What are Earth and Heaven?
What is earth?
Earth is
an extension or a province of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Heaven is the place
where God and His angel live. Heaven is the abode of God.
Earth was
created for man, as an extension of the Heavenly Kingdom.
It is a
province of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Kingdom, not Democracy
Kingdom
of Heaven is ruled by God.
It is not
a democratic state; it is a theocratic state.
Theocratic
does not mean that any religion rules in the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no
place for religion in Heaven.
It is a Kingdom
where God’s Will is the rule.
What is a Kingdom
Kingdom
primarily means not a geographical area. It is
the reign of the king.
Only
secondarily is the geographical area.
A Kingdom
consists of mainly four components:
1.
King
2.
Geographical area
3.
Citizens
4.
Laws
1. King
God is
the King of Heaven, earth and the entire universe.
Matthew
5:34,35 But I tell you, do not swear
an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s
throne;
35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by
Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
2. Geographical
area
So we
believe that the geographical area of the Heavenly Kingdom is Heaven.
From the
creation story narrated in Genesis first three chapters, we come know that God
created Earth as an extension to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Earth was
created as an external province of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Psalm
89:11 The heavens are yours, and
yours also the earth; you founded the world and all
that is in it. (NIV)
3. Citizens
The
citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom are angels.
For The
Kingdom of God on Earth:
God
created man and gave him all authority to subdue and rule over the whole earth
from the kingly palace of Eden.
It is
like the rule of an emperor of a vast empire through his delegated
representative.
Adam and
Eve were the only citizens there.
They were
King and Queen.
They were
the Kingdom.
Since all
their descendents are also Kings and Queens.
It was a
Kingdom of Kings and Queens.
4. Law
The
relationship between God and Man is well revealed and explained in the first
two chapters of the Book of Genesis.
God
delegated man with all authority to name and rule everything on the earth.
He was
forbidden to eat from only one tree, as a measure for his obedience and loyalty
towards the Great King.
The King
will not interfere in any daily affairs.
But Adam
had to give an account of the day’s work in the evening as the King visited him
every day.
Of course
he was not left helpless in a newly created realm. God was there if he needed
His help. He came every day to commune with His citizens, Adam and Eve.
Kingdom of God Established
The earth
was God’s new province ruled by His Will through Man.
Eden was
the ideal kingdom with man and woman in it.
Thus God
established a kingdom on earth under His Kingdom of Heaven.
Man was
appointed as the King of this new kingdom of God.
The Fall
Adam was
created in the image of God so that every living and non living thing will look
upon him to see the Creator God Himself.
There is
no question of any kind of civil war from other creatures.
Still Adam
and Eve were strictly warned by the King to guard the garden.
Everything
went fine, till the day Satan through a serpent entered the garden and tempted
Eve and Adam through her.
Man
violated the contract with the Emperor and obeyed the enemy of the Kingdom.
Thus the
Kingdom fell to Satan.
God plans Restoration
But God
did not give up His new province.
God
announced His plan to redeem and restore the Kingdom through man.
Since then God has been gathering partners to work
for restoring the Kingdom to its original status..
His Own Community
God’s
original plan to restore the kingdom on earth is by creating a community that
He could call His Own People.
· God will be the King of this community and they shall
live according to His Will.
· Geographical area is the entire earth.
· Laws are His Will, laws according to His Holiness.
Many
incidents towards creating such a community happened during the coming years.
Abraham Called to Move Out
After
many years God called Abraham, his wife Sara and asked to move from his native
land to the land of Canaan.
God was
implementing His plan.
Abraham
obeyed and they reached the Promised Land.
After
testing His faith, God declared Abraham righteous and His man to create a
community for the restoration of the Kingdom.
God
announced that He shall bless all people groups, all nations and all
communities on earth through Abraham.
The King of King comes
Years
rolled by.
God has
not forgotten His promise given to Adam and Abraham to restore the Kingdom and
bless all nations.
For the
final attack on the kingdom of Satan on earth God appointed Jesus Christ.
Jesus is
what St. John explains as God’s Word became
flesh.
It means
God himself came down in flesh equal to man except in sin.
He
carried away all the sins and its punishment on Himself and made atonement on
the Cross.
· Jesus was the sacrificial lamb for the atonement of
human sin
· Jesus was the High Priest of the sacrifice.
· Jesus took His own blood to the heavenly Mercy Throne
and made atonement for all people.
Kingdom Restored
This is not
the only thing Jesus did on the cross.
During
His ministry in this world, He announced the
Kingdom of God.
He
continued to defeat Satan by forgiving the sins of people, healing the sick,
cleansing the leaper, delivering people from the bondage of satan and finally
defeating death itself.
Jesus
celebrated the victory on the cross and announced the completion of the war: “It is finished.”
The
strong man was attacked, subdued, conquered, all his captives were delivered
and his treasures were ransacked and distributed among God’s own people.
By his
death on cross, he declared salvation to all men in this world and declared a
legal right to all people to become God’s own people.
Thus the
Kingdom of God was restored.
The King is Away to Have the Appointment
There is
one more thing to happen:
The final declaration of victory and the appointment
of Jesus as the King of the Kingdom of God on this earth, by the Great Empire
in Heaven.
· Jesus came first to this world as the sacrificial lamb
and the warrior of God to restore the Kingdom from satan.
· Jesus will come again as the King with rightful
authority to rule the kingdom.
Kingdom During His Absence
Meanwhile,
there is a period of absence of Jesus.
As Jesus
explained in one of His parables, He has gone to the emperor to have the
Kingship.
Before He
went He called all of His men around and entrusted them with His precious
treasure and commanded them to trade and increase till He come.
The treasure of Jesus is His Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
All those
who believe in Christ are entrusted to trade it and increase it.
Jesus has
appointed all who believe in the sacrificial death and atonement of Jesus as
Partners in spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom.
How shall we trade the Gospel of the Kingdom?
It is
explained in the parable of the yeast.
Matthew 13: 33 He
told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a
woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all
through the dough.” (NIV)
The woman
took sixty pounds of flour.
She mixed
a small quantity of yeast into it.
After
some hours, it is found that the whole dough is fermented.
Few but Powerful
His
partners may be few in number.
But they
have the power and authority received from High to influence the world.
They are
the ambassadors of Christ in this
world.
Ambassadors
are the go between two countries.
The
presence of the Kingdom of God is felt in this world through them.
Their
duty is to push the interest of the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth.
After the
declaration and receiving the appointment, Jesus will come again to punish the
enemy, reward His partners and establish the Kingdom of God.
The Invitation
Today
Jesus has millions of partners working for Him in this world influencing it
with His Kingdom presence, with the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven. Many
more are joining. Jesus needs more.
Can you
join as the next partner of Jesus to maintain and increase the presence of the
Kingdom?
God wants
you to join His people, today and now.
The prayer
If you
are willing please pray with me, right now and join the Kingdom Partners.
“Lord
Jesus, I trust in you and declare my faith in your crucifixion and atonement
for my sins. Help me to lead a born again life. I am signing in as your partner
in extending the influence of the Kingdom of Heaven in this world. In Jesus
name, Amen.”
Welcome
to the Kingdom Partners. From now onwards you are going to see the amazing
impact of your life as a Kingdom Partner in this world.
May God
bless you!
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