Six Aspects of the Kingdom of God.

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We often speak of going to Heaven, although this expression is not found in the Bible, to my knowledge. Perhaps we can be more specific concerning the destiny of the saints. There are at least six specific aspects of our goal that we can focus on, while the term "heaven" may refer to the entire spirit world, part of which is good and part evil.

(11/19/2006) Of course, there is no problem with using the term "Heaven" to refer to the area where the Father, Christ, saints, and holy angels reside. The word is used in this manner in the Bible. It may be true, however, that as we approach the end of the age and the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth, there are specific parts of our destiny that are being pointed out to us. All are scriptural.

In an attempt to make the parts easy to remember I have used the letter "p":

Position.

Purpose.

The internal palace.

The external palace.

Paradise.

An understanding of these aspects of our inheritance may help us in our daily walk in Christ.

The first area of understanding is that of our "position" in Christ. Perhaps many believers are not fully conscious of their position in the Lord. The truth is, when we truly receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, Christ is born in us. There is a new personality in us. This new "firstfruits," we might say, of our new Kingdom personality immediately is caught up to the right hand of God. There is Christ we are above all other authoritative personages.

We have been born in Christ at the right hand of God, we might say. An awareness of our position in Christ may be helpful in the last days. It seems evident that Satan increasingly is being forced down into the earth. As he is, he will attempt to frighten us away from doing God's will.

But if we are aware that in Christ we have been raised higher than any other authoritative personage in the spirit world, we will not be frightened by Satan. Rather we will keep our attention focused on Christ. He then will deal with Satan. Christ has vastly more authority and power than is true of Satan. When we are resting in Christ we partake of that Divine protection.

So when we speak of going to Heaven, we need to realize we already have been placed at the right hand of God in Christ. Now our task it to maintain our place, our crown of righteousness and life. It is possible to be lured down from our high place in God, particularly is there if any form or rebellion or disobedience in us. We have been warned lest another take our crown!

The second unfolding understanding concerns our purpose in existence. From the beginning of the world, God decided what our role in His Kingdom is to be. Then, in God's time we were brought into the world. Our prime effort in life is to fight our way into our proper role, our proper place in Christ. Numerous enemies will seek to turn us aside.

The thesis of the Book of Hebrews is that of entering the "rest" of God, that is, into the purpose for our life that was decided on the sixth day of creation. After our purpose was decided, God rested. We are to enter that purpose, that rest.

The fact that we are seeking to enter that which already has been decided upon should have a total impact upon the manner in which we live our life. Are we endeavoring to do and become what we think desirable, or are we looking to the Lord Jesus every moment to find out what God's will is for us?

It is easy to come short of God's plan for us. It is difficult to maintain an attitude of battle and discipline until we can look up to Christ in complete confidence that we are doing exactly that which God foreordained we should do.

We see, then, that we already are in the highest heaven in Christ, and our role in the Kingdom has been decided. So when we say we want to go to Heaven, what are we really saying? Perhaps we should instead announce that we are resting in Christ, in God's perfect will, at the right hand of God in the highest of all heavens.

The third "p" is that of the internal "palace." This is a somewhat contrived way of saying that the Kingdom of God is God in Christ making His eternal home, His palace, in us. Here is an important part of our inheritance. We have been created that we might be the eternal dwelling place, the throne, of God and of the Lamb.

Each one of us is to get off the throne of our personality and install God and Christ there. When They are satisfied that we will always do God's will perfectly, in every detail, They then will permit us to sit with Them on the throne of our own personality. Thus They and we shall share the same palace for eternity.

The fourth "p" is the external palace in which we will reside with God and the Lamb. The external palace could be termed the "headquarters." The Kingdom of God has a headquarters. During the thousand-year Kingdom age, God's headquarters will be at Jerusalem on the present earth. During the new heaven and earth reign of God and Christ, the headquarters will be the new Jerusalem. The headquarters of the Kingdom of God always will be Jerusalem.

The Book of Hebrews refers to the headquarters of the Kingdom of God in the following manner:

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, To the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, To Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24)

It is interesting, isn't that, that we already are at the right hand of God; we already are entering the rest of God each day; we already are inviting God and the Lamb to sit on the throne of our personality; and we already have come to the external palace, the headquarters of the Kingdom of God.

What "p" remains? Paradise. Jesus said to the thief, "This day you shall be with me in Paradise." The Apostle Paul was caught up to Paradise. The Tree of Life, Jesus Christ, is still in the Paradise of God.

Mankind was created in the Paradise of God. It is the one part of our inheritance that we do not have as yet. We want to go there when we die, don't we? We refer to Paradise as "Heaven."

Somehow we remember Paradise in our subconscious mind. This probably is the reason we enjoy flowers and trees. When we think of "Heaven" we think of a beautiful garden in which there is love, joy, and peace, as in the beginning.

Our hope of Heaven is not an idle hope. Paradise is one of the important aspects of our inheritance.

But when you think about it, our position at the right hand of God in Christ is actually more important to us than being in a garden. So is finding the place God has marked out for us. So is the dwelling of God and Christ in us. So is our place in Jerusalem, the headquarters from which the Lamb governs.

Given the supreme importance of the first four "p's," we ought to pay serious attention to them. Paradise is nothing more than environment. But the first four aspects merit our serious consideration.

Actually there is a sixth "p" that is an extremely important part of our inheritance in the Kingdom of God. The sixth "p" is "people. Our relationship to God and Christ is of supreme importance. Our relationship to people is next in importance.

When our relationship to God and Christ has been fully and firmly established, God will give us some people as part of our inheritance. God will bring us into union with them to the same extent we are in union with Him through Christ. This may seem impossible, but it is what Christ prayed for.

We cannot at the present time fully appreciate the value of the inheritance of people. But at the appropriate hour, God will open our eyes, as it were, and we will see the ineffable splendor of what has been prepared for those who love God and do His will from the heart.

Love for God and love for other people. All else relatively is insignificant.

So let us continue patiently until we finish our course. He who endures to the end shall be saved. Being saved means being brought into the fullness of position; the fullness of purpose; the fullness of the indwelling of God; the fullness of our place in Headquarters; and the full blessing of a beautiful environment.

Best of all, however, is to experience God's love in Christ as it flows out from us toward other people. Such a life of outpouring love is the grandest of all heavens.

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