GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY Although we learned that man was created to express the ‘Zoe’ or eternal Life of God; Zoe life demands certain conditions to exist before it manifests fully in man. Presently, I want to share with you an understanding of how our Heavenly Father purposed for this divine ability to find expression in man. There is a lack of a genuine witness of the manifestation of the power of Christ on earth until the “church” in the world is considered by most people to be irrelevant, having very little positive or uplifting influence on society. The expression of Christ in the life of those who profess to be Christians differs little from the rest of humanity. Sickness and disease are just as prevalent among Christians as they are among the rest of humanity. Adverse issues in life befall Christians just as they do those who do not confess faith in our Savior, until there is no visible evidence of the power of God’s Kingdom on earth today. Our subject matter is the gospel of the Kingdom, which is the only gospel that Jesus preached during His earthly ministry. It is important to note that Jesus did not preach the gospel of salvation that the church has spread around the world. Matthew 4:23 clearly states, And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. What is being preached and demonstrated by the church today is not congruent with the gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus Christ preached and demonstrated. John the Baptist was imprisoned because of his testimony and because of the effectiveness of his ministry. While in prison, he sent GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY his disciples to ask Jesus a pertinent question, “Are you the one that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3). John was the forerunner, the prophet divinely sent by God to announce the coming of the Messiah, the Son of God. John found it hard to reconcile his prophetic calling with being in prison. But John’s questioning 2000 years ago is not different from people today who feel as though God has abandoned them as they go through trials and difficulties in life. They question God’s love for them. Many of the doubts and questioning among Christians - especially under adversity - reveals a tragic lack in their understanding of the ministry Jesus introduced concerning the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus declared, “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all ‘these things’ shall be added unto you.” In the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus Christ reveals important principles through which the Kingdom of God functions. They are not presented as a law. After laying down these principles, Jesus Christ gives us the choice to determine very clearly whether we are willing to be a part of the Kingdom of God or not. This is based upon the fact that in a Kingdom there is only one absolute authority. And if anyone desires to be a part of the Kingdom they must abandon their own personal ideas and adhere only to the voice of the King. “All these things shall be added unto you.” These “things” refer to the wonderful blessings and advantages that are made available to those who submit to the King’s authority. No one can “join the Kingdom”; each individual must be personally accepted by the King. Being a subject of the Kingdom has nothing to do with learning and accepting certain doctrines; the main criteria for each individual is to accept the absolute authority of the King. Remember, Christ dwells in you, so there is no way that you can pretend to be obedient when you are not. In Psalm 139:1-2 - 4 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY David states, “O Lord you have searched me and known me, and you know what puts me down, and you know what lifts me up, and you understand all my thoughts.” (Paraphrased) When Jesus sent His disciples out, He gave them this commission in Matthew 10:7-8: “As you go, preach saying, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand or is already here.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely you have received, so freely give.” Healing the sick was very important because there are no sick people in the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ never once suffered sickness because His body was controlled by the Spirit, making Him immune to all diseases and infirmities. How did mankind become subject to sickness and death? Back in the garden of Eden, as the woman Eve began to express life independent of Adam, the serpent deceived and convinced her that she had the right to make up her own mind about eating the fruit that God had forbidden Adam and her from eating. God told Adam that in the day he would eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would certainly die. Since that time all of mankind has become a living soul, which is not how God created man in the beginning. Man was created spirit in the likeness and image of God and was therefore eternal. The change in mankind from Adam living in the Garden, to the day we now live is the result of man having established his own mind, a mind beguiled and deceived by the serpent in the Garden. From that time on, that deceived mind gradually took control of man’s physical body until his body became mortal, subject to death. The Apostle - 5 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY Paul identifies this “deceived mind” as the carnal mind, or the natural mind in Romans 8:7, “The carnal mind is an enemy of God, for it is not subject to the authority of God.” So while tthe carnal mind is functioning in us we are not able to please God. And so the Kingdom benefits are not available to us. This process encompassed all humanity, making all mankind living souls. God never created a living soul. When Eve responded to another voice - the serpent’s - she allowed an alien authority to usurp control over all mankind. To preach to sinners and ask them to stop sinning will not change their behavior as long as their carnal mind is still functioning. The Apostle Paul provides us with the true answer in Philippians 2:5 when he says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Christ Jesus was God’s original man from whom we all have come (Genesis 1:26). Jesus never sinned because He had the mind of Christ which functions in total agreement with God. Everything that Jesus said or did was in harmony with the will and the purpose of God. The concept of kingdom rule is not well understood because the Kingdom’s system of government has almost disappeared in modern life, being replaced by democracy or the rule of the people. In a kingdom, the king is the supreme authority. God established Israel as a kingdom. Indeed, Israel was the only theocracy on earth where God was the Supreme Ruler. God was Israel’s King. God decreed the laws which governed Israel where every man had an inheritance consisting of a piece of land. This was so because the entire land belonged to the King. That which belonged to the father or the head of the family was passed on to the offspring upon his death. The land could not be sold as it belonged to God. What was - 6 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY true concerning the land of Israel indeed is true of the whole earth. The whole earth belongs to our God. