Romans 3
We are walking in today: Don’t Declare Independence In A Season Of Wisdom!!!!! PART 2
Witness majesty throughout the Bible: H1347 ga'own --exaltation, majesty, pride, majesty, exaltation, excellence
Micah 5:4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty H1347 of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
The Torah testifies...............
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The prophets proclaim..................
Isaiah 24:14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty H1347 of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
The writings bear witness...........................
Job 40:10 Deck thyself now with majesty H1347 and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.
Ezekiel 7:20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: H1347 but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.
Cut off from True Life
Although human beings were designed to live from the
inside out, this situation was now reversed. Since they had lost
the Holy Spirit, which was their connection with their Father,
they now had to live from the outside in. They became totally dependant on their five physical senses. The physical world—
which could give them only a limited perspective on life’s
realities—imposed itself on their inner world. I believe this is
why one of the first words we read about Adam and Eve after
their rebellion is the word “realized” or “knew.” Suddenly, they
realized they were naked. Does
this imply they didn’t know this
before? I don’t think so. I believe
it implies this: nakedness is an
external consciousness rather
than something that is spiritually discerned. The body and its senses, rather than the spirit,
took over humanity’s focus in life. Human beings no longer
had a spiritual perspective at their essence but a sensual one.
A perspective based only on the senses inevitably leads to
confusion. Humanity began to depend on the soul—the mind,
will, and emotions informed by the senses—to interpret life.
From then on, what we saw, heard, touched, tasted, and smelled
became the dominant components in our human experience.
Consequently, we began to interpret our Creator-King mainly
from our physical senses, as well. For example, the field of science attempts to understand the unseen world only from the
seen world. This approach is dangerous because human beings
were never intended to interpret the physical world from itself
but from the spiritual reality of the kingdom.
I am not saying that science is “bad.” Neither am I saying
that the intellect is evil, but only that it has been moved out
of its proper position. The intellect is a wonderful gift created
by the Most High. It must be in its right position, however, for it to effectively execute its purpose and fulfill its potential. The things
that are seen were made from things that are not seen, and the only way to truly understand something is to relate to how
it was made and who made it. The Spirit of the Creator is the
only avenue we have for fully understanding ourselves and the
physical world since he is the Source, Author, and Manufacturer of creation.
We must grasp the deep significance of this truth: Having
the Spirit of the King is not only vital for our relationship with
the invisible King, but also for understanding our own humanity. Only through the Governor can we know why we are really
here and how to interpret the world in which we live; in other
words, how to truly see our environment. The Governor is the
key to our being fully human. We can’t express the King’s nature
unless we are in relationship with him, and the Governor provided that relationship.
Only the Governor knows the mind of the King. We can’t
really be what we were born to be as human beings unless
we have a vital connection to his original intent. The Governor is our reference to ourselves; he is the key to our self-understanding. To be true and complete human beings, we
must somehow become reconnected to and re-indwelled by
the Holy Spirit.
Loss of Authority and Power
We not only lost communication with the home country
through the loss of the Governor, but we also lost the power
and authority he provided. Remember that power is the ability
to control and influence circumstances. One of the first things
the King said to Adam after his rebellion was, in effect, “From
now on, you will have to fight the earth in order to get food.”
Beforehand, he had said, “Rule over…all the earth.” Now the
King had to sadly inform him, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will
produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat
the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you
will eat your food until you return to the ground, since
from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust
you will return.
The King wasn’t only speaking of literal thorns. He was
saying, “It’s going to be hard for you to provide for yourself.
You’re going to have to sweat for it.” Before that, Adam’s work
was not exhausting. He had authority and dominion over the
natural world. It worked for him, rather than the other way
around.
Ramifications of Self-Government
The Governor had been humanity’s connection with the
home country, enabling human beings to fulfill their authority and dominion on earth. When he left, the earth basically
became an independent nation. A colony without a governor
results in self-government. Again, to our contemporary minds,
independence and self-determination are positive words. We celebrate freedom and self-government. But again, this was not
the triumph of freedom over tyranny. This was not removing
the shackles of foreign occupation. It was like rejecting your
beloved family, your home country, and your billion-dollar
inheritance all at once. To paraphrase the wise King Solomon,
“Some paths in life seem right, but they lead to death.”
There’s nothing more dangerous and threatening to a
kingdom than a spirit of independence. For human kingdoms,
this translates into a loss of power and wealth and probably
some pride. For the heavenly kingdom, however, it meant the spiritual death of beloved children who were meant to carry
on the family name and legacy. For the children, it meant the
introduction of fear, a survival mind-set, and the knowledge of
the inevitability of death.
When you are an independent person, you have to survive by your own wits. Likewise, when a country becomes an
independent nation, it has to totally pay its own way. When the
royal governor left the Bahamas on the morning of July 10, we
were totally on our own—in our political and economic life, in
caring for our infrastructure, and all aspects of governance.
Likewise, humanity was left to fend for itself. Yet human beings
weren’t designed to function using only their senses. They
weren’t supposed to live like orphans left to survive in a hostile
world on what they can scrape by on, or convicts left to scratch
out an existence on a remote, punitive island. Human beings
were designed to thrive and prosper and use the heights of
their creativity through the guidance and power of the Holy
Spirit. The recall of the Governor was a devastating loss to the
inhabitants of earth.
A Rebellious State
Humanity’s declaration of independence and subsequent
loss of the Governor left human beings in a state of rebellion. The government of earth, as exercised in the life of every
human being, became essentially one of rebellion that did not
have the purposes of the kingdom at heart. Every person has
been born into this state since the initial rebellion. Theologian
Paul of Tarsus put it this way: “For all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of the Most High.” We all fall short of the essential nature of
the Most High and everything that makes him praiseworthy. He is the
perfect King; his kingdom is the perfect government. Yet we
have distorted the image of that perfection within us. And all our efforts to execute government on earth in personal and
corporate ways have fallen deeply short as well.
A Culture of Darkness and Death
When a country becomes independent after being a colony,
it usually elects or appoints its own governor. This governor
does not teach the people about
the culture of the former home
country, but only its own. Similarly, when the heavenly government recalled the Governor,
human beings stopped learning
the culture of heaven and created their own culture, which
they passed along to their children. We stopped living heaven’s values and began to have our
own independent ideas about life.
We must ask ourselves: How well are we doing? What has
the nature of our culture become? One of the first things that
took place after earth lost the Governor was that a man was
murdered by his older brother. What a way to start a new culture! Instead of the kingdom of heaven defining and transforming earth, a kingdom and culture of darkness came upon
it and began to spread. Adultery, incest, abuse, and domestic
violence are all parts of this culture of darkness; it destroys
young and old, strong and weak. We are still experiencing
crime upon crime, brother killing brother. Wherever the Governor of the King does not rule, you will find murder and
other instances of man’s inhumanity to man. The abuse and
destruction afflict families, communities, businesses, and government—the whole realm of human existence.
The recall of the
Governor was
a devastating loss
to the inhabitants
of earth. All this transpired because human beings listened to the
treacherous lies of a rebellious former aide to our King-Father,
who wanted to usurp the colony for himself. Yeshua of Nazareth
described Lucifer as the “father of lies” and a “murderer.” He
also said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
When this disgraced former general took authority over
the territory of earth, the natural result was devastation and
death. His intent as the illegal governor on earth was not to
bring freedom. It was to steal people’s lives so he could ultimately destroy them. He is a foreign ruler who has taken over
the colony of earth and desires to destroy the original culture of the inhabitants. He rules over a destructive kingdom of
darkness in which human beings
have become either his willing or
unwilling accomplices.
What have we done to this
planet? From the time of humanity’s rejection of the King and
the loss of the Governor, human
beings have been attempting to
dominate the King’s colony without the mind and heart of the King. Trying to run the planet
without the King’s nature has led to a breakdown in human
authority and power to address vital issues. It is the source of
the world’s poverty, genocide, terrorism, political corruption,
drug addiction, broken homes, and every kind of evil that can
be named. We have created a state of rebellion and confusion.
This world is a disaster without the Governor.
The Promise of the King
The colony of earth crumbled under the absence of the
Governor. Without his presence, the human race lost its dignity and sense of responsibility; it became confused and chaotic.
The people experienced a living death. Even though many
people still struggle to do good, this is the essence of the culture of earth today. As the descendants of Adam and Eve, we
are unable to rule on behalf of the heavenly kingdom because
we abdicated our rule to Lucifer’s culture of darkness.
Yet, remarkably, immediately following humanity’s rebellion and the loss of the Governor, the King promised the return
of the Governor and the restoration of earth as a territory loyal
to the kingdom of heaven. The most important promise the
government of heaven ever made to humanity was the return
of the Governor because he is what every human being needs
for true life. He is what the entire world needs, or the territory
would forever remain in a state of chaos and death.
Even in the immediate aftermath of the rebellion, the
King gave an indication of how he would restore the Governor. He told Lucifer, “I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush
your head, and you will strike his heel.” The King’s plan was to
send an Offspring, to be born in the colony, who would restore
kingdom influence to the colony. He would crush the power of
the realm of darkness, take back the kingdom authority that
was stolen, and restore power and authority to those to whom
it was first given—humanity. We would be reinstated as local
rulers on behalf of the heavenly kingdom once again. This
would happen because the King would reappoint the Governor to the colony of earth.
Seeking the Governor
I believe that the bottom line in every person’s search for
power and meaning in life is this: they are actually seeking the return of the Governor, though they may not realize it.
Many people feel they are missing something in their lives
yet aren’t sure what it is. They try to fill the emptiness with
a variety of things: money, relationships, parties, drugs, sex,
alcohol, work, sports, or vacations. In fact, I believe that every
person, whether he is Christian, atheist, Hindu, Buddhist,
Muslim, Shintoist, Scientologist, animist, or even Satanist ultimately desires the same thing. He wants to fill what is missing
in his life, and only the presence of the Governor in his life
can accomplish this. A human being without the Governor is
dysfunctional because he’s never complete; his very purpose
requires the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, if a message were sent from the kingdom of
heaven to earth regarding the fulfillment of the King’s promise—the restoration of the Governor—that message would not
be a religion. Neither would it be a self-help method by which
human beings could use their own abilities to solve their problems. It would be a message about the kingdom and the return
of the King’s Spirit.
Shema Selah we must return to the original plan, the original government the Kingdom of Heaven operating here on the Earth as a colony of the Just Judge and King of kings!!
The Divine destiny connection, the chain that links us together.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Friday, July 26, 2019
The Governor Is Preparing You For Citizenship!!!
Genesis 3
We are walking in today: Weekend Meditation--The Governor Is Preparing You For Citizenship!!!
Witness Govenor throughout the Bible: H6485 paqad --to set over, make overseer, appoint an overseer, to commit, entrust, commit for care, deposit
Jeremiah 40:5 Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor H6485 over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
The Torah testifies...............
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The prophets proclaim..................
Jeremiah 40:7 Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor H6485 in the land, and had committed H6485 unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
The writings bear witness...........................
2 Kings 25:23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, H6485 there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jeremiah 41:18 Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor H6485 in the land.
Declaration of Independence
The greatest threat to kingdom privileges and benefits is an independent spirit. The territory of earth had been created and the colony established. The King’s children were provided with a rich home and given authority to rule and prosper on earth in behalf of the King. However, something happened to disrupt the home country’s plan of expanding the realm of its heavenly kingdom on earth. A rebellion that started in the home country spread to the colony.
A Breach of Trust
The Plot: Overthrow
The rebellion had been instigated by one of the King’s top generals, named Lucifer. He had attempted a coup of the heavenly kingdom and been banished from the presence of the King, along with his followers. This disgraced former aide was bent on revenge and still craved the power to rule a kingdom. He thought that if he could gain control over the King’s own children, he could insult the King, thwart the purposes of the heavenly kingdom, and usurp the colony.
The Plan: Detachment
Lucifer’s plan was to sever the relationship between the King’s children and their Father and separate the citizens of the colony from their true government. So he went to the colony in disguise, where the King’s children had just begun to rule, and infiltrated their government using craftiness and deceit.
The Strategy: An Independent Spirit
His strategy to accomplish this broken relationship was to promote a spirit of rebellion and independence. Subtly questioning the integrity and goodwill of the King, he seduced the King’s children to disregard their Father’s authority over the colony and encouraged them in an act of insurrection. The following is an account of this incident from the first book of Moses:
Now the serpent...said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked.The children of the King went against his explicit instructions, which he had instituted for their protection. The renegade general had planted doubts about the motivation of the King, and distrust grew in their hearts. They immediately turned their backs on all their Father had given them and instead believed the lie placed before them. The children’s response was contrary to the nature and desires of the King. It was also a corruption of their own nature, which had been made in his likeness. What seemed to be a harm-less act to their benefit was actually a disaster; it represented a serious breach of faith and departure from the heart and will of the King. If they could not be trusted with even the simplest aspect of their assignment in the colony, how could they trans-form the earth into the culture of the kingdom of heaven? Especially now that their minds and hearts were shown to be aligned with the King’s bitter enemy?
