The Three Lessons of the Kingdom

The Three Lessons of the Kingdom. Daniel spoke of a Kingdom that would demolish the other kingdoms on the earth and govern forever. When the Lord Jesus and John the Baptist announced that the Kingdom is at hand, I think the Jews must have remembered what Daniel had said.

What has happened to the Gospel of the Kingdom? How and when did it get changed to the Gospel of saved people going to Heaven? I do not know of any passage of the Bible that speaks of saved people going to Heaven. Do you? But there certainly are many passages, in both the Old Testament and the New, that tell us about the Kingdom of God, the will of God, coming to the earth.

(3/9/2008) During a funeral service yesterday I asked the question, “Why is the Lord Jesus going to return to the earth? I planned on using this question to introduce the topic of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

Someone, not of our church, answered: “To carry His Church to Heaven.”

I have been preaching the Kingdom of God for so long, I did not realize that people still believe that Jesus is coming “to catch His waiting Bride away.” I had been taught that, when I first became a Christian. But as I have studied the Bible, I see that the Lord Jesus is not returning to carry His Church to Heaven but to install His Kingdom, the rule of God, on the earth.

We do not preach the Gospel of the Kingdom today. We preach the gospel of Heaven. The gospel of Heaven is not found in the Scriptures, only in Christian thinking and teaching. This is so obvious from the Scriptures that I do not wish to spend more time on it.

There is only one world of people. Most people are in the spirit part of the world, and are invisible to us at this time. The smaller group are in the physical part of the world. This is the part of the one world we are familiar with.

Both parts of the one world are schools. The present physical world is a school. The spirit world, where deceased people are, also is a school—at least for people who are “saved.” In fact, “saved” means eligible to go to school.

The two parts of the one world are very similar, except for the environment, and for the fact we no longer have a physical body when we are in the spirit part, at least for the present. But the relation of people to God and people to people is identical as far as I know. People hope they will be changed when they die, but they won’t be.

What would change them? It is only Christ who changes anyone, and He can change someone in either part of the world. Peter told us that God judges the living and the dead.

The twenty-first chapter of the Book of Revelation tells of the coming down through the sky of the new Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem is the glorified Christian Church, the Kingdom of God, the “house” of which Jesus spoke when He said, “In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. Each saint is a living stone. Taken together, the saints compose the new Jerusalem, the holy city that is to govern the earth forever, according to the Book of Daniel.

The new earth, with its governing city, is the new world of righteousness that eventually will include all saved people. Before a new world of righteousness is possible, all the people in it, both of the Church, and of the nations of saved people which the Church will govern, must learn three lessons. No one can remain in the Kingdom of God if these three lessons are not mastered.

The first lesson teaches us that we must obey Christ in every aspect of our thinking, speaking, and acting. We no longer are “free moral agents.” We are the servants of Jesus Christ. God has made Christ our King. We absolutely must obey Him.

No person among the nations of the earth who is not a Christian knows he is supposed to obey Christ, that Christ is God’s King. It is true also that most Christians do not understand they are supposed to obey Christ. They have not been taught this. They do not understand we are to be presenting all of our decisions to Christ so He can direct us at all times and in all situations. We are not free to do what we want. We are free to pray and act according to what we are hearing from Jesus, rather than what we are imagining we ought to do.

Most Christians want Jesus to be their Savior, but they do not understand He is first of all our personal Lord. We must obey Jesus Christ in all matters if we wish to be in the Kingdom of God. Once we choose to walk in the light of the will of Christ, the blood will cleanse us from all sin. The issue is not the blood atonement. The issue is the Lordship of Christ!

The second great lesson of the Kingdom of God has to do with loving God with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. This does not mean necessarily that we feel affection toward God. It means we put Him first in our life.

We Americans have many idols, including money, sexual lust, professional sports, and entertainment. We worship these in place of God. Whatever you spend your time and attention on is your god. Wherever you find fulfillment and security is your place of worship.

Jesus told us if we would seek God and His Kingdom, what we need will be added to us. The world does not understand this. Neither do most Christians. But we are not candidates for citizenship in the new world of righteousness until God is in first place in our life.

The third great lesson we have to learn has to do with loving our neighbor as ourselves. This does not mean we feel affection toward our neighbor. It means we help him or her when we have the power to do so. We leave all revenge with God. We feed and help our enemy when he has needs. This is acceptable to God, and is His image.

The physical part of the one world, and the greater spirit part, are schools. There are three lessons to learn: to obey Jesus Christ; to put God first; and to assist people we like and people we do not like, when they have need of our help.

There are people throughout history, as well as people of today, who have learned these three lessons. These are the only ones who will be raised from the dead and caught up to meet the Lord when He next appears. To “overcome” means to have mastered the three great lessons.

The task of those who are raised and then caught up to Christ is to instruct the rest of mankind in these three areas of behavior. The period of instruction will continue from this moment throughout the thousand-year Kingdom Age.

The overcomers will inherit all that God is making new in Christ. They will instruct the members of the churches who did not learn their lessons satisfactorily. They will govern the nations with a rod of iron, forcing the mastery of these lessons.

After the thousand-year Kingdom Age has been completed, the Bride, the greater Church, shall have been made ready. Being made ready means every member of the new Jerusalem will obey Christ perfectly. Every member of the new Jerusalem will have put God in first importance in his or her life. Every member of the new Jerusalem will treat every other person with kindness, helping when help is called for.

The same lessons will be required of every individual who is to have a place on the new earth, even though he or she is not of the Bride; not of the holy city, the new Jerusalem.

Thus the brilliant new sky will look down on an enormous earth in which every person is in subjection to Jesus Christ; every person holds God to be of primary importance; every person treats every person in a kind, helpful manner.

These three lessons can be taught and learned, and they indeed shall be.

The Psalms teach us clearly that God is coming to govern the earth. This shall take place. God’s Kingdom shall come to the earth. God’s will shall be done on the earth.

God has permitted man for two thousand years to do pretty much as he pleases. Now our earth is part of Hell, and grows worse every day. People do not obey Jesus Christ. People put numerous gods in place of the one true God. People compete with each other, seeing how they can prevail over those around them.

There is a new world coming. The Lord’s prayer, that He taught us to pray, shall be answered. God’s Kingdom shall come to the earth. God’s will shall be done, first on this earth; and then forever and perfectly on the new earth.

This is the true Good News, the Gospel of the Kingdom. What is being preached today, that we are “saved” to escape Hell and to go into the spirit part of the world to live forever, is a lie.

“Grace,” as it is preached today, is not scriptural. The current teaching resembles Satan’s original statement: “You shall not surely die. Even if you never master these three lessons, you shall not surely die.”

Mankind bought this lie and has suffered for it for six thousand years.

The original lie still is being preached in the pulpits of America, as the ministers seek to build huge congregations.

The truth is, you surely shall die if you do not obey Christ sternly and consistently. You surely shall die if you do not put God in first place in your life. You surely shall die if you avenge yourself on those who harmed you and do not forgive them and place them in God’s hands.

You surely shall die if you trust in “grace” to protect you from Divine judgment, when you are refusing to serve God as you should.

You surely shall die! But you won’t die if you will turn to Christ, obey Him, and keep the two great commandments on which all the Law and the Prophets are based. Rather, you shall inherit all that God is making new in Christ.