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them. (Psalm 89:1) THE BASIS OF THE KINGDOM The foundations of the rule of the Kingdom of God were laid down in creation. God created the heavens and the earth. As the Creator, He is the sole owner; all that He possesses exists within the domain of His kingdom. No man can lay claim to the earth, for it was the King who founded the heavens and the earth. Until the flood there was no real ownership of land. However, after Noah’s flood, there was allocation of land among the nations. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. (Genesis 10:5) The separation of people into families and nations took place, despite the truth that Paul declared in Acts 17:26. God hath made of o-n-e (blood) all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. This means that all of mankind came from the same Father, who is God. All mankind is just one family; all are brothers and sisters. For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have - 7 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY said, For we are also His (God’s) offspring. (Acts 17:28) In creation, God established both the earth and the people as a kingdom over which He ruled as King with supreme authority over all that He had created. We must face the fact that God’s Kingdom is not evident at all on the earth today as it was when creation was completed. Sickness, lack and poverty have overtaken humanity. The will and purpose of God is not even considered in the life of much of mankind today. Floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, cyclones, disasters and various epidemics bring death and destruction throughout the earth. Unrest and wars destroy lives and nations, further exasperating the mayhem. So where do we start to introduce the Kingdom concept to this world today? It is obvious that man has failed as steward over planet earth, and is to blame for the terrible conditions afflicting nations and peoples. Man lost his dominion and lost the Kingdom through disobedience, forfeiting his right to the provision and blessings of the Garden provided for him. As we are confronted with the issues that Adam had to face, questions arise in our minds. It could have been many ages in which Adam walked and talked with God in glorious harmony and fellowship with his Father before the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make an help meet for him.” A KING IS BORN Jesus Christ was born a King. Wise men came from the East to worship the King. A king has absolute authority in his kingdom, and many kings who have established kingdoms on the earth in years - 8 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY past became tyrants and destroyed the people. In God’s Kingdom, the King accepts total responsibility for the well being of the citizens of His Kingdom. The King becomes the embodiment of his Kingdom. Through Abraham, God promised that He would establish a Kingdom on this earth through which there would be a restoration and a redemption, not just of Abraham’s nation, but of all the nations in the world. God’s program is designed to restore this earth completely and totally to become as the Garden of Eden. In God’s Kingdom there is no sickness, no disease, no poverty, no death and no lack of any kind. We are not speaking about some place up in the sky; God’s Kingdom will embrace the entire world in which we live. Isaiah saw and prophesied the coming of the King, saying, “For unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given and that government shall be upon His shoulder.” (Isaiah 9:6-7) The prophet Daniel also saw both the King and the Kingdom. He saw one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He was given authority and glory, so that all the nations and the people of every language ‘worshiped’ Him. His is an everlasting dominion, and will not pass away (Daniel 7:13-14). In the Garden of Eden, even after Eve and Adam disobeyed God by eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God made a promise of the coming of One who would crush the serpent’s head, destroy the power of its deadly poison and end its deception. This promise refers to the ‘seed’ (Jesus Christ), of the woman who fell under the serpent’s power in the Garden of Eden, resulting in the guilty ones having to leave the Garden. The promise of God in Genesis 3:15 concerning the serpent’s destruction was the final step in the redemption of all humanity. This promise introduced a new ‘seed line’ that cannot be affected by the serpent, and opened the way back into the Garden that was a picture of the Kingdom of God - 9 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY that was to come. “I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman and between thy seed (those affected by the serpent, all of humanity) and her seed (the Child of the Virgin by the Christ seed). It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” Christ is the seed of the virgin, and at Calvary He paid the price of the serpent’s poison, taking that whole seed line (the seed of man) into death. After being buried, He arose from the dead as a new creation man - no longer subject to the limitations of mankind, and no longer subject to pain, sickness or death. He is the first in a new line, direct from the prototype of Genesis 1:26, Christ Jesus, who was pure and holy and never deceived by the serpent. Christ completely wrought forth the redemption of all humanity because He is the First Adam from the Garden of Eden of whom the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:45-50, “And so it is written, the first man Adam was ‘made’ a living soul, but the last Adam was made a life giving spirit. But that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, but afterward that which is spiritual. The first man Adam is of the earth earthy, the second man is the Lord from Heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also who are earthy, and as is the heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the Heavenly.” Paul is showing us the progression from living as an earth man - as Adam lived - to living as the children of God. Through Christ’s finished work, we have been redeemed from our former life that was connected with the earth and the seed of man. Now one man, Jesus - 10 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY Christ, has broken through the barrier and opened the way for us to see ourselves as the children of God, born of the spirit from above through the Seed of God who is Christ. He made us free of all sin. We have been redeemed from being the earthly Man and have now become the sons of God - from a living soul to a life giving spirit. The Garden of Eden was designed not only to supply all of man’s needs, but also to provide the environment in which man could commune and fellowship with God, in whose image man was crated. The Garden of Eden was not a literal garden but a picture of what the earth was in the beginning, and the kind of life that God intended we should live, in fellowship and communion with the King. In the atmosphere of this “Garden of Eden” there was no lack of any kind in Adam’s life. There was no stress, no sickness, pain or suffering or death, for none of these things can exist in an environment where man walks in fellowship with the King. When the Kingdom of God is established on the earth, the earth will again be as the Garden of Eden, and we will all walk as did Adam - in fellowship and harmony