The Result: Treason
The King’s own children had declared, “I don’t want to be under the kingdom’s jurisdiction anymore; I don’t want to be under the King of kings; I don’t want to be subjected to heaven’s government.” Yet the earth is heaven’s property. When Adam and Eve rebelled and declared independence, they violated the legal contract the government of heaven had established with human beings. Many people think of “sin” as things a person does. Yet it is both deeper and more specific than that. Sin is rebellion against the essential nature and authority of the heavenly government. By their rebellion, the children not only took something that wasn’t theirs, but they also handed it over to someone who didn’t deserve it and would never be qualified for it. Lucifer, the unfaithful former general of heaven, would never transform the world into the heavenly kingdom. He would transform it into something completely opposite, a kingdom of darkness.
Renounced Allegiance and Expatriation
How did the King react to his children’s breach? Although he knew what they had done, he gave them a chance to admit their fault. Instead, they blamed each other, as well as the one who had enticed them to revolt. Like many rebellious children exposed for disobedience, they seemed sorry only to have been caught. The King had no choice but to remove them from the garden; they were banished from the special home that had been provided them because they no longer had the nature necessary to live there, and were no longer able to care for it properly.The first book of Moses says, “After [the Creator-King] drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” The word drove used here means “to drive out from a possession; especially to expatriate or divorce.” It is significant that we find the concept of expatriate here, which means “to renounce allegiance to one’s native country.” Adam and Eve virtually cut themselves off from their own King-Father and home country. Having to drive them out of the garden was as painful to their Father as experiencing a wrenching divorce after the betrayal of a loved one.Adam and Eve had committed high treason. The King had given them authority under delegated power, but they had instead abused that authority to cut the territory off from the government of heaven.
The Recall of the Governor
Although they were removed from the magnificent garden, their former rule, and their previous kingdom life-style, their rejection of the King and his nature led to something far worse. The King had previously alerted them, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” T his was the only area on earth over which the King claimed jurisdiction because he knew its misuse would lead to death.The death the King referred to was not an immediate, bodily death. Adam and Eve did not physically die right away, but they lost their essential source of life as human beings—the King’s Spirit. Remember that the Spirit of the King gave life to their spirits, souls, and bodies. When they rejected the King, they also rejected and lost his Spirit. The Governor alone was their dynamic connection between the seen and the unseen realms. Therefore, their spirits and souls were cut off from the Adam and Eve lost their essential source of life as human beings—the King’s Spirit.home country, and their physical bodies began to die a slow death. They were still physically alive for a time, but spiritually and soulically, they were dead to the King and his kingdom.We saw earlier that, whenever a colony becomes independent from the mother country, the governor is either forced out, or the kingdom withdraws him. Likewise, when Adam and Eve declared independence, the Governor had to be recalled to the heavenly kingdom. I saw a striking illustration of this circumstance the night governing power in the Bahamas was transferred from Great Britain to the new independent government. The Bahamian people had said, “We no longer want to be connected with Britain, as far as direct government control is concerned,” and we won our freedom.Thousands of emotionally charged Bahamians gathered at Clifford Park a few hours before midnight on the evening before independence. The official change in government was scheduled for 12 a.m. on July 10, 1973. Prince Charles, as the representative of the crown, was present, as well as our premier, whose title would soon change to prime minister. There were various ceremonies, and the musical group that I had founded was invited to sing as representatives of the youth of the nation.At 11:50 p.m., the Union Jack was still flying on the flag-pole in the middle of the park. The symbol of the kingdom of Great Britain signified that we were still under England’s rule. At 11:59, one of our law enforcement officers stood at that pole and began to lower the flag. Another officer was next to him, pulling up the new flag of the independent Bahamas. We were witnessing a change of kingdoms firsthand. The lower the British flag got, the closer we came to no longer having a royal governor. The higher the new flag got, the closer our premier came to becoming prime minister. When the British flag reached the bottom and the Bahamian flag reached the top, it was over. Early the next morning, the royal governor left the governor’s house, got on a plane, and departed from the Bahamas. The queen had recalled him. He no longer had the authority or legal right to be there.While I’ve described a joyful period in the national life of Bahamians, it was not a jubilant time for the citizens of earth when they rejected the heavenly government. Again, they had not thrown off foreign rule from their lives. They had rejected their own homeland and their beloved King-Father, who desired to give them the riches of his kingdom. As Adam raised the “human independence flag,” the flag of the heavenly kingdom was simultaneously being lowered until humanity was severed from the King and his kingdom.I mentioned that the governor of the Bahamas had to vacate the governor’s house when he was recalled to the home country. On the colony of earth, the human beings themselves were the house the heavenly Governor had lived in. So when humanity declared independence from their King-Father, this house became a hostile and unclean environment, and the Governor could no longer dwell there. He was recalled to the home country.
Existence without the Governor
What was life like for Adam and Eve after they turned their backs on the kingdom and lost the presence of the Governor? Their act of rebellion is often referred to as “the fall” because of the extreme change in the quality of human existence they experienced. It was like a prince falling from a luxurious royal coach into a muddy ditch and then having to live there. Independence, in a human political sense, is a positive concept to us. The American Revolution, in which America declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, is celebrated with fireworks and family gatherings. Yet humanity’s independence from heaven’s kingdom is nothing to celebrate. It’s something to mourn because it’s the worst thing that ever happened to human beings, whereas the kingdom was the best thing we could have been given.We can begin to comprehend the value of the Governor on earth by looking at what existence without him is like.
Loss of the Kingdom
The loss of the Governor meant the loss of the environment of the kingdom on earth. Since the Governor was the evidence of the presence of the kingdom, his absence inevitably meant the absence of the kingdom presence. Earth’s environment changed to the antithesis of the heavenly kingdom.
Shema Selah we can no longer operate in dependence on self when the Creator created all things including us! Return to the kingdom of Heaven in thoughts and action here on the colony of Heaven on the Earth!
Thursday, July 25, 2019
The Governor Is Preparing You For Citizenship!!!!! PART 2
Genesis 2
We are walking in today: The Governor Is Preparing You For Citizenship!!!!! PART 2
Witness governor throughout the Bible: H6485 paqad --to set over, make overseer, appoint an overseer, to commit, entrust, commit for care, deposit
Jeremiah 40:5 Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor H6485 over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
The Torah testifies...............
********
The prophets proclaim..................
Jeremiah 40:7 Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor H6485 in the land, and had committed H6485 unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
The writings bear witness...........................
2 Kings 25:23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, H6485 there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jeremiah 41:18 Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor H6485 in the land.
The Nature of Earth’s Citizens
Being made in the image and likeness of the Creator-King means that human beings possessed his spiritual nature, characteristics, and essential specifications. We were designed to be like, act like, and function like the Ruler of the invisible kingdom.After the Creator gave us his own nature, he (1) gave us physical bodies so we could function in the physical world he had created and prepared specifically for us, and (2) breathed His very Spirit into us, animating and empowering us to fulfill our calling on earth. Moses recorded, “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”The Creator-King formed man, Adam, from the dust of the earth, which means that this human “product” was present in the world but wasn’t yet alive. His body and brain were ready, but they were dormant. We couldn’t say that Adam was “dead” because there was no death at that time. He was what we could call an “un-living being.” It was when the Creator breathed into him the breath of life that Adam became a living being.That breath of the Spirit ignited life in Adam in three distinct ways: (1) in the invisible spirit of man, which, being made in the image of God, is eternal; (2) in the soul of man—meaning the total human consciousness of his mind, will, and emotions; and (3) in his physical body, which became a living vessel housing the spirit and soul. Man’s soul and body gave him an awareness of his earthly environment, while the Spirit of God, dwelling within man’s spirit, gave him a consciousness of his Creator-King and the ability to communicate directly with the heavenly government.So the Spirit gave life to all aspects of Adam as a human being. The same was true in the creation of Eve, the first woman. When God imparted his Spirit to human beings, humanity experienced the reception of the Spirit of God for the first time. The Creator’s Spirit was our heavenly “Governor” on earth, who proceeded from the King and dwelled with us in the colony of earth, enabling us to receive, know, and carry out his will, much as the royal governors guided and led the people of the colonies.The statement, “Let us make man in our own image,” does not refer to looking alike, but being alike. The intent of the Creator-King was to express his nature through humanity. That nature was to be communicated through man’s spirit and manifested through his soul—mind, will, and emotions—eventually finding expression through his physical body. In this way, human beings were created by God to live from the “inside out.”
Human beings were created to express the nature of God—in other words, what he is like naturally. (We might say “supernaturally-naturally,” since the Creator-King is a purely spiritual Being.) A human being can relate to and reflect the nature of the Creator only if he possesses his essential image and has his Spirit living within him.Paul wrote, “The God who made the world and every-thing in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands,” and “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” The Creator-King does not live in any type of building, whether church, temple, shrine, or mosque. His only true residence on earth is within his human creation. When his Spirit fills our bodies, we are his dwelling place. In this way, through the creation of humanity, the King built his own royal residence to settle in and from which to govern the colony of earth.
Royal Children and Full Citizens
Adam and Eve were the offspring or children of the Creator-King. Humanity is therefore really a royal family whose Father is the King of a vast and eternal kingdom. Human beings were not subjects but had full status of citizens of the kingdom, having been given free access to everything on earth.Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”The only exception to their complete access to the earth was a restriction on one part of their garden home, which was under the jurisdiction of the King alone. He told them, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” We will talk more about this restriction in the next chapter.
Assignment as Vice Governors
When the King gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth, he was delegating authority to humanity. They were made local rulers in the territory of earth under the heavenly Governor. Humanity was like a “little Rome,” established on earth for the purposes of the kingdom of heaven and given the assignment of making the earth like the home country. As such, they were like the patroni of the Roman colonies who founded and guided the colony on behalf of the kingdom. But while the Roman patroni were limited to about three members, each member of humanity to be born on earth was given the mandate of dominion. The earth was to be colonized by all members of the human race. I call this assignment the “Adamic Administration.” To have dominion means to govern, to rule, to control, to manage, to lead, to affect, and to impact. Human beings are essentially spiritual beings who live in physical bodies to carry out their governing responsibilities in the material world of the colony of earth. When the Creator-King said, “Let them have dominion,” he was saying, “Let them have ‘kingdom’ over the earth. Let them influence the earth on behalf of my country of heaven.” Humanity’s job was to execute heaven’s policies, legislation, and oversight on earth—to cultivate the life of the heavenly kingdom, manage the earth’s natural resources, rule over the animals, govern wisely and justly, and keep everything in order. All these things have to do with the administration of the territory.
The Role of the Heavenly Governor
It is important to note that since human beings were made in the image of the Creator-King and given the assignment of administering the earth, the key to their effective rulership was a benevolent governing that had the best interests of the kingdom and its citizens at heart. Only a perfect colonial government could work in a perfect kingdom.I emphasized earlier that, in a colony, in order for delegated authority to function, it had to have an open channel of communication to the king, as well as the power to perform its responsibilities in accordance with the king’s wishes. This is why the Governor—the very Spirit of the King himself—was given to humanity.The Governor came from the King and was the only one who could suitably transform the colony into the home country. He knew the King’s heart, mind, desires, will, and intent, and he was committed to carrying out the King’s purposes in the territory. Paul wrote, “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” In addition, human beings were made in the image and likeness of the King, with his own personal presence living within them, so they would be able to transform the colony of earth in to an extension of the invisible kingdom. Who could better implement the transformation process than those who had the very nature of the King and were guided by the very Spirit of the King? In this way, the earth would be intimately related to the home country in nature and purpose.We see therefore that the Creator-King’s intent was to rule the seen world from the unseen world. He desired to rule the visible world through the spirit of man. And the Holy Spirit, as Governor of the human spirit, was humanity’s bridge to the home kingdom; he was the direct channel of communication between the spirit of man and the government of heaven.It was the presence of the Holy Spirit within human beings that gave them the authority and ability to have dominion over their environment. I mentioned earlier that the primary issue of humanity is one of power, the ability to influence and control life’s circumstances. We desire this ability because we were designed to fulfill our original assignment as vice governors on earth. One of the psalmists wrote, “The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man.”
Rulership over a New Territory
Let’s look at humanity’s assignment from one other perspective. A prince or princess who is the king’s heir doesn’t succeed to the throne if the king is still alive. The only way this might occur (apart from a king abdicating his throne) is for the king’s heir to go to another territory to rule. This has happened in history, although rarely. Therefore, while the heir is in the same territory as the king-father, he or she remains a prince or princess. Yet if the heir lives in a foreign country or territory, he or she can rule as sovereign, while the king-father still rules the home country. So, if a king wanted his children to have the same power, authority, glory, and rulership that he possessed, he had to send them to a different territory or territories to rule.
