to generation.

Then, through the temptation of satan, (once a brilliant angel who, for pride, fell from Heaven) Adam permitted himself to be seduced into sinning against the Father in whose image his was made. The commission of such treason severed Adam from his intimate union with God. And, horror of horrors, the living, breathing spirit of God inside him, stopped. Adam was dead. He was still a physical man - without the eternal nature of God. He was not the creature he was created to be. He still had an eternal soul, but was dead to the life of God.

In his sin, Adam surrendered his birthright of dominion over all the earth, to satan (you are slaves of the one whom you obey Rom 6:16). He was now chained by nature to the law of sin and death. This was irreversible.

While superior to the animals of the earth, Adam was like them in nature. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes; they would live out their time on the earth, and no more.

Since all creatures shall reproduce after its own kind, all Adam's offspring must carry his nature through his perishable, mortal seed - a physical man with an eternal soul, insensible to his Creator, and tyrannized by the spirit of sin, death and darkness.

Mankind was lost with no capability or possibility of getting back to his original state. One cannot (re)orchestrate his own conception. It must come from without.

Entrance into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is entirely a matter of grace and nature. While these are invisible things to natural man, they are profoundly palpable, eternal and essential in the Spirit realm. Both of these are given by God, and received by the action of faith.

Can a cow give birth to a fish? Of course not. They're not of the same nature. A natural human being, only, is able to bear another human being. It's how every boy or girl enters into the earth - by the seed of a father, through the womb of a mother. By nature, there's no other way.

It follows also, that a natural human being is incapable of bearing a son or daughter of God. Only One with a Spirit/Heavenly nature can so reproduce. God alone, bears His own children apart from the will of natural man. The Spirit of God the Father impregnated the virgin, Mary. Enter the Son of God; the Son of Man.

Now we have a problem. By nature, man is not fit for the Kingdom in the Heavens. Heaven (life in the Holy Spirit) is uninhabitable by the sons of Adam. The chasm cannot be traversed.

God's universal law is: "The soul that sins shall die." Not only was Adam's offspring born in the sin nature, they then willfully complied with it. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Die he must.

This is why Jesus said, You must be born again. This is not just a metaphor or a cute saying. It describes an entirely new creation with a birth of entrance (a 'natural-born' citizenship) into the Kingdom of God.

There are many men and women on the earth who are productive, principled and morally strong by all human standards. While admirable, it's erroneous to believe that such attributes can gain them access to eternal life. Entrance to Heaven, just like entrance to earth, is a birth of nature.

God initiated a plan to clear the way for man to be restored as His sons and daughters.
He must remove sin.
He must remove the result of sin: death.
He must do it justly.

In God's mercy, He spared not His only Son, but delivered Him up for us all. Through the process of Jesus's life God justly satisfied all requirements for making us new creations. By living a life that perfectly fulfilled God's laws from a pure heart, God counted Him to be our representative. Jesus accomplished all He did, not as God, but as an ordinary human being who chose to please God above Himself and all else. Jesus did what no man had ever done. He overcame the full force of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Adam, our first father, chose himself and rebelled. Jesus pleased the Father fully.

For our sakes, God was pleased to lay upon our Representative the whole of our sin nature and the totality of its effects. On the cross Jesus was treated as the one who committed the sins of every man and woman for all time. He who never tasted sin, became sin . . . for us. In that moment the Everlasting God carried out His word: The soul that sins must die. God the Father slew His only Son by the hands of men.

Three days later Jesus rose from the dead. Had their been a law of God not satisfied, or a penalty of sin left unpaid, the clutches of death and satan could have held Him in the grave. But alas, all was accomplished! All was finished! Death was destroyed, and eternal life burst open.

Jesus then announced, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Mt 28:18 He then ascended into Heaven to sit on the Throne as Lord of Lords, at the right hand of the Father. Having attained the right to become the Second Adam, the Father of a new race of people, He invites every man and woman to be born again into everlasting life; to intimate union again with the Father of all.

Come now to Jesus with the faith of a child. Humbly speak the following sentiments (or use your own words) to Jesus and your Heavenly Father:

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner and I need You. Please forgive me and wash away all my sins; forgive me for my unclean lips, my wicked heart and my evil actions.

I believe and accept that the blood You shed - the Life You offered on the cross was for me. And counts as full payment for all my sins.

I turn from my past, I come to You and ask to be made completely Yours. I want to live for You with all my heart and soul and body. Please make me a brand new, born-again [son or daughter] in your Kingdom. Fill me with the Holy Spirit now, that I may walk to please you all my days.

Thank You, Lord, for giving me new life.

In Jesus' Name. Amen and Amen

If you've done this - become a child of God's kingdom, call someone and tell them all about it, so they can be glad with you. Of course, you're perfectly free to tell your good news to anyone you meet.