with God. Everything changed when Adam saw himself as incomplete with the female part of the spirit of his true being now walking as a separate entity outside of himself, contrary to how he was created. Adam’s life no longer was centered in fellowship and communion with the King, for he stopped seeing the King as a Father in whom he found his delight. He had been distracted by the woman, and his attitude towards the KING completely changed. Adam’s love towards God changed into fear; God’s affection towards Adam never changed: God loved Adam as his son. That change in the first man Adam affected all of mankind, for the majority of people today are afraid of God and have no true relationship with him. The reason is that we have listened to another voice that told us we are sinners and God is angry with us, putting us out of the Garden of His presence. When we discover that - 11 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY the Father dwells within us, we will know that this is a lie. Once we ignore the truth that we were all created in that First Man of Genesis 1:26 who is Christ Jesus, and once we forget that we were created in the likeness and the image of God which is our true identity, we begin to wander off into the imaginary world of mortality and death. When we exclude God from our life we have opened ourselves to a voice that is not on the inside, a voice of deception. We have been lied to regarding the interpretation of Genesis 1:27, that the male and female aspects of the spirit are separate entities. In reality, man was created spirit, and spirit is male and female functioning together as one. When man was created, Father God was the center of our life - the male part of the spirit of our true identity, and we (all mankind) formed the female part of the spirit. For this reason God was able to begat us according to James 1:18 without any help from outside Himself. This means that God and man are not two separate entities. Neither can the male and the female walking on the earth today be separate, because spirit cannot be divided. In John 14:10, Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” Jesus stated clearly that the Father dwelt in Him and therefore in every man. He confirmed this again in John 10:30 when He stated, “I and my Father are One.” However, this is just as true for every one of us as it was for Jesus, for we were created in Christ Jesus. Since He and the Father are ONE, then we must be one with the Father. - 12 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY There is no mention of a high fence around the Garden of Eden preventing those on the outside from returning whenever they chose. What kept man from returning was his submission to another authority. Our English Bible says the Lord God ‘drove’ out the Man, as if some force was used; this is not true. In the derivation of the Hebrew word used here we find the word describing a farmer driving the cattle out to pasture, and also of a tree putting forth fruit. So we are not to consider this to be evidence of an angry God. We follow the journey of the first man created from Genesis 1:26, to his being brought forth as a manifestation of that first man with a body made from the dust of the earth. And the breath of God was breathed into his nostrils, in Genesis 2:7. This creature now stands as the first earth man - Adam complete with a physical body - but his essential being is still ‘spirit’ living in a body. This is the man who was placed in the Garden of Eden to guard it and keep it, this man being representative of all mankind. Whatever befalls this single man affects all humanity. Only one issue could radically change man’s relationship with God - disobedience. God said, “You may eat of the fruit of all the trees in the Garden but there is one tree I do not want you to eat the fruit of that tree, which is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. To eat of that fruit will cause death, which will break our relationship, and I do not want to lose you.” (My translation) Moses told the Israelites, “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the LORD loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had - 13 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8) It is interesting to note how many times God liberated Israel from slavery and bondage to her enemies. And we are not that different from Israel. In Romans 3:23, Paul declares, “All have sinned (missed the mark) and have come short of the Glory of God.” But the good news is, “For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the Law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2) Jesus Christ said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) No man can ever free himself, but the Christ of our true identity who dwells in us, has the power to liberate us. There is not a person on this earth that God does not love equally with His Son Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ went to Calvary’s cross, no one was excluded from the blessing and benefits that His death accomplished for all mankind. What was accomplished there in His death, was pictured in the deliverance of all of Israel from the Pharaoh of Egypt on the night of the Passover. The primary transgression of mankind is our failure to recognize our true identity as the children of God and to honor our responsibility towards God as our Father to love and to obey. Our sins and transgressions were not just forgiven; they were expunged completely. - 14 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY There is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1a) That includes every person on the earth, for we were all created in Him. Beloved these things are plain to see but we have chosen to consider that God is angry with us so we will have a reason to ignore the truth. Many people would rather believe that God has literally cast us out of the Garden of Eden because of ‘sin’, finding satisfaction in their sorry plight for which they blame God. Let us consider God’s plan of redemption. When Jesus Christ the King was about to be born, there was no suitable place found for Mary to give birth. "There was no room at the Inn." So the King was born in a manger, a shelter for animals. Scroll down 2000 years and we find the same scenario: the King is still waiting to be recognized and to assume His authority over His Kingdom on this earth today in the heart of all mankind. When the wise men called on King Herod 2000 years ago asking him where was the child who was born King of the Jews, he had no idea that another King had been born in his territory. Herod never slept well after those men announced the birth of a King, for there can be only one king in a kingdom. Isaiah 9:6 declares, “Unto us a CHILD IS BORN, unto us a SON IS GIVEN, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his NAME shall be called, Wonderful Counselor, the MIGHTY GOD, the EVERLASTING FATHER, and the PRINCE OF PEACE.” This is the King over all the kings on the earth. But when He was born on this earth, He came in the form of a m-a-n who looked - 15 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY like any other man on the earth. What are we to learn from this? Because no other King has ever been born of a Virgin. Why was it a “virgin” that God used to birth Jesus Christ on the earth? In natural conception, the man provides the sperm and the woman provides the egg, ultimately forming a fetus. A child conceived in this manner will be born a mortal human being, because the child is formed from the seed of man. When Father God wanted to bring forth His Son, God choose a different manner because Christ Jesus could not be born from the seed of mankind. He is the Son of God; Isaiah declared, “unto us a child is born, but unto us a Son is given.” No son of God can be born on the earth, because a Son of God must be produced by the seed of God and not the seed of man. In Galatians 3:16, Paul identifies who is the seed of God, Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ. When God spoke to Abraham concerning the beneficiaries of the everlasting covenant He had made with him, God specified, “Unto you and your seed.” Paul then explains, God was not talking about many seeds, but only one seed and that Seed is Christ. So the everlasting covenant God made with Abraham was only to the one Seed, which is Christ. Now as we put the truth together, many things become clear. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus and said to him, “Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” What does it mean to be born from ABOVE? It means that we must be born of the Divine Seed of God which is Christ. In Genesis 1:26, all of mankind was created in Him - in Christ - who is the seed of God, and this includes you and me. - 16 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY “Unto us a child is born but the son is given.” You may be very surprised to know that your body is the child born. This may also be a shock to many, but in Jeremiah 1:5 God reveals His foreknowledge of the prophet before Jeremiah was born: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out from the womb, I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) God spoke these words to a person just like us; these words are true for us today just as they were to Jeremiah. Think about this: God says that He knew you even before you were conceived in your mother’s womb. Clearly you and I had an existence a long time before being born on earth. In that state of existence, you were known by God. This is a shock to those who believe that their life began when they were born from their mother’s womb. Your origin was from another world, with another life quite different from the life you live today. In that life there was no sickness, no pain, and it was filled with a joy in the presence of your Father who found His delight in you. In Proverbs 8:22-31, King Solomon describes the time when Father God poured His love upon you before you were born on this earth, “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, even before the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills were brought forth. While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, or the highest part of the dust of - 17 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY the earth. When He prepared the heavens, I was there; When He set a compass upon the face of the deep. When He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters should not pass His commandment, when He appointed the foundations of the earth. Then I was by Him, as one who was brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. Rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth, and my delight was with the sons of men. Now therefore hearken unto me, O you children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and reject it not.” (Proverbs 8:22-31) THE IDENTITY OF THE KING Isaiah 9:6 reveals two important issues: the first is that the “child is born; the second is that the son is given and not born. Because that Son is Christ, and Christ is spirit and therefore eternal, spirit cannot be born on this earth; spirit can only be created out of God who is spirit as in Genesis 1:26. In John 14:2-3, Jesus said, In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. What mansions is Jesus speaking of? The term “mansions” - 18 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY which refers to big ornate buildings is a poor translation. The actual Greek term means “abiding places,” that altogether form the Father’s House. These abiding places refer to our bodies that are in fact the place where God dwells. In John 14:23, Jesus refers again to the “abiding place” where He dwells saying, “If a man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him and will come unto him and make our ‘abode’ with him.” Is it not the desire of every Father to be with his children? In Exodus 25:8, God told Moses, “Let them (Israel) build me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among my people.” It has always been God’s desire to dwell with His children; this is true today. God’s people are in fact the abiding places in which God dwells, and collectively we become the house of God. This may be a surprise to many reading these words today because the generally accepted answer to the question, is that Jesus was speaking about preparing a place in heaven for the Christians after they die. Paul declared, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus according to God’s will and purpose, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, paraphrased) This is one of the clearest statements identifying the purpose of man on earth. Because Christ Jesus is the King and we were created in Him, this means that we also must be “Kings.” In 1 Peter 2:9, the apostle declared, “You are a ‘Chosen Generation’ , a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a peculiar people - 19 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY (a purchased possession), specifically designed to show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light.” God has previously declared that the government of the Kingdom of God must be through a priesthood. Israel’s priesthood was under the authority of a man - Aaron being the first high priest. The priesthood of God’s Kingdom is under the authority of the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was first introduced to us in Genesis 14:18 when he appeared to Abraham who had won the battle over King Chedorlaomer, whose name means ‘a handful of sheaves,’ which were a part of the divine harvest belonging to God. Abraham overcame all the other kings and returned in victory to be greeted by the High Priest of the Most High God through whom the victory was won. Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine - both symbols of the body and the blood of the earthly manifestation of Melchizedek, in Christ Jesus. Under His Priesthood, every other king or authority on this earth must release all those who have been subservient to them, to Melchizedek. In this, Abraham is a type or a picture of the ultimate authority and reign of Melchizedek over the whole earth. We now understand that our body was never created, but it was formed in our mother’s womb; our body is His workmanship. Psalm 139 openly reveals God’s intimate involvement in every aspect of our being. From verse one, David the psalmist declares, “You beset me behind and before, in preparing my body, even before I was conceived. Such knowledge is out of my reach, I cannot comprehend how deeply you were involved in bringing me into this world.” David continues by saying, - 20 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY “I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows right well. My substance was not hid from You when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance yet being imperfect, and in Yhy book all my members were written, when in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:14-16) The formation of our body in our mother’s womb was God’s workmanship, making us to function according to His will and purpose. What is not well known is that our body is also the abiding place where Christ Jesus dwells on the earth today. God’s prime purpose in giving man a body was to provide for himself a dwelling place (1 Corinthians 6:19). When the disciples showed Jesus the beautiful temple in Jerusalem He declared, “There will not be one stone left upon another that has not been thrown down.” This was a prophetic word that indicated that God would from that time on cease from dwelling in temples made with hands. From that time He would dwell in the temples He formed for Himself which is our body. So when we speak of a man walking with God we are not speaking about a man walking next to God. No. We are speaking about God walking in those same footsteps, for the King is actually wearing your shoes; He is an integral part of the man. In Colossians 1:27, Paul states, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is, Christ in You the hope of - 21 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY Glory.” PREPARE FOR THE KING Isaiah 40:3-4 declares, The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; These verses describe how a people prepared for the arrival of the King and of His coronation by His people. This verse applies to this day in which we live. A king does not just turn up in a kingdom without full preparation for his visit. Recently, Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia; her arrival was preceded by months of preparation for her travel, her accommodation, and every aspect and detail of her itinerary. How much more preparation should we undertake for the King of all kings returning to be crowned and to take up His Kingdom! The Prophet Isaiah speaks of Christ the Lord waiting today for His people to receive Him as King to take up residence in the throne within each one of us. He has been waiting for our preparation to be complete to receive the King for a “coronation service,” in which we personally crown him as Lord and King to rule and reign over us individually. No one is ever forced to bow to the King, which is very unlike most authority on the earth, where we have no choice but to submit. We have been allowed the right to decide if we will give Christ authority over us or retain to our independence, choosing - 22 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY our own pathway in life. To hand over such authority to another, is dependant upon us seeing the advantage of the King’s wisdom and knowledge, and His unlimited Love for every one of us - all of which we have found to be experientially true, as life on this earth becomes more complex. Please keep in mind that the King actually never left His kingdom, because He indwells every man on earth. This truth lays dormant in the consciousness of most Christians; hence, the need to prepare for the coming of the King in their own individual life! Isaiah prophesied of the return of the King 3000 years ago. However, the nation of Israel who was God’s chosen people at that time ignored the news. Instead, Israel asked Samuel to give them a king like all the other nations. They had rejected their King who is God. Today the church in the world still elects her king (Pastor) not understanding the fact that their true King is Jesus Christ, dwelling in them. Christians have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, but not as their King to rule and reign over them, because others have stepped into that position. This is because the Kingdom has little or no place in the life of God’s people today. Before the King will agree to come and take His place of authority in our lives, He needs to know that everything is arranged for the coronation. This is the heart of Isaiah 40:3-4, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Our creation was incorporated in the Creation of the First Man Christ Jesus: whatever He was, we are exactly the same on earth today (Ephesians 2:10) This also means the will and purpose of God for us must also be the same as that which pertained to Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem in - 23 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY the same form of man that we have today, visited at his birth by dignitaries whose identities have not been released, except that they were declared to be men of wisdom, who came many miles directed by a star to worship the One who was born a King. Today Christians celebrate Christmas, considering that this is an obligation on our part to sing carols, eat and drink and be merry. But for the majority, the true concept of the birth of the King Jesus Christ on this earth, and our personal involvement with His dwelling in us today, has been all but forgotten. I am not speaking against having a happy time at 'Christmas', but we are missing the import of what is represented by the birth of the King to claim His Kingdom. MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE KINGDOM Paul made it very clear that all of mankind which was naturally born on earth were in fact created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). This is important because God made a covenant with Abraham saying, "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and your seed after you in their generation for an everlasting Covenant, to be a God unto you and to your seed." So God's Covenant with mankind is with Abraham and his "Seed" which means his offspring. It was the Apostle Paul who declared who Abraham's Seed is, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He did not say, and to seeds, meaning many, but referred to only one seed, and that Seed is Christ." (Galatians 3:16) - 24 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY So Christ Jesus the First Man is actually the Seed of God, and this Christ dwells in every man, which means that all of mankind are included in the everlasting covenant God made with Abraham. However, this is contrary to what the Church has been teaching for 2000 years. Christians deny this truth because of John 3:3, Where John states, "Except a man be born (again) from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." The word "again" is not a true rendering of the Greek as it should be, born from above, which is clear also from Paul's teaching in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, (speaking concerning our body formed in our mother's Womb) created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which God has ordained for us to walk in them." "We were created "in Christ Jesus." This tells us that the origin of mankind is from above, that is, it is not simply our birthing on this earth, which only has to do with the formation of our body in our mother's womb, but ‘man’ was created spirit, in the image and the likeness of our Father God, who is spirit. It is important to know that the body is not you, it is the spirit dwelling in the body that is you. However, if we have no concept of our origin from above, then we will believe that we are simply mortal human beings, and the Kingdom of God, which is a spiritual Kingdom will not be recognized. That