The King of the invisible realm of heaven is eternal. He cannot die. No one will ever succeed him on his heavenly throne. Yet because he delighted in humanity, his children whom he had made in his own image, he wanted them to rule a territory of their own in his name.This was not a last-minute idea. He prepared the earthly colony before he created the first man and woman. He designed the perfect physical environment for his children to rule in. The first book of Moses recounts the creation of the earth, sea, and animals—which human beings were to rule over as vice governors—prior to the creation of humanity. Then, we read, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” The natural world, as distinct from the encompassing invisible realm, was an entirely new realm over which humanity could legally have dominion. The message of the creation of humanity is therefore very practical. It is not about “religion” as we tend to think of it; it is not about rituals. It describes the government of an eternal King and kingdom and the King’s royal children whom he made his local governors on earth through the authority and power of his own Spirit. It is about the rule of a King over his territory and the transformation of that territory into the manifestation of his kingdom.
Shema Selah we have to understand that we were to operate and rule the Earth, a colony of the kingdom of Heaven!!!
We are walking in today: The Governor Is Preparing You For Citizenship!!!!! PART 2
Witness governor throughout the Bible: H6485 paqad --to set over, make overseer, appoint an overseer, to commit, entrust, commit for care, deposit
Jeremiah 40:5 Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor H6485 over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
The Torah testifies...............
********
The prophets proclaim..................
Jeremiah 40:7 Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor H6485 in the land, and had committed H6485 unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
The writings bear witness...........................
2 Kings 25:23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, H6485 there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jeremiah 41:18 Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor H6485 in the land.
The Nature of Earth’s Citizens
Being made in the image and likeness of the Creator-King means that human beings possessed his spiritual nature, characteristics, and essential specifications. We were designed to be like, act like, and function like the Ruler of the invisible kingdom.After the Creator gave us his own nature, he (1) gave us physical bodies so we could function in the physical world he had created and prepared specifically for us, and (2) breathed His very Spirit into us, animating and empowering us to fulfill our calling on earth. Moses recorded, “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”The Creator-King formed man, Adam, from the dust of the earth, which means that this human “product” was present in the world but wasn’t yet alive. His body and brain were ready, but they were dormant. We couldn’t say that Adam was “dead” because there was no death at that time. He was what we could call an “un-living being.” It was when the Creator breathed into him the breath of life that Adam became a living being.That breath of the Spirit ignited life in Adam in three distinct ways: (1) in the invisible spirit of man, which, being made in the image of God, is eternal; (2) in the soul of man—meaning the total human consciousness of his mind, will, and emotions; and (3) in his physical body, which became a living vessel housing the spirit and soul. Man’s soul and body gave him an awareness of his earthly environment, while the Spirit of God, dwelling within man’s spirit, gave him a consciousness of his Creator-King and the ability to communicate directly with the heavenly government.So the Spirit gave life to all aspects of Adam as a human being. The same was true in the creation of Eve, the first woman. When God imparted his Spirit to human beings, humanity experienced the reception of the Spirit of God for the first time. The Creator’s Spirit was our heavenly “Governor” on earth, who proceeded from the King and dwelled with us in the colony of earth, enabling us to receive, know, and carry out his will, much as the royal governors guided and led the people of the colonies.The statement, “Let us make man in our own image,” does not refer to looking alike, but being alike. The intent of the Creator-King was to express his nature through humanity. That nature was to be communicated through man’s spirit and manifested through his soul—mind, will, and emotions—eventually finding expression through his physical body. In this way, human beings were created by God to live from the “inside out.”
Human beings were created to express the nature of God—in other words, what he is like naturally. (We might say “supernaturally-naturally,” since the Creator-King is a purely spiritual Being.) A human being can relate to and reflect the nature of the Creator only if he possesses his essential image and has his Spirit living within him.Paul wrote, “The God who made the world and every-thing in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands,” and “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” The Creator-King does not live in any type of building, whether church, temple, shrine, or mosque. His only true residence on earth is within his human creation. When his Spirit fills our bodies, we are his dwelling place. In this way, through the creation of humanity, the King built his own royal residence to settle in and from which to govern the colony of earth.
Royal Children and Full Citizens
Adam and Eve were the offspring or children of the Creator-King. Humanity is therefore really a royal family whose Father is the King of a vast and eternal kingdom. Human beings were not subjects but had full status of citizens of the kingdom, having been given free access to everything on earth.Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”The only exception to their complete access to the earth was a restriction on one part of their garden home, which was under the jurisdiction of the King alone. He told them, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” We will talk more about this restriction in the next chapter.
Assignment as Vice Governors
When the King gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth, he was delegating authority to humanity. They were made local rulers in the territory of earth under the heavenly Governor. Humanity was like a “little Rome,” established on earth for the purposes of the kingdom of heaven and given the assignment of making the earth like the home country. As such, they were like the patroni of the Roman colonies who founded and guided the colony on behalf of the kingdom. But while the Roman patroni were limited to about three members, each member of humanity to be born on earth was given the mandate of dominion. The earth was to be colonized by all members of the human race. I call this assignment the “Adamic Administration.” To have dominion means to govern, to rule, to control, to manage, to lead, to affect, and to impact. Human beings are essentially spiritual beings who live in physical bodies to carry out their governing responsibilities in the material world of the colony of earth. When the Creator-King said, “Let them have dominion,” he was saying, “Let them have ‘kingdom’ over the earth. Let them influence the earth on behalf of my country of heaven.” Humanity’s job was to execute heaven’s policies, legislation, and oversight on earth—to cultivate the life of the heavenly kingdom, manage the earth’s natural resources, rule over the animals, govern wisely and justly, and keep everything in order. All these things have to do with the administration of the territory.
The Role of the Heavenly Governor
It is important to note that since human beings were made in the image of the Creator-King and given the assignment of administering the earth, the key to their effective rulership was a benevolent governing that had the best interests of the kingdom and its citizens at heart. Only a perfect colonial government could work in a perfect kingdom.I emphasized earlier that, in a colony, in order for delegated authority to function, it had to have an open channel of communication to the king, as well as the power to perform its responsibilities in accordance with the king’s wishes. This is why the Governor—the very Spirit of the King himself—was given to humanity.The Governor came from the King and was the only one who could suitably transform the colony into the home country. He knew the King’s heart, mind, desires, will, and intent, and he was committed to carrying out the King’s purposes in the territory. Paul wrote, “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” In addition, human beings were made in the image and likeness of the King, with his own personal presence living within them, so they would be able to transform the colony of earth in to an extension of the invisible kingdom. Who could better implement the transformation process than those who had the very nature of the King and were guided by the very Spirit of the King? In this way, the earth would be intimately related to the home country in nature and purpose.We see therefore that the Creator-King’s intent was to rule the seen world from the unseen world. He desired to rule the visible world through the spirit of man. And the Holy Spirit, as Governor of the human spirit, was humanity’s bridge to the home kingdom; he was the direct channel of communication between the spirit of man and the government of heaven.It was the presence of the Holy Spirit within human beings that gave them the authority and ability to have dominion over their environment. I mentioned earlier that the primary issue of humanity is one of power, the ability to influence and control life’s circumstances. We desire this ability because we were designed to fulfill our original assignment as vice governors on earth. One of the psalmists wrote, “The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man.”
Rulership over a New Territory
Let’s look at humanity’s assignment from one other perspective. A prince or princess who is the king’s heir doesn’t succeed to the throne if the king is still alive. The only way this might occur (apart from a king abdicating his throne) is for the king’s heir to go to another territory to rule. This has happened in history, although rarely. Therefore, while the heir is in the same territory as the king-father, he or she remains a prince or princess. Yet if the heir lives in a foreign country or territory, he or she can rule as sovereign, while the king-father still rules the home country. So, if a king wanted his children to have the same power, authority, glory, and rulership that he possessed, he had to send them to a different territory or territories to rule.
The King of the invisible realm of heaven is eternal. He cannot die. No one will ever succeed him on his heavenly throne. Yet because he delighted in humanity, his children whom he had made in his own image, he wanted them to rule a territory of their own in his name.This was not a last-minute idea. He prepared the earthly colony before he created the first man and woman. He designed the perfect physical environment for his children to rule in. The first book of Moses recounts the creation of the earth, sea, and animals—which human beings were to rule over as vice governors—prior to the creation of humanity. Then, we read, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” The natural world, as distinct from the encompassing invisible realm, was an entirely new realm over which humanity could legally have dominion. The message of the creation of humanity is therefore very practical. It is not about “religion” as we tend to think of it; it is not about rituals. It describes the government of an eternal King and kingdom and the King’s royal children whom he made his local governors on earth through the authority and power of his own Spirit. It is about the rule of a King over his territory and the transformation of that territory into the manifestation of his kingdom.
Shema Selah we have to understand that we were to operate and rule the Earth, a colony of the kingdom of Heaven!!!
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
The Governor Is Preparing You For Citizenship!!!!!
Genesis 1
We are walking in today: The Governor Is Preparing You For Citizenship!!!!!
Witness prepare throughout the Bible: H3559 kuwn--to be established, be stable, be secure, be enduring, to be fixed, be securely determined
Psalm 103:19 The LORD hath prepared H3559 his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 23:20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. H3559
The prophets proclaim..................
Jeremiah 51:12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare H3559 the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he
spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Chronicles 15:12 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto
the place that I have prepared H3559 for it.
Job 28:27
Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared H3559 it, yea, and searched it out.
The Adamic Administration
The principle and purpose of delegated authority is accountability and responsibility.
The first government on earth came from a kingdom outside it. The world was governed in a way similar to the colonies we have been looking at. Yet the transcendent kingdom had significant differences:
√ The territory of earth was created by the home country rather than taken by force. It was not anyone else’s possession beforehand.
√ There were no inhabitants on earth at first, which was designed with them in mind; it was specifically prepared for those who would live here.
√ The original inhabitants were not of a different culture from the home country but were actually the offspring of the King himself.
The similarities are these:
√ The home country desired to expand the realm of its influence by bringing the nature, mind-set, and purposes of the kingdom to the colony of earth.
√ The King’s Governor was present in the colony to oversee the transformation process. He was to guide the King’s children—his local governors—who were to convert the colony into a replica of the kingdom. Let’s take a closer look at the creation of this colony of earth.
The Original Government
The first book of Moses begins with these words: “In the beginning God [the Creator-King] created the heavens and the earth [the physical universe].” The Creator-King is described by first-century theologian Paul of Tarsus as “the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” The eternal King of an unseen kingdom conceptualized and made the entire physical universe. By creation rights, it is his property. It would be impossible to grasp the vastness of the unseen kingdom that encompasses our universe—especially when we consider that the physical realm in which the earth exists is too immense for us to comprehend. Our universe is so enormous that we’re still trying to find out where it ends. Astronomers have discovered billions (some say up to 200 billion) of galaxies in the observable universe. It is estimated By creation rights, the physical universe is the property of the Creator-King. That each of these galaxies has tens or hundreds of billions of stars. Multiply billions of galaxies by billions of stars in each galaxy and you have a staggering number of stars in the universe. If these sheer numbers were not enough to astound us, consider the way they are held together. As NASA records, Almost every object in space orbits around something. The planets orbit the Sun; our Moon and the moons of other planets orbit their planets; comets orbit the Sun....Even the Sun is orbiting around the center of our galaxy....An orbit is the result of a precise balance between the forward motion of an object in space (such as a planet or moon) and the pull of gravity from the body it orbits. An object in motion will stay in motion unless something pushes or pulls on it. This is Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion. Without gravity, an Earth-orbiting satellite would go off into space along a straight line. With gravity, it is pulled back toward the Earth. There is a continuous tug-of-war between the one object’s tendency to move in a straight line and the tug of gravity pulling it back. The universe exists in remarkable balance. This is why the Scripture says, in essence, that only a fool thinks, Nobody is keeping this universe in order. Clearly, an orderly government of vast ability and power maintains our universe.
Expanding the Invisible Kingdom
One of the New Testament writers said, “The universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” The King of the invisible world decided to create a physical world. He did this for the purpose of expanding his heavenly domain as an extension of him-self and his government. He created the physical universe so there would be additional territory to rule and to transform into the expression of his nature and desires. Returning to our definition of kingdom, we can say that the invisible kingdom is the governing influence of God over the territory of earth, impacting and influencing it with his will, his purpose, and his intent. Heaven is God’s kingdom or home country, and earth is his colony.We see various types of governing influence in our every-day human experience, not just in a political context:
√ An artist extends the domain of his mind and heart by expressing himself in physical paintings or sculptures, which can have an impact on those who view them.
√ A writer expresses the vision of his inner world through the printed word, and these words can influence the thoughts and attitudes of those who read them.
√ A businessman transforms his entrepreneurial concepts into specific companies that reflect his personal philosophy and provide new products and services that change the way others live. All these are examples of individuals enlarging their personal influence in the world. What people create, express, or build is usually a reflection of their personalities and outlook. Therefore, as we look at the Creator-King’s desire to extend the influence of the invisible kingdom to earth, it is natural for us to want to know the nature of this King and his kingdom. What influence did he want to bring to earth?