is why Jesus tells us that the man must be born from above or he will not be able to see the Kingdom of God. The Scriptures are clear that "as a man thinks in his heart or consciousness that is what he is." A man who is only conscious of his natural birth will not be able to function spiritually. This naturally thinking man is spiritually blind, deaf and dumb. - 25 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY Jesus healed the deaf, the blind and the dumb to demonstrate this higher spiritual truth. The natural things we can see in life run parallel with the spiritual things which are invisible to our natural eyes. For example, the lame man represents in the spirit realm a man who cannot walk in the ways of God. Many Christians see the miracles of Jesus only from a physical point of view, but Christ saw them with a spiritual application. “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (Matthew 9:5-6) The blind man was questioned by the Pharisees about how he could now see, and “Who did this?” All he could say was, “Once I was blind but now I can see (the Christ).” The King sent His disciples out in the beginning of His ministry commanding them to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom and heal the sick. The role of Jesus Christ on this earth as King was to establish His Kingdom after Israel had failed to accept the responsibility for the Kingdom of God. Israel lost her right to be the Kingdom when she asked Samuel for a king like all the nations (1 Samuel 8:5). “Therefore say I unto you, (Israel) the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 21:43) The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are the same. The word ‘heaven’ has nothing to do with the fantasy land most Christians believe they go to after they die. The Greek word for - 26 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY heaven is "Ouranus" and means above, as in authority being higher than any authority on this earth. The truth is that all the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ who is the King. Unto the King of all Kings, shall every knee bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. "Lord" means the Owner. Please ponder these things to understand that we are not speaking about some religious concept of God's program for this world. In spite of this, the Church says almost nothing concerning the Kingdom except to relegate it to some future time in the sweet bye and bye. If the previous statements have not caused you to open your ears to hear more about the Kingdom of God, perhaps the following will break through your understanding. From God's viewpoint, the Kingdom is already finished and complete in the realm of spirit. Jesus told the people of His day, "The Kingdom is already here," because the King is here; in fact it was the King that was speaking to them, but they did not recognize Him. Because in the mind of the people, He did not appear to look like a King. One of the snapshots of the King that is most dear to Christians today is a man hanging on a cross with a crown of thorns on his head, stark naked, with his life draining away. Over his head is an official sign which said, “JESUS OF NAZARETH - THE KING OF THE JEWS” What a contradiction - a King being crucified with two criminals, by the very people he had brought into the world through Father Abraham, and who delivered them from the greatest military power on the earth at that time, Egypt. In their journey as a nation through the wilderness, the King fed them for 40 years, provided water from a rock that flowed for 40 years, destroyed their enemies and then gave them the promised land. How many Christians wearing a cross around their neck today - 27 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY have this picture in their mind? That cross they wear is made of gold, bright and shiny, but His cross is wood and stained with His own blood... and He is the King. Please allow the spirit to cause your mind to comprehend the total ingratitude of the people who stood at that cross on that day rejoicing over His death. He was the sinless Son of the living God - King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But do not think that it is only Israel that is guilty, for we also are just as involved as they were. OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO THE KINGDOM We are told in Genesis 1:26 that man was created in the likeness and the image of God, and God is spirit. There is only one spirit in the universe and there is no other; the man created in Genesis 1:26 is spirit and that man is Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul declares, "Do you not know that your body is the temple or dwelling place of God." This means that the body of man is the place where God dwells today, and it is in the heart of man that the King desires to establish His throne from which He would rule the world. “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of Priests, and an holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5) The Kingdom of God is the divine government which God had purposed to rule over the whole earth. God’s children must come to realize that the only thing that will save the world is to have Christ the King ruling and reigning in us; and then extending His rule over - 28 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY the nations through us, until this world becomes the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ. Then there will be peace on earth. Our responsibility is to be the Kingdom builders under the King, a holy nation of kings and priests divinely connected to God, obeying the directions of the King. When the governmental order of God’s Kingdom is manifest over the earth, the whole world become a singular theocratic nation. God had purposed for all mankind to submit to the kingship of Jesus Christ. Israel’s priesthood was supposed to be an example of God’s theocratic government; however, there was no clear line of authority established from God to priesthood of Aaron and his family. Lack of obedience to the voice of God saw corruption entering in and the King only had limited control. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:7) Isaiah 9:7 gives us further insight into the Kingdom. The authority of the King is absolute: it must be extended globally until every kingdom, nation, order and people are brought under the control of the King. This means all governments and power through out the earth must be taken out of the hands of greedy men and placed in the hands of the King. Because in a kingdom there is only one authority, the King’s authority which is supreme and above all. This is why the church in the world today cannot be the Kingdom, and has failed to present the truth of the Kingdom of God. Every church has its individual king - the local pastor - who - 29 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY assumes his authority over the people. And this is why the church continues to divide the people in every nation on the earth. If the church was based upon Kingdom principles, there would only be one King and one authority - Christ Jesus. When He is honored as King, the church would be united throughout the world. All the present kingdoms or nations on this earth must be brought under the authority of Jesus Christ the King, until there is nothing that is not under His control. We must understand that the basis of the Kingdom rests with every man bowing the knee to the King. This must begin with those who claim to be Christians, because a Christian is one over whom Christ is Lord and King, and not only Savior. The concept of the absolute authority of the King ruling and reigning over us individually has never been taught; most people retain a large percentage of their right to make decisions for themselves. This is why the Kingdom has never functioned on an individual level. And this is why there has never been a plausible manifestation and genuine evidence of the Kingdom exhibited on earth. There are two aspects of Kingdom rule which must function simultaneously. 1. First, the government and rule of the King is always increasing. 2. Secondly, with the ever increasing reign of the King, peace is extended. Isaiah 9:7a states, “of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end”. There must be an increasing submission in our individual lives to the government and rule of Christ until we all crown Him King and Lord. Only then can we begin to subdue all things in the world, bringing them under the control of the King. This will occur only when the “Gospel of the Kingdom” is preached, causing mankind to recognize the King and - 30 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY bow the knee to Him. So many Christians superficially equate submission to the Lord with abstinence from smoking, drinking alcohol, gambling and other vices. He requires a total surrender to His voice. As the manifestation of Christ’s government increases, and as He rules increasingly in the heart of man, genuine peace is extended by the Prince of Peace. We live in a world that knows very little peace. The breakup of families through divorce has created a very troubled generation of children. Nations war against nations; and even within the same country, various factions live in strife and turmoil warring against their fellow countrymen. Governments fail to govern the people with equity, justice and respect for the dignity of man. Today, there is little peace in the heart of man, causing him perplexity, utter confusion and loss of hope. So man tries to numb his spiritual pain with alcohol and mind altering drugs exasperating the confusion. Young people are alienated from their parents and no one sees the vital truth: peace can only come from the Prince of Peace. In John 14:27, Jesus told His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, MY peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. His peace, however, can only function in our lives though the Christ (Spirit) indwelling us. We will never know Christ’s peace through our natural or carnal mind. Christ is one with the Father who created all things and sustains all of creation by the word of His power. When the King is in charge, we will live in peace. When we live in full obedience to the voice of the King dwelling in us we will experience His peace and the joy of His Kingdom. - 31 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY This indicates that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding that Christ Jesus said would be the function of our spiritual mind, if we let this mind which was also in Christ Jesus rule in our consciousness (Philippians 2:5). The Christ and the man must be seen as one, functioning through one mind, expressing a singular consciousness. We must become a total expression of who He is and not an imitation! Only then can we express that peace of God which is Kingdom life. The gospel we preach must be based upon the same spiritual aspirations that we seek: our ‘good news’ must be the gospel of the Kingdom of God which affirms the authority of the King who indwells every man. Obey the King and you will receive the peace which passes all understanding. Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” The word ‘love’ has lost its meaning in the world today. In marriage, a man says to his wife “I love you.” But in so many cases that ‘love’ can so easily turn to hate. Love is giving and not getting. “God so loved the world,” but that love caused Him to “give us His Only begotten Son” to dwell in us and also to redeem us from our mortal slavery as He died on Calvary’s cross. This is the ultimate expression of true love. God does not simply love us; the higher truth is that God is love (1 John 4:16). Love is an intrinsic and innate aspect of the Father’s character. In John 14:23 Jesus said, “If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” This is true obedience to authority. Isaiah 9:7 clearly states that God’s Kingdom shall be established upon the throne of David. Indeed, David’s life reveals valuable lessons concerning the Kingdom of God. Israel suffered under the failed leadership of Saul who never submitted to the authority of God; just as many of us today suffer under the authority of the carnal mind. But in His infinite wisdom, God long ago had - 32 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY made preparation and had anointed a man who could deliver the nation of Israel from being enslaved by the Philistines. Goliath, the Philistine giant, challenged Israel to a singular, man-to-man fight: the nation of the loser of the fight becomes the slave of the nation of the victor. Israel had no man to answer Goliath’s challenge and was preparing to surrender to the Philistines. Today, God’s people face the same challenge in a more subtle way: our mortality demands our submission to its limitations as the years roll by. If ‘age’ had any reality, God would be extremely old by now and very limited in what He could do. But did not the Lord declare through the Prophet Isaiah, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) Our consciousness is rooted in our mortality, despite the truth that our beginning is not in our natural birth on the earth. Our genesis is in creation out of God in Genesis 1:26. The zoe nonceasing eternal life of God was breathed into the nostrils of the first earth man Adam; this divine breath - and life - is not subject to the limitations of natural life and its consequence of death. It can never be! Because that zoe life is continual and perpetual as much as God Himself is eternal and without beginning nor end. In John 17:5, Jesus confidently prayed, “Now O Father, glorify me with your own self and with the glory that I had with you before the world WAS.” Was it this ‘world’ He was referring to? Surely Christ never allowed Himself to be influenced by the hypnotic concept of ever being separate from His Father; He never considered there could be another world other than the world which was. - 33 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY Israel had forgotten their “miracle” origin through Abraham and the seed of God. The children of Israel were terrified by the size of the Philistine giant, Goliath. Even though they had dethroned God when they asked Samuel to give them a king, God would not allow the Philistines to destroy His kingdom and His people. God had a secret weapon: a young lad by the name of David, who had no army training and no great skills. But David had already been anointed with the holy anointing oil by Samuel. David was visiting his brothers who were among Israel’s army; and David heard the challenge of the giant Goliath and volunteered to fight the giant that he may deliver Israel. The power of the Divine anointing is hardly recognized