The Nature of the King: A Perfect Government
The nature of the invisible kingdom becomes especially significant when we learn that the inhabitants of earth are to have this very nature themselves. The first book of Moses records these words of the Creator-King:“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule [“have dominion”] over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.Human beings were not made as machines or as beings with no direct relationship to the Creator. They were drawn out of his own person: “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule...over all the earth.”After creating the universe by his own divine prerogative, the Creator chose one planet amid all the planets of the universe as the practical and unique extension of his influence—earth. Then he extended rulership of earth to those made in his own image, his royal “children.”The original Hebrew word for “image,” selem, “means ‘image’ in the sense of essential nature.” The Hebrew word for likeness is demuth, which “signifies the original after which a thing is patterned.” These words define and describe our design, capacity, potential, and value as human beings made to reflect the person-hood of our Creator.The nature of our Creator-King was recorded by Moses as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” The only way a kingdom can function perfectly is if it is ruled by a perfect king who will not betray his citizens through corruption or oppression. If he does, he is not a true king but a tyrant and dictator. Since a king is the source and owner of everyone and everything in his kingdom, the key to a true kingdom is benevolence. A perfect government does not exist for itself; it exists for its citizens.
Shema selah we have to return to the original intent of the Most High, a King placing a colony of Heaven here on the Earth for His appointed citizens to operate on Earth as it is in Heaven!!
We are walking in today: The Governor Is Preparing You For Citizenship!!!!!
Witness prepare throughout the Bible: H3559 kuwn--to be established, be stable, be secure, be enduring, to be fixed, be securely determined
Psalm 103:19 The LORD hath prepared H3559 his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 23:20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. H3559
The prophets proclaim..................
Jeremiah 51:12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare H3559 the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he
spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Chronicles 15:12 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto
the place that I have prepared H3559 for it.
Job 28:27
Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared H3559 it, yea, and searched it out.
The Adamic Administration
The principle and purpose of delegated authority is accountability and responsibility.
The first government on earth came from a kingdom outside it. The world was governed in a way similar to the colonies we have been looking at. Yet the transcendent kingdom had significant differences:
√ The territory of earth was created by the home country rather than taken by force. It was not anyone else’s possession beforehand.
√ There were no inhabitants on earth at first, which was designed with them in mind; it was specifically prepared for those who would live here.
√ The original inhabitants were not of a different culture from the home country but were actually the offspring of the King himself.
The similarities are these:
√ The home country desired to expand the realm of its influence by bringing the nature, mind-set, and purposes of the kingdom to the colony of earth.
√ The King’s Governor was present in the colony to oversee the transformation process. He was to guide the King’s children—his local governors—who were to convert the colony into a replica of the kingdom. Let’s take a closer look at the creation of this colony of earth.
The Original Government
The first book of Moses begins with these words: “In the beginning God [the Creator-King] created the heavens and the earth [the physical universe].” The Creator-King is described by first-century theologian Paul of Tarsus as “the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” The eternal King of an unseen kingdom conceptualized and made the entire physical universe. By creation rights, it is his property. It would be impossible to grasp the vastness of the unseen kingdom that encompasses our universe—especially when we consider that the physical realm in which the earth exists is too immense for us to comprehend. Our universe is so enormous that we’re still trying to find out where it ends. Astronomers have discovered billions (some say up to 200 billion) of galaxies in the observable universe. It is estimated By creation rights, the physical universe is the property of the Creator-King. That each of these galaxies has tens or hundreds of billions of stars. Multiply billions of galaxies by billions of stars in each galaxy and you have a staggering number of stars in the universe. If these sheer numbers were not enough to astound us, consider the way they are held together. As NASA records, Almost every object in space orbits around something. The planets orbit the Sun; our Moon and the moons of other planets orbit their planets; comets orbit the Sun....Even the Sun is orbiting around the center of our galaxy....An orbit is the result of a precise balance between the forward motion of an object in space (such as a planet or moon) and the pull of gravity from the body it orbits. An object in motion will stay in motion unless something pushes or pulls on it. This is Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion. Without gravity, an Earth-orbiting satellite would go off into space along a straight line. With gravity, it is pulled back toward the Earth. There is a continuous tug-of-war between the one object’s tendency to move in a straight line and the tug of gravity pulling it back. The universe exists in remarkable balance. This is why the Scripture says, in essence, that only a fool thinks, Nobody is keeping this universe in order. Clearly, an orderly government of vast ability and power maintains our universe.
Expanding the Invisible Kingdom
One of the New Testament writers said, “The universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” The King of the invisible world decided to create a physical world. He did this for the purpose of expanding his heavenly domain as an extension of him-self and his government. He created the physical universe so there would be additional territory to rule and to transform into the expression of his nature and desires. Returning to our definition of kingdom, we can say that the invisible kingdom is the governing influence of God over the territory of earth, impacting and influencing it with his will, his purpose, and his intent. Heaven is God’s kingdom or home country, and earth is his colony.We see various types of governing influence in our every-day human experience, not just in a political context:
√ An artist extends the domain of his mind and heart by expressing himself in physical paintings or sculptures, which can have an impact on those who view them.
√ A writer expresses the vision of his inner world through the printed word, and these words can influence the thoughts and attitudes of those who read them.
√ A businessman transforms his entrepreneurial concepts into specific companies that reflect his personal philosophy and provide new products and services that change the way others live. All these are examples of individuals enlarging their personal influence in the world. What people create, express, or build is usually a reflection of their personalities and outlook. Therefore, as we look at the Creator-King’s desire to extend the influence of the invisible kingdom to earth, it is natural for us to want to know the nature of this King and his kingdom. What influence did he want to bring to earth?
The Nature of the King: A Perfect Government
The nature of the invisible kingdom becomes especially significant when we learn that the inhabitants of earth are to have this very nature themselves. The first book of Moses records these words of the Creator-King:“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule [“have dominion”] over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.Human beings were not made as machines or as beings with no direct relationship to the Creator. They were drawn out of his own person: “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule...over all the earth.”After creating the universe by his own divine prerogative, the Creator chose one planet amid all the planets of the universe as the practical and unique extension of his influence—earth. Then he extended rulership of earth to those made in his own image, his royal “children.”The original Hebrew word for “image,” selem, “means ‘image’ in the sense of essential nature.” The Hebrew word for likeness is demuth, which “signifies the original after which a thing is patterned.” These words define and describe our design, capacity, potential, and value as human beings made to reflect the person-hood of our Creator.The nature of our Creator-King was recorded by Moses as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” The only way a kingdom can function perfectly is if it is ruled by a perfect king who will not betray his citizens through corruption or oppression. If he does, he is not a true king but a tyrant and dictator. Since a king is the source and owner of everyone and everything in his kingdom, the key to a true kingdom is benevolence. A perfect government does not exist for itself; it exists for its citizens.
Shema selah we have to return to the original intent of the Most High, a King placing a colony of Heaven here on the Earth for His appointed citizens to operate on Earth as it is in Heaven!!
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
The Colony of Heaven Upon The Earth!!!!
Ezra 7
We are walking in today: The Colony of Heaven Upon The Earth!!!!
Witness change throughout the Bible: H2498 chalaph -- to change, substitute, alter, change for better, renew
Genesis 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change H2498 your garments:
The Torah Testifies......................
Genesis 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed H2498 his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
The prophets proclaim..................
2 Samuel 12:20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed H2498 his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
The writings bear witness.......................
****
Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed H2498 the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
The Most Important Person in the Colony
The transformation of a colony into the culture of the kingdom didn’t happen automatically. A purposeful development was involved. The king didn’t usually directly extend his influence to his colony by physically going there. He administrated his will through his personal representative, called a governor or regent. He sent his representative to physically live in the colony in his place. Therefore,the royal governor was the presence of the absent king in the colony.With the governor in the colony, you didn’t need the physical presence of the king to experience and be changed by the king’s influence. I mentioned that the British monarchs who influenced the English-speaking Caribbean nations didn’t frequently visit their colonies. Yet, in the Bahamas, we all learned to speak English, drink tea, wave the Union Jack, and sing the songs of Britain. We became part of the United Kingdom. And the royal governors were the direct instrument of that transformation.The governor was therefore the most important person in the colony. We get a greater appreciation for why this was true when we look at his purpose.
The Governor’s Purpose
The governor’s purpose was sixfold:
1. Relationship: The governor was the guarantee that the kingdom could always have access to the colony. The inter-relationship between king and colony was totally dependent on him.
2. Communication: Anything the king wanted the colony to know or to receive, he would send through his governor, his avenue of communication.
3. Representation: The governor was the chief representative of the king and his kingdom in the colony. He also represented the colony to the king.
4. Interpretation: The governor understood intimately the king’s desires, ideas, intent, purposes, will, and plans; therefore, he was the only one who could effectively interpret these things for the colony.
5. Power: The governor was the only one empowered with the authority and ability to execute the king’s desires and commands for the colony.
6. Partnership: The governor was effectively the king’s partner in rulership.
The Governor’s Qualifications and Roles
The qualifications and roles of a governor were significant in terms of kingdom and colony:
1. The governor was appointed by the king.Unlike the governors of representational governments, the royal governor was not voted in; he was appointed by the king.
2.The governor came only from the kingdom, never the colony.Governors were never chosen from the indigenous peoples of the colonies. They were always appointed from the home countries. Why? A governor had to be steeped in the original culture of the kingdom. He had to be a person who knew the kingdom and understood the heart, mind, desires, will, and intent of the king in carrying out the kingdom’s purposes in the territory.
3. The governor represented only the king.Again, the difference between the governors of colonies and the governors many of us are familiar with in representative governments is like night and day. Every state in the United States has a governor who is voted in by the people and can also be voted out by them. He or she is ultimately account-able to the people of the state, not to the federal government or its leaders. In contrast, the royal governor was responsible and accountable to the king alone in his allegiance, attitude, actions, and responsibility.
4. The governor only expressed the mind and will of the king.The governor was not there to promote his own personal policies or agendas. He was to take the vision and will of the king and communicate that to the people, translating it into policy and law.
5. The governor was responsible for converting the colony into the kingdom. Once more, it was the governor’s job to oversee and carry out the transformation of the colonies according to the character of the kingdom. The governor was “planted” in the colony to sow the seeds of the home country into the culture of the new territory. Colonization was for the purpose of conversion—to exchange the culture of the territory for the culture of the kingdom. Whatever was happening in the kingdom was supposed to happen in the colony, as well.
6. In converting the colony, the governor transferred the kingdom’s culture, values, nature, language, and lifestyle to the people.The governor made sure that every subject of the kingdom took on the kingdom culture in language, attitude, dress, food, and so forth. The colonists were even to take on the history of the kingdom as if it were their own, which in fact it now was, because they had become a part of the chronicles of the nation. The subjects were to take on the mind-set and lifestyle of the kingdom until, if you visited the territory, you would think you were in the home country itself.
7. The governor prepared the subjects for citizenship.When a king took over a colony, the people essentially became his possessions. The inhabitants of the colony did not automatically become citizens; they were called subjects. For example, when the Bahamas was a colony, the people were not citizens of Great Britain. We couldn’t vote, and we didn’t have other rights of British citizens.In a kingdom, citizenship was a privilege. Who became a citizen was the king’s prerogative, and he personally granted it. The reason citizenship wasn’t automatic is that, once a person was appointed a citizen, he had special benefits and protections in the kingdom.
In the Roman Empire, citizenship was a high honor and privilege involving many rights. In the first century, Paul of Tarsus was arrested in Jerusalem by the Roman commander for allegedly disturbing the peace. He was about to be whipped when he declared to a nearby centurion that he was a Roman citizen. Immediately, the soldiers’ attitude toward him changed. The following exchange dramatically reveals the power of kingdom citizenship in the Roman Empire, especially if you were born a citizen:
As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes I am,” he answered. Then the commander said, “I had to pay a big price for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. Once you are a citizen, your privileges, rights, and demands upon the throne change. The king is responsible for taking care of you. Therefore, the governor’s role of preparing Citizens have special benefits and protections in a kingdom subjects for citizenship was a tremendous responsibility. If the governor believed a subject was ready to be a citizen or especially deserved citizenship, he recommended the subject to the king. Since the governor lived in the colony and knew the subjects firsthand, the king accepted the suggestions of the governor in this regard.
8. The governor lived in a residence built by the government of the home country.A kingdom would build a residence in its colonies specifically for its royal governors to live in. This emphasized that the governor, the chief representative of the kingdom in the colony, was not just a visitor; he lived there, he was there to stay, and this was his legal residence. The British built a governor’s mansion in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, specifically for the royal governor to live in, which today is called the Government House. Great Britain similarly built governors’ houses in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and in every colony where it ruled.
9. The governor’s presence in the colony was evidence that the kingdom itself was in the colony.As long as the governor lived in the colony, the kingdom itself was present. The first time the Bahamas was declared a British colony was when a royal governor drove out the remaining Spanish garrisons, solidifying its ownership by the kingdom of Great Britain.
10. The governor left if the colony declared independence.Either by force or recall, the royal governor would leave a colony if it declared independence and the kingdom was no longer officially governing. In the American Revolution, the royal governors of the colonies were forced to withdraw from their posts. When the Bahamas received independence, it was through negotiation with Great Britain, and the governor was recalled because he no longer had a legal right to be there.