among God’s people today but let me remind you what the scriptures say: But the anointing which ye have received of Him abides in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him. (1 John 2:27) The term anointing is the Greek word ‘khris-mah’ and literally means to be enchristed; that is to be endowed with the attributes of Christ. Because we were all created in Christ Jesus, we share the same anointing with Him that He presently has, because He indwells us. As we allow Him to express Himself through us today that same anointing will continue to function. Did He not say, “the things that I do you can do also.” David was anointed in his father’s house as Samuel poured the holy anointing oil on his head; this anointing equipped David to deliver Israel and to finally be the King over Israel and to ultimately deliver them from all their enemies. The young man David was allowed by Saul who was then King over Israel to go and fight the - 34 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY giant. He rejected Saul’s armor and only took five little stones and his slingshot with him to destroy a mighty giant armed with spear, sword and shield. But the giant did not know this boy had been anointed of God. David needed only one stone, representing the Stone that the builders of the Kingdom refused in Israel. Nothing more was needed. While the Giant ranted and raved David ignored his taunts and continued to move closer. With the lad’s size and lack of armament confusing the giant, David addressed this representative of the Philistines, “You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver you into my hand; and I will smite you, and take your head from you; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” (1 Samuel 17:45-46) David’s stone left his sling and found its mark on the forehead of the giant: Goliath fell to the ground. It was the anointing that brought the giant down, and in doing so the entire nation of Israel was saved from slavery. These are not simply stories we can tell our children; these are proof and evidence of how Christ functions on the earth today through the anointing that is on every man. Most of God’s people have little consciousness or understanding of what great anointing lies dormant within them. This anointing was not just upon David the shepherd boy, but was actually the anointing of the King who was resident in him and in all of mankind that was created in Christ Jesus. Beloved, it - 35 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY matters not what we may be in the natural, but we all have been touched by the holy anointing oil of God, and when that registers in our consciousness we will never be the same. It will change our entire life, and allow you to see what the Father wants you to see, even though others cannot see it. This anointing is given to us today so that we can have our spiritual eyes open to see mankind walking about on the earth today in a ‘dream world’ of mortality, crying over the evil that is slowly destroying the peace and tranquility of planet earth, having eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Who is going to set all creation free by establishing Jesus Christ as King in the lives of mankind? This is where the Kingdom of God actually begins. Manifesting the Kingdom on earth today is a great challenge to God’s people; the Kingdom begins in everyone of us - where the King is already installed and anointed. But we have never crowned Christ as King and Lord over our lives, having chosen our own king - Saul, or the flesh - to reign over us. Consequently, we suffer sickness, pain, poverty and lack of every kind. We endure all this while our Heavenly David, Christ the Lord - who can destroy all our enemies and can release us from slavery to mortality - remains uncrowned. When David ruled, the armies of the nation of Israel continually overcame in battle until they had overcome every nation that opposed them by the end of David’s reign. Israel lived victoriously as a free nation in a hostile world. And so shall it be for God’s people when His kingdom manifests in the earth. It all begins when He is crowned King and Lord, one life at a time. If we view this as a parable of the Kingdom, the holy anointing upon the shepherd boy is a promise and a picture of the King rising in each and every one of us, subduing all enemies in this world. This is parallel to what Psalm 8:4 declares concerning us: - 36 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY You made the man a little lower than the angels (Elohim) and crowned him with glory and honour, and set him over the works of your hands: You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that You put all in subjection under him (the man), You left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him (the man). But we see “Jesus”, (the ‘man’ with Christ within) who was made a little lower than Elohim for the suffering of death, (which Christ could not do as Spirit) crowning (the man Jesus Christ) with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became Him (Christ) for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many (more) sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both the one that sanctifies and the ones who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren (Brothers) with the same Father. (Hebrews 2:7-11, paraphrased... Compare Psalm 8:4) The divine government of God’s Kingdom is not an interim regulation subject to revision and modifications; God’s Kingdom is eternal from its inception. Many Christians have been taught that the Kingdom shall one day be established in the far distant future, and has nothing to do with us today. Remember that Jesus taught his disciples to pray 2000 years ago, saying, “Thy kingdom come, and Thy will be done on this earth as it is already being done in the spirit world.” - 37 - GOD’S KINGDOM TODAY Jesus never suggested that the Kingdom was reserved for a future time at the end of the ages. Babylon, this confused world of religion, has totally deleted the concept of the Kingdom of God from the gospel that is being preached around the world. The primary focus of the church is not God ruling the earth today. Church doctrine has deferred the rule of God on the earth to the end of the ages. The church in the world fails to read and comprehend the very words with which Jesus began His earthly ministry: “The Kingdom of God is here; it is in you.” This is how we begin to see the Kingdom. The Kingdom begins when King Jesus not only reigns within us; it begins when He has been personally crowned in our life today. While the King is in charge of your life, there will be no more bad decisions, no more mistakes, and nothing can touch your life. His knowledge is infinite. This may suggest that we are abdicating our responsibility to live our own life. Consider these truths. Christ is your true identity because you were created in Christ. When the King rules over your life, then Christ - the real you - assumes all responsibility. The ‘mortal you’ ceases to exist, because God never created a mortal human being. He created man as spirit, which is what you still are today. Secondly our body does not belong to us. Paul said, What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (It does not belong to you.) May the spirit of wisdom and knowledge open to your understanding what Father is saying to His sons today.