The Value of the Governor
In kingdom terms, then, the governor was the most powerful and important person in the colony. Because he introduced the kingdom’s culture, language, and lifestyle—every unique aspect of the kingdom—to the colony, he had great value for the kingdom and its larger purposes. To summarize, the governor was valuable:
1. As the presence of the government. Without him, the kingdom would not exist in the colony.
2. For representing the government. If he wasn’t there, the king would not be adequately or effectively represented.
3. For the enablement of the colony. He was the one with the authority and ability to supply power and resources to the colony.
4. For protection. As long as the kingdom was represented in a colony by the governor, the king was obligated to protect the territory from outside threats and danger.
5. For his ability to know and communicate the mind of the king. The governor represented the king’s interests and will to the colony and made sure they were carried out.
6. For enabling the colony’s citizens and subjects to fulfill the will of the kingdom. The colony received its instructions only through the governor and therefore was dependent on him for its effectiveness. The citizens and subjects would not be able to carry out their kingdom mandate without the governor’s guidance and empowerment.
The Influence of Another Kingdom
These were the main features of a kingdom-colony relation-ship, including the pivotal role of the governor in the process of transforming colonies into the home country. This brings us back to the kingdom I mentioned earlier in this chapter, which transcends our human governments and speaks to the basis of our very nature and existence as human beings. This kingdom has properties that are similar to, but go beyond, those of the traditional earthly kingdoms we’ve been looking at.Two millennia ago, a startling young teacher described this transcendent kingdom. When Jesus of Nazareth began traveling and speaking around Palestine, the first thing he is recorded as saying is, “The time has come....The kingdom of God is near.”This statement intrigues me and brings up several questions for us to explore in terms of kingdom:
√ What “time” was he speaking about? And why then?
√ What was the nature of the kingdom he was referring to?He was announcing the imminent return of a kingdom and its influence on earth. Notice that he didn’t proclaim the entrance of a new religion, nor did he announce the beginnings of a democratic form of government.
We have to ask:
√ Why would he use this particular governmental reference at the beginning of his public life?
√ What did it signify about his message and purpose?
√ If the influence of a kingdom was entering the world, what new culture would emerge for the citizens of earth?
To understand the context of these thought-provoking statements and their implications, we need to go back to the first book of Moses, the book of Genesis, to the origins of this kingdom. For this wasn’t the first time the transcendent kingdom had entered the world and impacted its inhabitants...
Shema selah which kingdom have you been rendered a subject to?? The kingdom of Heaven of the kingdom of darkness??
We are walking in today: The Colony of Heaven Upon The Earth!!!!
Witness change throughout the Bible: H2498 chalaph -- to change, substitute, alter, change for better, renew
Genesis 35:2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change H2498 your garments:
The Torah Testifies......................
Genesis 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed H2498 his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
The prophets proclaim..................
2 Samuel 12:20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed H2498 his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
The writings bear witness.......................
****
Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed H2498 the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
The Most Important Person in the Colony
The transformation of a colony into the culture of the kingdom didn’t happen automatically. A purposeful development was involved. The king didn’t usually directly extend his influence to his colony by physically going there. He administrated his will through his personal representative, called a governor or regent. He sent his representative to physically live in the colony in his place. Therefore,the royal governor was the presence of the absent king in the colony.With the governor in the colony, you didn’t need the physical presence of the king to experience and be changed by the king’s influence. I mentioned that the British monarchs who influenced the English-speaking Caribbean nations didn’t frequently visit their colonies. Yet, in the Bahamas, we all learned to speak English, drink tea, wave the Union Jack, and sing the songs of Britain. We became part of the United Kingdom. And the royal governors were the direct instrument of that transformation.The governor was therefore the most important person in the colony. We get a greater appreciation for why this was true when we look at his purpose.
The Governor’s Purpose
The governor’s purpose was sixfold:
1. Relationship: The governor was the guarantee that the kingdom could always have access to the colony. The inter-relationship between king and colony was totally dependent on him.
2. Communication: Anything the king wanted the colony to know or to receive, he would send through his governor, his avenue of communication.
3. Representation: The governor was the chief representative of the king and his kingdom in the colony. He also represented the colony to the king.
4. Interpretation: The governor understood intimately the king’s desires, ideas, intent, purposes, will, and plans; therefore, he was the only one who could effectively interpret these things for the colony.
5. Power: The governor was the only one empowered with the authority and ability to execute the king’s desires and commands for the colony.
6. Partnership: The governor was effectively the king’s partner in rulership.
The Governor’s Qualifications and Roles
The qualifications and roles of a governor were significant in terms of kingdom and colony:
1. The governor was appointed by the king.Unlike the governors of representational governments, the royal governor was not voted in; he was appointed by the king.
2.The governor came only from the kingdom, never the colony.Governors were never chosen from the indigenous peoples of the colonies. They were always appointed from the home countries. Why? A governor had to be steeped in the original culture of the kingdom. He had to be a person who knew the kingdom and understood the heart, mind, desires, will, and intent of the king in carrying out the kingdom’s purposes in the territory.
3. The governor represented only the king.Again, the difference between the governors of colonies and the governors many of us are familiar with in representative governments is like night and day. Every state in the United States has a governor who is voted in by the people and can also be voted out by them. He or she is ultimately account-able to the people of the state, not to the federal government or its leaders. In contrast, the royal governor was responsible and accountable to the king alone in his allegiance, attitude, actions, and responsibility.
4. The governor only expressed the mind and will of the king.The governor was not there to promote his own personal policies or agendas. He was to take the vision and will of the king and communicate that to the people, translating it into policy and law.
5. The governor was responsible for converting the colony into the kingdom. Once more, it was the governor’s job to oversee and carry out the transformation of the colonies according to the character of the kingdom. The governor was “planted” in the colony to sow the seeds of the home country into the culture of the new territory. Colonization was for the purpose of conversion—to exchange the culture of the territory for the culture of the kingdom. Whatever was happening in the kingdom was supposed to happen in the colony, as well.
6. In converting the colony, the governor transferred the kingdom’s culture, values, nature, language, and lifestyle to the people.The governor made sure that every subject of the kingdom took on the kingdom culture in language, attitude, dress, food, and so forth. The colonists were even to take on the history of the kingdom as if it were their own, which in fact it now was, because they had become a part of the chronicles of the nation. The subjects were to take on the mind-set and lifestyle of the kingdom until, if you visited the territory, you would think you were in the home country itself.
7. The governor prepared the subjects for citizenship.When a king took over a colony, the people essentially became his possessions. The inhabitants of the colony did not automatically become citizens; they were called subjects. For example, when the Bahamas was a colony, the people were not citizens of Great Britain. We couldn’t vote, and we didn’t have other rights of British citizens.In a kingdom, citizenship was a privilege. Who became a citizen was the king’s prerogative, and he personally granted it. The reason citizenship wasn’t automatic is that, once a person was appointed a citizen, he had special benefits and protections in the kingdom.
In the Roman Empire, citizenship was a high honor and privilege involving many rights. In the first century, Paul of Tarsus was arrested in Jerusalem by the Roman commander for allegedly disturbing the peace. He was about to be whipped when he declared to a nearby centurion that he was a Roman citizen. Immediately, the soldiers’ attitude toward him changed. The following exchange dramatically reveals the power of kingdom citizenship in the Roman Empire, especially if you were born a citizen:
As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes I am,” he answered. Then the commander said, “I had to pay a big price for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. Once you are a citizen, your privileges, rights, and demands upon the throne change. The king is responsible for taking care of you. Therefore, the governor’s role of preparing Citizens have special benefits and protections in a kingdom subjects for citizenship was a tremendous responsibility. If the governor believed a subject was ready to be a citizen or especially deserved citizenship, he recommended the subject to the king. Since the governor lived in the colony and knew the subjects firsthand, the king accepted the suggestions of the governor in this regard.
8. The governor lived in a residence built by the government of the home country.A kingdom would build a residence in its colonies specifically for its royal governors to live in. This emphasized that the governor, the chief representative of the kingdom in the colony, was not just a visitor; he lived there, he was there to stay, and this was his legal residence. The British built a governor’s mansion in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, specifically for the royal governor to live in, which today is called the Government House. Great Britain similarly built governors’ houses in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and in every colony where it ruled.
9. The governor’s presence in the colony was evidence that the kingdom itself was in the colony.As long as the governor lived in the colony, the kingdom itself was present. The first time the Bahamas was declared a British colony was when a royal governor drove out the remaining Spanish garrisons, solidifying its ownership by the kingdom of Great Britain.
10. The governor left if the colony declared independence.Either by force or recall, the royal governor would leave a colony if it declared independence and the kingdom was no longer officially governing. In the American Revolution, the royal governors of the colonies were forced to withdraw from their posts. When the Bahamas received independence, it was through negotiation with Great Britain, and the governor was recalled because he no longer had a legal right to be there.
The Value of the Governor
In kingdom terms, then, the governor was the most powerful and important person in the colony. Because he introduced the kingdom’s culture, language, and lifestyle—every unique aspect of the kingdom—to the colony, he had great value for the kingdom and its larger purposes. To summarize, the governor was valuable:
1. As the presence of the government. Without him, the kingdom would not exist in the colony.
2. For representing the government. If he wasn’t there, the king would not be adequately or effectively represented.
3. For the enablement of the colony. He was the one with the authority and ability to supply power and resources to the colony.
4. For protection. As long as the kingdom was represented in a colony by the governor, the king was obligated to protect the territory from outside threats and danger.
5. For his ability to know and communicate the mind of the king. The governor represented the king’s interests and will to the colony and made sure they were carried out.
6. For enabling the colony’s citizens and subjects to fulfill the will of the kingdom. The colony received its instructions only through the governor and therefore was dependent on him for its effectiveness. The citizens and subjects would not be able to carry out their kingdom mandate without the governor’s guidance and empowerment.
The Influence of Another Kingdom
These were the main features of a kingdom-colony relation-ship, including the pivotal role of the governor in the process of transforming colonies into the home country. This brings us back to the kingdom I mentioned earlier in this chapter, which transcends our human governments and speaks to the basis of our very nature and existence as human beings. This kingdom has properties that are similar to, but go beyond, those of the traditional earthly kingdoms we’ve been looking at.Two millennia ago, a startling young teacher described this transcendent kingdom. When Jesus of Nazareth began traveling and speaking around Palestine, the first thing he is recorded as saying is, “The time has come....The kingdom of God is near.”This statement intrigues me and brings up several questions for us to explore in terms of kingdom:
√ What “time” was he speaking about? And why then?
√ What was the nature of the kingdom he was referring to?He was announcing the imminent return of a kingdom and its influence on earth. Notice that he didn’t proclaim the entrance of a new religion, nor did he announce the beginnings of a democratic form of government.
We have to ask:
√ Why would he use this particular governmental reference at the beginning of his public life?
√ What did it signify about his message and purpose?
√ If the influence of a kingdom was entering the world, what new culture would emerge for the citizens of earth?
To understand the context of these thought-provoking statements and their implications, we need to go back to the first book of Moses, the book of Genesis, to the origins of this kingdom. For this wasn’t the first time the transcendent kingdom had entered the world and impacted its inhabitants...
Shema selah which kingdom have you been rendered a subject to?? The kingdom of Heaven of the kingdom of darkness??
Friday, July 19, 2019
Encore!! Encore!! Understand & Obey the Laws of the King!!
John 15
Witness understand throughout the Bible: H8085 shama'--to hear with attention or interest, listen to, to be regarded, be obeyed, to cause to be heard
We are walking in today: Encore!! Encore!! Understand & Obey the Laws of the King!!
Witness understand throughout the Bible: H8085 shama'--to hear with attention or interest, listen to, to be regarded, be obeyed, to cause to be heard
1 Kings 3:11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies;
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern H8085 judgment;
The Torah testifies...............
Deuteronomy 4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear H8085 all these statutes, and say, Surely this great
nation is a wise and understanding people.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, H8085 and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Understand and Obey the Laws of Limitation
Freedom without law is anarchy. Liberty without responsibility is irresponsibility.
The morning sun shimmered brightly on the choppy waves of the bay as a small motor boat moved slowly over the water. Perhaps 200 yards away, 14 swimmers plied through the chilly waters. Twenty men and women had begun the race that morning, but six had been pulled from the water into one of the many boats that lined the course. Exhaustion, muscle cramps, or some other malady had taken them from the race even before the swimmers had reached the mid-way point.
Just now the swimmers were bunched more closely than they had been for some time. As the far shore came into sight the competitors appeared to reach into their resources and pull with greater power and precision. Between them and the beach lay their greatest test, an area of swift-moving currents that had carried many a swimmer far toward the sea before he had been rescued or finally had given up and drowned.
Of the 14 swimmers in the water, 13 had swum the bay before. They knew from experience the dangers of the currents. Although those who watched from the boats kept an eye on the veterans, it was the one rookie swimmer they watched most closely. Just now he was in the lead, several hundred yards ahead of the pack.
Would he heed the warnings and follow the instructions he had been given to swim up the coast a piece before attempting to cross the swift-moving channel? If he did, he would win the race easily. If he did not, thinking that he didn’t want to waste the time to swim parallel to the shore, or that he was strong enough to meet the currents head on, they were ready to move quickly to rescue him. All watched anxiously to see what he would do.
As the rookie neared the buoys that marked the swift-running water, it appeared for a moment that he would stay within the marked course and swim upstream. He had not moved more than 20 yards, however, when he turned and swam directly toward the shore. Instantly, motors sprang to life and two boats sped across the water to the now-struggling swimmer. These were Coast Guard boats manned by experienced rescuers.
Later that afternoon when all the swimmers had reached the beach—including the rookie, who had been brought in by a Coast Guard cutter—the winner of the race approached the young man who had nearly drowned. “Why did you change your mind?” he asked. “The officials told me that you started to follow the path marked out for us, but then you suddenly veered toward the shore.”
“Those 20 yards that I swam upstream against the current were so easy that I thought all the fuss about that channel was just so much hype. So I decided to cut through it to win the race by a large margin. I soon realized that not only wouldn’t I win the race, I wouldn’t even finish it. For an instant I felt so dumb for throwing away the race, but then I realized that I had jeopardized my life as well. I’ll never try this again.”
Oh, I think you should enter the race again next year,” said the veteran racer. “You’re a magnificent distance swimmer. Just follow the rules the next time and you’ll find that the crossing point determined by the race organizers is challenging, but not life-threatening. Each year that point is different because the currents constantly change, so we all have to follow the prescribed course. One year we didn’t race at all because the officials couldn’t find a safe place to cross the channel. I wanted to talk them into sponsoring the race anyway, but I knew that would be foolish. Most likely no one would have finished anyway. Well, I hope to see you next year. It’s about time someone beat me. For a while I thought this would be the year.”
How sad! Although the rookie swimmer had the potential to beat the veteran, he lost the race, and nearly his life, because he chose to veer from the assigned course. He exercised his freedom to go his own way. This grasping for freedom is a universal tendency. To maximize your potential, you must understand the concept of freedom and the principle of law.
We Want to Be Free
The cry “We want to be free!” has swept our world in remarkable and frightening ways within the past decades. Particularly in Eastern Europe, the desire for freedom has brought sweeping revolutions, toppling governments and power structures that have repressed and oppressed many peoples. This same yearning for freedom prompts pregnant women to abort their babies, children to take their parents to court, and students to seek greater control over the measures of discipline used in their schools.
Freedom! It sounds so good. Everybody wants freedom. Ethnic groups, social groups, religious groups. Children, youth, adults. All want the right to determine their own lives and to make their decisions without guidance or interference from anyone else.
It should not surprise us, then, that many common phrases express this craving for freedom: Freedom of the press, Freedom of choice, Freedom of religion, Freedom of speech. All reveal the universal longing to be unencumbered by the dictates and the decisions of others.
Nothing Is Free
Is this truly possible? Can we be entirely free? No, I don’t think so. Nothing is free. Although advertising tries to convince us that we are getting something for nothing—buy one, get one free—we are still paying for the product the advertiser claims is free. In a similar manner, the cost of sweepstakes and prizes given to entice consumers to buy a particular product or to subscribe to a certain periodical is built into the company’s price structure somewhere along the way. We cannot get something for nothing. Nothing is free. We cannot get something for nothing.
This axiom is also true in relationships. We cannot be entirely free to do what we want, when we want, where we want, how we want, and with whom we want. Freedom always has a price because the actions of one person restricts and influences the freedom of another. The woman who aborts her baby takes away the baby’s freedom to live, and the student who slaps the teacher who reprimands her takes away the teacher’s freedom to keep order in his classroom. Freedom without responsibility cannot be freedom for all who are involved.
The Consequences of Freedom Without Responsibility
Lawlessness is the freedom to do whatever we want, when we want, with whom we want, with no one telling us to stop. In essence, we defy the standards that govern society to become a law unto ourselves with no sense of responsibility toward anything or anyone. For example, you may choose the freedom to smoke marijuana behind your house at three o’clock in the morning. You know you are breaking the law, but you choose to disregard the law and to exercise your freedom to do as you please. Lawlessness always results in slavery, death, and the loss of preexisting freedoms. Adam and Eve’s experience in the garden verifies this truth. Freedom without law is bondage.
The Loss of Freedom
When The Most High created the man and the woman and placed them in the garden, He gave them the following instructions:
You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:16b-17).
They were free to eat from any tree in the garden, but one.
When the serpent convinced the man and the woman to eat from this one tree, The Most High put them out of the garden and they lost the freedom to eat from the garden’s other trees. Their desire to be freed from The Most High’s restrictions cost them the freedom He had given them to eat from the other trees in the garden. Thus, the first penalty of freedom without responsibility is the loss of existing freedoms.
This proves to be true in all life. The teenager who stays out past his curfew loses his privilege to use the family car. The mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses the customers he is in business to serve. The worker who takes 30 minutes for a 10-minute break loses the freedom to leave her desk without punching the time clock. The politician who forgets his campaign promises and breaks faith with the people who put him in office loses his reelection bid and the opportunity to serve his constituents.
Slavery
Slavery is a second consequence of freedom without responsibility. When the man and the woman disobeyed The Most High and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became slaves to evil.
Before their rebellion against The Most High, Adam and Eve knew only good because their knowledge came from their relationship with The Most High, who is good. In the moment of sin, their spirits became separated from The Most High’s Spirit and they became slaves of rebellion, the root of all sin. They could no longer see and do what The Most High requires. This loss of the ability to see and do what is right is always a result of choosing to place oneself above the law.
Thus, the teenager who regularly stays out past his curfew comes to expect that this is his right, the mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses sight of fairness, the worker who takes an extended break assumes the company owes her this, and the politician who breaks faith with
those who elected him fails to see the error of his ways. Each becomes so enmeshed in his rebellious attitudes and actions that he can no longer see the wrong of his actions. Death inevitably follows.
Death
The third consequence of freedom without responsibility is death. Notice that The Most High connected the violation of the boundary around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with death: “...for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16). Disobedience to law always results in death.
The teenager who indulges in late hours will eventually see the death of his parents’ trust. The mechanic who takes whatever he can get will soon experience bankruptcy and the death of his business.
Likewise, the worker who extends her break and the politician who neglects to fulfill his promises will suffer the death of their dreams for advancement and recognition. Death is the inevitable result of freedom grasped at the expense of obedience to law.
Death is the inevitable result of freedom grasped at the expense of obedience to law.
The Nature of Law, Commands, and Demands
Merriam Webster’s dictionary (10th Collegiate, 1994) defines law as “a binding custom or practice of a community: a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority; a rule or order that is advisable or obligatory to observe.” It further observes that law “implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the obligation of obedience on the part of all subject to that authority.” Thus, a law regulates and governs the behavior of someone or something.
A command is an “order given” or an authoritative directive. It “stresses the official exercise of authority” and expresses the will of the authority based upon the established rules and regulations that govern the group. Thus, a commandment specifies behavior relative
to a law.
A demand is “the act of asking with authority.” It is based on the recognized authority of the one who asks, and it builds upon a previous command or commandment. Thus, a demand assumes that the requester has the right to make the request, and it specifies behavior in a specific instance or circumstance.
Let’s use family life to illustrate these principles. As the head of the home, the father may establish the law that the privacy of each individual is ensured. This is a given within the structure of the family.
Then he may issue the command that all members of the family should knock on a closed bedroom door and wait for the bidding “come in” before entering that room. This is his mandate or commandment relative to the principle of ensuring the privacy of each individual. Finally, when a daughter in the household is upset because her brother constantly enters her room when she is on the phone, the father may demand that the son knock on his sister’s door and wait for her response.
Law Provides Direction for Daily Life
The Most High has established many laws that influence our lives. Some of these govern the physical world in which we live; others control our relationships within the human family and with The Most High Himself. For example, The Most High has established marriage as the structure in which sexual relationships should be enjoyed and children should be raised. That is His law. “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) is one of His commandments built on that law. Hence, when
The Most High demands that you should not gratify your physical desires by engaging in intercourse outside the marriage relationship, He is applying to daily life the law He established at creation and the commandment He gave at Mount Sinai. He is specifying how we should behave in a given situation.
The Most High’s demands are always based on His laws and commandments. He is not capricious, nor is He out to destroy our pleasure. He knows that we cannot fulfill our potential outside His laws, so He gives us commandments relative to those laws and He makes demands on us that apply His commandments to our situation. If we resist His demands, we bring upon ourselves the natural consequences of His laws. The law of love is a good example of this principle.
The Most High created us to be loved by Him and to love Him and others in return. Love is an innate quality of His nature and of ours. The commandments “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12), and “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44b) direct our efforts to understand and apply that law of love to our lives. When we disregard this law, we bear the consequences of loneliness, alienation, and internal turmoil that naturally come to those who fail to love.
We cannot choose whether or not these consequences will come to us, since they are inseparable from the law. Our only choice is whether or not we will love. Thus, we see that The Most High’s commandment to love, like all His commandments, is given for our good. Those who obey it are spared the pain that irrevocably assails those who fail to love. The Most High’s commandments are given for our good.
The effects of The Most High’s laws cannot be avoided. They are constant and unchangeable, even as He is. Yet, you control the impact of The Most High’s laws on your life because the decision to obey or disobey The Most High’s commandments and demands is wholly yours. In this manner, you control your destiny.
Read the Fine Print
Nothing can function at its maximum performance if it violates The Most High’s laws or the laws laid down by the manufacturer. These laws set the boundaries or limitations within which all things must operate.
There is no recourse. The pre-established consequences always follow the failure to fulfill the law’s obligations.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Books and television shows may tell us that we are free to sleep around, but they don’t caution us about the guilt and the misery that come from such actions. Pro-choice groups may persuade us that we are free to abort our babies, but they do not warn us of the severe depression and never-ending sense of loss that plague many women following an abortion. Cigarette ads may portray healthy, laughing men and women puffing away on the particular brand that tastes best and gives the most satisfying high, but they do not show the hospital rooms, cancer treatment centers, and doctors’ offices filled with smokers suffering from lung cancer and emphysema. Too often we resist obeying rules and living within a given set of laws, stipulations, and regulations because we see them as having a negative rather than a positive impact on our lives. The Scriptures are clear that The Most High’s laws are good. They are given for our benefit.
This is love for The Most High: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome... (1 John 5:3).
If you fully obey the Lord your The Most High and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your The Most High will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessing will come upon you if you obey the Lord your The Most High (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).
Every commandment of negative orientation can be restated in a positive manner. “You shalt not misuse the name of the Lord your The Most High” (Exodus 20:7a) could be rephrased, “Worship only Me.” “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) might be reworded, “Leave other people’s possessions alone.” “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) could be, “Tell the truth.”
Unfortunately, mankind has difficulty obeying The Most High’s commandments. Therefore, The Most High sets forth His commandments as prohibitions that set boundaries within which we must operate. He relates to us at the point of our sin and endeavors to move us beyond our failure and disobedience by giving us very specific guidelines and directions. Because Cain had already killed Abel, for example, The Most High said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) instead of “Honor and safeguard your neighbor’s life.” This same phenomenon is evident in the disciplining of a child.
Although the parent may tell the newly-mobile child “You may play only with your toys,” she inevitably must add “Do not touch the stereo, the television, the magazines on the coffee table, etc.” Do not touch...do not touch...do not touch. It is these negative statements that clearly define the child’s boundaries and help him learn what is acceptable behavior and what is not.
So it is in your relationship with The Most High. Through thou shalt nots The Most High delineates the limits within which you can live a healthy, happy, productive life. They are His means of helping you. He does not intend to unnecessarily harm, restrict, or bind you. The Most High created you to fulfill your potential, but you must accept the principles and laws that govern it. That’s the bottom line.
Misconception of Law
The limitless ability The Most High has given us to do all we can think, to accomplish all we can imagine, to fulfill every aspiration we entertain cannot survive unless we obey The Most High’s laws and live within His limitations. To encourage an accepting attitude toward The Most High’s laws and commandments, let us examine some of the misconceptions that surround the concept of law. Our potential cannot survive unless we obey The Most High’s laws and live within His limitations.
Misconception—Laws Restrict Us
All parents have heard the complaint, “You just don’t want me to have any fun,” when they put a restriction upon their children’s activities. Whether it is a curfew, a rule about calling home, or a standard that requires the child to avoid being at a friend’s home if the friend’s parents are not there, the child sees the rules and requirements as the parents’ desire to withhold from him the enjoyable things of youth.
Very often we transfer this same attitude into our relationship with The Most High. We see The Most High’s thou shalt nots as His means of taking the fun out of life. Then His laws appear to be restrictive instruments that limit our freedom to do what we want, when we want, where we want, with whom we want.
Misconception—Laws Inhibit Us
The misconception that law inhibits or restrains us also distorts our understanding of the purpose of law. This perception is readily evident in the attitude of the employee who feels that the obligation to punch a time clock cramps her preferred style of arriving at work five or ten minutes after the designated starting time and making up that time at the end of the day. Or perhaps a young couple believes that an apartment house’s rule to rent only to married couples inhibits their freedom to live together. Or, yet again, a club that makes much of its income from a daily happy hour may consider an ordinance that holds establishments responsible for accidents involving their patrons unnecessarily prohibitive.
Misconception—Laws Bind Us
Some laws appear to bind us and we, therefore, find them to be irritating. Traffic laws are good examples of these laws. One day as I rode in the car with my son, says Dr. Munroe, I tried to beat a yellow light because I was a little late. As the light changed, my son said, “Daddy, the light is changing.” Just as I pressed the accelerator to make the light, he spoke again, “Daddy, you’ve got to stop,” and then “Thou goest too fast, O Dad.” Because I had taught him to stop at red lights, I slammed on the brakes and we came to a halt with a terrible screech. The law concerning red lights was particularly binding to me that day.
Misconception—Laws Rob Us
The belief that laws prevent us from receiving the best things of life is also a false understanding of the nature of law. This perception often occurs when something we want defies a given law, but we want it anyway. A young girl, a citizen of the kingdom who wants to marry a nice-looking, well-behaved guy who isn’t saved thinks The Most High is unfair when He says not to be yoked with unbelievers (see 2 Cor. 6:14). A young businessman perceives himself to have been robbed when his partner is unwilling to use dishonestly obtained information to make a killing on the stock market. A single mother struggles between giving her tithe to The Most High and spending the money on a much-deserved weekend away from the kids.
All these misconceptions convince us that laws and regulations are encumbrances and burdens that prevent us from enjoying life to the fullest. In truth, laws are provided for our benefit.
The Benefits of Law
If, then, laws are given to help us and to make life more enjoyable, how do they accomplish their purpose? What reliable benefits do they offer?
Benefit—Laws Protect
The child who lives with no rules and restrictions is much more likely to get hurt or to end up in trouble than the child who lives within a structure of parental guidance. Because he has no boundaries or guidelines against which he can judge his actions, he may make decisions that jeopardize his safety and well-being. The rule “no playing on the kitchen floor when Mom is making dinner,” for example, protects a young child from being scalded. If he is not taught this rule, the child may not even know that he is in danger.
Likewise, the restriction “no swimming alone” protects against drowning. In a similar manner, traffic signs such as stop, yield, slow, and detour have all been established not to restrict, but to protect us and others. Laws protect us. They alert us to possible danger. Laws alert us to possible danger.
Benefit—Laws Assist
Laws also give us assistance. Can you imagine the confusion if everyone addressed their letters however they wished? Some people might put the address of the sender in the upper left corner, but others might put the address of the recipient there. Or one community might have the tradition of putting the stamp on the back of the envelope, while every other community places it on the front. Postal regulations aid the efficient handling of mail so letters go to the sender’s intended recipient. Instead of restraining us, laws provide assistance so we can accomplish what we intend.
Benefit—Laws Allow for Full Expression
Laws also allow us to express ourselves completely within the context of community. Consider what would happen if you bought a house in a nice neighborhood to raise your children in a safe, non-violent environment only to have your neighbor open an adults-only bookstore. The traffic on your formerly quiet street now quadruples and your children are exposed to unhealthy materials as people come from the shop leafing through pornographic literature.
One night a patron is shot in front of your house by his wife, who is enraged by his attitudes and his actions toward her after he has been looking at his girlie magazines. Suddenly, your nice neighborhood is no longer safe. Civil laws help to control what is and is not permitted within a community so that all may enjoy the environment they desire.
Although these laws may irritate us because they compel us to act in a certain manner, they permit us to enjoy personal preferences within our personal space. Consider, for example, the following situation. A resident in an apartment complex enjoys listening to classical music, but the young man in the next apartment blares his rock music so loud that it rocks his neighbor’s walls and drowns out her music.
If you are the young man who prefers loud rock music, the rules of the apartment complex that control noise appear to be restrictive and binding. For the person in the neighboring apartment, however, the regulations permit her to enjoy her own taste in music. Laws allow each person to enjoy his individual preferences so long as he does not infringe on the freedom of others to do the same.
Benefit—Laws Maximize Potential
Laws help us to do and be our best. The very laws that restrict negative behavior also encourage and uphold positive attitudes and actions. The classroom rule, for example, that makes the entire class responsible for monitoring cheating and gives a failing grade to anyone who copies from another student’s paper also encourages excellence because it exerts peer pressure for honesty and guarantees that each person will be graded by his or her own efforts. Thus, the law both sets consequences for negative behavior and rewards those who work hard and do their best. The very laws that restrict negative behavior also encourage and uphold positive attitudes and actions.
The Bible clearly shows that laws do not restrict positive thoughts and behavior:
...live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you...that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of The Most High. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:16-23).
Since the violation of law destroys potential, and obedience to law fulfills potential, law encourages the releasing and the maximizing of potential. Law encourages the releasing and the maximizing of potential.
Benefit–Law Secures Purpose and Function
Finally, law allows us to function within The Most High’s general design for human life, and the plans and purposes He sets for our individual lives.
The blessing of the Most High brings wealth, and He adds no trouble to it (Proverbs 10:22). Achieving purpose with The Most High’s blessing never brings sorrow.
Those, however, who try to fulfill their potential outside His purposes often experience multiplied sorrow. A businessman, for example, who builds his business without The Most High’s guidance and direction may attain the same wealth as a man who submitted his dreams and plans to The Most High’s will, but his position outside The Most High’s plan does not provide the freedom from worry that the other businessman enjoys. Those who must rely only on themselves to protect their gain often become ill from worrying. There is no joy in that kind of wealth. When the Most High blesses a person with prosperity, He both protects what He has given and He serves as a resource to the recipient. Man needs spiritual resources as surely as he needs physical and material assets.
Your Potential Needs the Benefit of The Most High’s Law
Potential without law is dangerous. Even as breaker switches cut off electricity when an electrical appliance malfunctions and a free flow of electricity is possible, so The Most High shuts us down when we operate outside His laws. This is His safeguard to keep us from self-destructing.
Potential without law is dangerous.
Many people throughout history have harmed themselves and others because they tried to fulfill their potential outside The Most High’s specifications.
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern H8085 judgment;
The Torah testifies...............
Deuteronomy 4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear H8085 all these statutes, and say, Surely this great
nation is a wise and understanding people.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, H8085 and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Understand and Obey the Laws of Limitation
Freedom without law is anarchy. Liberty without responsibility is irresponsibility.
The morning sun shimmered brightly on the choppy waves of the bay as a small motor boat moved slowly over the water. Perhaps 200 yards away, 14 swimmers plied through the chilly waters. Twenty men and women had begun the race that morning, but six had been pulled from the water into one of the many boats that lined the course. Exhaustion, muscle cramps, or some other malady had taken them from the race even before the swimmers had reached the mid-way point.
Just now the swimmers were bunched more closely than they had been for some time. As the far shore came into sight the competitors appeared to reach into their resources and pull with greater power and precision. Between them and the beach lay their greatest test, an area of swift-moving currents that had carried many a swimmer far toward the sea before he had been rescued or finally had given up and drowned.
Of the 14 swimmers in the water, 13 had swum the bay before. They knew from experience the dangers of the currents. Although those who watched from the boats kept an eye on the veterans, it was the one rookie swimmer they watched most closely. Just now he was in the lead, several hundred yards ahead of the pack.
Would he heed the warnings and follow the instructions he had been given to swim up the coast a piece before attempting to cross the swift-moving channel? If he did, he would win the race easily. If he did not, thinking that he didn’t want to waste the time to swim parallel to the shore, or that he was strong enough to meet the currents head on, they were ready to move quickly to rescue him. All watched anxiously to see what he would do.
As the rookie neared the buoys that marked the swift-running water, it appeared for a moment that he would stay within the marked course and swim upstream. He had not moved more than 20 yards, however, when he turned and swam directly toward the shore. Instantly, motors sprang to life and two boats sped across the water to the now-struggling swimmer. These were Coast Guard boats manned by experienced rescuers.
Later that afternoon when all the swimmers had reached the beach—including the rookie, who had been brought in by a Coast Guard cutter—the winner of the race approached the young man who had nearly drowned. “Why did you change your mind?” he asked. “The officials told me that you started to follow the path marked out for us, but then you suddenly veered toward the shore.”
“Those 20 yards that I swam upstream against the current were so easy that I thought all the fuss about that channel was just so much hype. So I decided to cut through it to win the race by a large margin. I soon realized that not only wouldn’t I win the race, I wouldn’t even finish it. For an instant I felt so dumb for throwing away the race, but then I realized that I had jeopardized my life as well. I’ll never try this again.”
Oh, I think you should enter the race again next year,” said the veteran racer. “You’re a magnificent distance swimmer. Just follow the rules the next time and you’ll find that the crossing point determined by the race organizers is challenging, but not life-threatening. Each year that point is different because the currents constantly change, so we all have to follow the prescribed course. One year we didn’t race at all because the officials couldn’t find a safe place to cross the channel. I wanted to talk them into sponsoring the race anyway, but I knew that would be foolish. Most likely no one would have finished anyway. Well, I hope to see you next year. It’s about time someone beat me. For a while I thought this would be the year.”
How sad! Although the rookie swimmer had the potential to beat the veteran, he lost the race, and nearly his life, because he chose to veer from the assigned course. He exercised his freedom to go his own way. This grasping for freedom is a universal tendency. To maximize your potential, you must understand the concept of freedom and the principle of law.
We Want to Be Free
The cry “We want to be free!” has swept our world in remarkable and frightening ways within the past decades. Particularly in Eastern Europe, the desire for freedom has brought sweeping revolutions, toppling governments and power structures that have repressed and oppressed many peoples. This same yearning for freedom prompts pregnant women to abort their babies, children to take their parents to court, and students to seek greater control over the measures of discipline used in their schools.
Freedom! It sounds so good. Everybody wants freedom. Ethnic groups, social groups, religious groups. Children, youth, adults. All want the right to determine their own lives and to make their decisions without guidance or interference from anyone else.
It should not surprise us, then, that many common phrases express this craving for freedom: Freedom of the press, Freedom of choice, Freedom of religion, Freedom of speech. All reveal the universal longing to be unencumbered by the dictates and the decisions of others.
Nothing Is Free
Is this truly possible? Can we be entirely free? No, I don’t think so. Nothing is free. Although advertising tries to convince us that we are getting something for nothing—buy one, get one free—we are still paying for the product the advertiser claims is free. In a similar manner, the cost of sweepstakes and prizes given to entice consumers to buy a particular product or to subscribe to a certain periodical is built into the company’s price structure somewhere along the way. We cannot get something for nothing. Nothing is free. We cannot get something for nothing.
This axiom is also true in relationships. We cannot be entirely free to do what we want, when we want, where we want, how we want, and with whom we want. Freedom always has a price because the actions of one person restricts and influences the freedom of another. The woman who aborts her baby takes away the baby’s freedom to live, and the student who slaps the teacher who reprimands her takes away the teacher’s freedom to keep order in his classroom. Freedom without responsibility cannot be freedom for all who are involved.
The Consequences of Freedom Without Responsibility
Lawlessness is the freedom to do whatever we want, when we want, with whom we want, with no one telling us to stop. In essence, we defy the standards that govern society to become a law unto ourselves with no sense of responsibility toward anything or anyone. For example, you may choose the freedom to smoke marijuana behind your house at three o’clock in the morning. You know you are breaking the law, but you choose to disregard the law and to exercise your freedom to do as you please. Lawlessness always results in slavery, death, and the loss of preexisting freedoms. Adam and Eve’s experience in the garden verifies this truth. Freedom without law is bondage.
The Loss of Freedom
When The Most High created the man and the woman and placed them in the garden, He gave them the following instructions:
You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:16b-17).
They were free to eat from any tree in the garden, but one.
When the serpent convinced the man and the woman to eat from this one tree, The Most High put them out of the garden and they lost the freedom to eat from the garden’s other trees. Their desire to be freed from The Most High’s restrictions cost them the freedom He had given them to eat from the other trees in the garden. Thus, the first penalty of freedom without responsibility is the loss of existing freedoms.
This proves to be true in all life. The teenager who stays out past his curfew loses his privilege to use the family car. The mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses the customers he is in business to serve. The worker who takes 30 minutes for a 10-minute break loses the freedom to leave her desk without punching the time clock. The politician who forgets his campaign promises and breaks faith with the people who put him in office loses his reelection bid and the opportunity to serve his constituents.
Slavery
Slavery is a second consequence of freedom without responsibility. When the man and the woman disobeyed The Most High and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became slaves to evil.
Before their rebellion against The Most High, Adam and Eve knew only good because their knowledge came from their relationship with The Most High, who is good. In the moment of sin, their spirits became separated from The Most High’s Spirit and they became slaves of rebellion, the root of all sin. They could no longer see and do what The Most High requires. This loss of the ability to see and do what is right is always a result of choosing to place oneself above the law.
Thus, the teenager who regularly stays out past his curfew comes to expect that this is his right, the mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses sight of fairness, the worker who takes an extended break assumes the company owes her this, and the politician who breaks faith with
those who elected him fails to see the error of his ways. Each becomes so enmeshed in his rebellious attitudes and actions that he can no longer see the wrong of his actions. Death inevitably follows.
Death
The third consequence of freedom without responsibility is death. Notice that The Most High connected the violation of the boundary around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with death: “...for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16). Disobedience to law always results in death.
The teenager who indulges in late hours will eventually see the death of his parents’ trust. The mechanic who takes whatever he can get will soon experience bankruptcy and the death of his business.
Likewise, the worker who extends her break and the politician who neglects to fulfill his promises will suffer the death of their dreams for advancement and recognition. Death is the inevitable result of freedom grasped at the expense of obedience to law.
Death is the inevitable result of freedom grasped at the expense of obedience to law.
The Nature of Law, Commands, and Demands
Merriam Webster’s dictionary (10th Collegiate, 1994) defines law as “a binding custom or practice of a community: a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority; a rule or order that is advisable or obligatory to observe.” It further observes that law “implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the obligation of obedience on the part of all subject to that authority.” Thus, a law regulates and governs the behavior of someone or something.
A command is an “order given” or an authoritative directive. It “stresses the official exercise of authority” and expresses the will of the authority based upon the established rules and regulations that govern the group. Thus, a commandment specifies behavior relative
to a law.
A demand is “the act of asking with authority.” It is based on the recognized authority of the one who asks, and it builds upon a previous command or commandment. Thus, a demand assumes that the requester has the right to make the request, and it specifies behavior in a specific instance or circumstance.
Let’s use family life to illustrate these principles. As the head of the home, the father may establish the law that the privacy of each individual is ensured. This is a given within the structure of the family.
Then he may issue the command that all members of the family should knock on a closed bedroom door and wait for the bidding “come in” before entering that room. This is his mandate or commandment relative to the principle of ensuring the privacy of each individual. Finally, when a daughter in the household is upset because her brother constantly enters her room when she is on the phone, the father may demand that the son knock on his sister’s door and wait for her response.
Law Provides Direction for Daily Life
The Most High has established many laws that influence our lives. Some of these govern the physical world in which we live; others control our relationships within the human family and with The Most High Himself. For example, The Most High has established marriage as the structure in which sexual relationships should be enjoyed and children should be raised. That is His law. “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) is one of His commandments built on that law. Hence, when
The Most High demands that you should not gratify your physical desires by engaging in intercourse outside the marriage relationship, He is applying to daily life the law He established at creation and the commandment He gave at Mount Sinai. He is specifying how we should behave in a given situation.
The Most High’s demands are always based on His laws and commandments. He is not capricious, nor is He out to destroy our pleasure. He knows that we cannot fulfill our potential outside His laws, so He gives us commandments relative to those laws and He makes demands on us that apply His commandments to our situation. If we resist His demands, we bring upon ourselves the natural consequences of His laws. The law of love is a good example of this principle.
The Most High created us to be loved by Him and to love Him and others in return. Love is an innate quality of His nature and of ours. The commandments “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12), and “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44b) direct our efforts to understand and apply that law of love to our lives. When we disregard this law, we bear the consequences of loneliness, alienation, and internal turmoil that naturally come to those who fail to love.
We cannot choose whether or not these consequences will come to us, since they are inseparable from the law. Our only choice is whether or not we will love. Thus, we see that The Most High’s commandment to love, like all His commandments, is given for our good. Those who obey it are spared the pain that irrevocably assails those who fail to love. The Most High’s commandments are given for our good.
The effects of The Most High’s laws cannot be avoided. They are constant and unchangeable, even as He is. Yet, you control the impact of The Most High’s laws on your life because the decision to obey or disobey The Most High’s commandments and demands is wholly yours. In this manner, you control your destiny.
Read the Fine Print
Nothing can function at its maximum performance if it violates The Most High’s laws or the laws laid down by the manufacturer. These laws set the boundaries or limitations within which all things must operate.
There is no recourse. The pre-established consequences always follow the failure to fulfill the law’s obligations.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Books and television shows may tell us that we are free to sleep around, but they don’t caution us about the guilt and the misery that come from such actions. Pro-choice groups may persuade us that we are free to abort our babies, but they do not warn us of the severe depression and never-ending sense of loss that plague many women following an abortion. Cigarette ads may portray healthy, laughing men and women puffing away on the particular brand that tastes best and gives the most satisfying high, but they do not show the hospital rooms, cancer treatment centers, and doctors’ offices filled with smokers suffering from lung cancer and emphysema. Too often we resist obeying rules and living within a given set of laws, stipulations, and regulations because we see them as having a negative rather than a positive impact on our lives. The Scriptures are clear that The Most High’s laws are good. They are given for our benefit.
This is love for The Most High: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome... (1 John 5:3).
If you fully obey the Lord your The Most High and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your The Most High will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessing will come upon you if you obey the Lord your The Most High (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).
Every commandment of negative orientation can be restated in a positive manner. “You shalt not misuse the name of the Lord your The Most High” (Exodus 20:7a) could be rephrased, “Worship only Me.” “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) might be reworded, “Leave other people’s possessions alone.” “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) could be, “Tell the truth.”
Unfortunately, mankind has difficulty obeying The Most High’s commandments. Therefore, The Most High sets forth His commandments as prohibitions that set boundaries within which we must operate. He relates to us at the point of our sin and endeavors to move us beyond our failure and disobedience by giving us very specific guidelines and directions. Because Cain had already killed Abel, for example, The Most High said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) instead of “Honor and safeguard your neighbor’s life.” This same phenomenon is evident in the disciplining of a child.
Although the parent may tell the newly-mobile child “You may play only with your toys,” she inevitably must add “Do not touch the stereo, the television, the magazines on the coffee table, etc.” Do not touch...do not touch...do not touch. It is these negative statements that clearly define the child’s boundaries and help him learn what is acceptable behavior and what is not.
So it is in your relationship with The Most High. Through thou shalt nots The Most High delineates the limits within which you can live a healthy, happy, productive life. They are His means of helping you. He does not intend to unnecessarily harm, restrict, or bind you. The Most High created you to fulfill your potential, but you must accept the principles and laws that govern it. That’s the bottom line.
Misconception of Law
The limitless ability The Most High has given us to do all we can think, to accomplish all we can imagine, to fulfill every aspiration we entertain cannot survive unless we obey The Most High’s laws and live within His limitations. To encourage an accepting attitude toward The Most High’s laws and commandments, let us examine some of the misconceptions that surround the concept of law. Our potential cannot survive unless we obey The Most High’s laws and live within His limitations.
Misconception—Laws Restrict Us
All parents have heard the complaint, “You just don’t want me to have any fun,” when they put a restriction upon their children’s activities. Whether it is a curfew, a rule about calling home, or a standard that requires the child to avoid being at a friend’s home if the friend’s parents are not there, the child sees the rules and requirements as the parents’ desire to withhold from him the enjoyable things of youth.
Very often we transfer this same attitude into our relationship with The Most High. We see The Most High’s thou shalt nots as His means of taking the fun out of life. Then His laws appear to be restrictive instruments that limit our freedom to do what we want, when we want, where we want, with whom we want.
Misconception—Laws Inhibit Us
The misconception that law inhibits or restrains us also distorts our understanding of the purpose of law. This perception is readily evident in the attitude of the employee who feels that the obligation to punch a time clock cramps her preferred style of arriving at work five or ten minutes after the designated starting time and making up that time at the end of the day. Or perhaps a young couple believes that an apartment house’s rule to rent only to married couples inhibits their freedom to live together. Or, yet again, a club that makes much of its income from a daily happy hour may consider an ordinance that holds establishments responsible for accidents involving their patrons unnecessarily prohibitive.
Misconception—Laws Bind Us
Some laws appear to bind us and we, therefore, find them to be irritating. Traffic laws are good examples of these laws. One day as I rode in the car with my son, says Dr. Munroe, I tried to beat a yellow light because I was a little late. As the light changed, my son said, “Daddy, the light is changing.” Just as I pressed the accelerator to make the light, he spoke again, “Daddy, you’ve got to stop,” and then “Thou goest too fast, O Dad.” Because I had taught him to stop at red lights, I slammed on the brakes and we came to a halt with a terrible screech. The law concerning red lights was particularly binding to me that day.
Misconception—Laws Rob Us
The belief that laws prevent us from receiving the best things of life is also a false understanding of the nature of law. This perception often occurs when something we want defies a given law, but we want it anyway. A young girl, a citizen of the kingdom who wants to marry a nice-looking, well-behaved guy who isn’t saved thinks The Most High is unfair when He says not to be yoked with unbelievers (see 2 Cor. 6:14). A young businessman perceives himself to have been robbed when his partner is unwilling to use dishonestly obtained information to make a killing on the stock market. A single mother struggles between giving her tithe to The Most High and spending the money on a much-deserved weekend away from the kids.
All these misconceptions convince us that laws and regulations are encumbrances and burdens that prevent us from enjoying life to the fullest. In truth, laws are provided for our benefit.
The Benefits of Law
If, then, laws are given to help us and to make life more enjoyable, how do they accomplish their purpose? What reliable benefits do they offer?
Benefit—Laws Protect
The child who lives with no rules and restrictions is much more likely to get hurt or to end up in trouble than the child who lives within a structure of parental guidance. Because he has no boundaries or guidelines against which he can judge his actions, he may make decisions that jeopardize his safety and well-being. The rule “no playing on the kitchen floor when Mom is making dinner,” for example, protects a young child from being scalded. If he is not taught this rule, the child may not even know that he is in danger.
Likewise, the restriction “no swimming alone” protects against drowning. In a similar manner, traffic signs such as stop, yield, slow, and detour have all been established not to restrict, but to protect us and others. Laws protect us. They alert us to possible danger. Laws alert us to possible danger.
Benefit—Laws Assist
Laws also give us assistance. Can you imagine the confusion if everyone addressed their letters however they wished? Some people might put the address of the sender in the upper left corner, but others might put the address of the recipient there. Or one community might have the tradition of putting the stamp on the back of the envelope, while every other community places it on the front. Postal regulations aid the efficient handling of mail so letters go to the sender’s intended recipient. Instead of restraining us, laws provide assistance so we can accomplish what we intend.
Benefit—Laws Allow for Full Expression
Laws also allow us to express ourselves completely within the context of community. Consider what would happen if you bought a house in a nice neighborhood to raise your children in a safe, non-violent environment only to have your neighbor open an adults-only bookstore. The traffic on your formerly quiet street now quadruples and your children are exposed to unhealthy materials as people come from the shop leafing through pornographic literature.
One night a patron is shot in front of your house by his wife, who is enraged by his attitudes and his actions toward her after he has been looking at his girlie magazines. Suddenly, your nice neighborhood is no longer safe. Civil laws help to control what is and is not permitted within a community so that all may enjoy the environment they desire.
Although these laws may irritate us because they compel us to act in a certain manner, they permit us to enjoy personal preferences within our personal space. Consider, for example, the following situation. A resident in an apartment complex enjoys listening to classical music, but the young man in the next apartment blares his rock music so loud that it rocks his neighbor’s walls and drowns out her music.
If you are the young man who prefers loud rock music, the rules of the apartment complex that control noise appear to be restrictive and binding. For the person in the neighboring apartment, however, the regulations permit her to enjoy her own taste in music. Laws allow each person to enjoy his individual preferences so long as he does not infringe on the freedom of others to do the same.
Benefit—Laws Maximize Potential
Laws help us to do and be our best. The very laws that restrict negative behavior also encourage and uphold positive attitudes and actions. The classroom rule, for example, that makes the entire class responsible for monitoring cheating and gives a failing grade to anyone who copies from another student’s paper also encourages excellence because it exerts peer pressure for honesty and guarantees that each person will be graded by his or her own efforts. Thus, the law both sets consequences for negative behavior and rewards those who work hard and do their best. The very laws that restrict negative behavior also encourage and uphold positive attitudes and actions.
The Bible clearly shows that laws do not restrict positive thoughts and behavior:
...live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you...that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of The Most High. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:16-23).
Since the violation of law destroys potential, and obedience to law fulfills potential, law encourages the releasing and the maximizing of potential. Law encourages the releasing and the maximizing of potential.
Benefit–Law Secures Purpose and Function
Finally, law allows us to function within The Most High’s general design for human life, and the plans and purposes He sets for our individual lives.
The blessing of the Most High brings wealth, and He adds no trouble to it (Proverbs 10:22). Achieving purpose with The Most High’s blessing never brings sorrow.
Those, however, who try to fulfill their potential outside His purposes often experience multiplied sorrow. A businessman, for example, who builds his business without The Most High’s guidance and direction may attain the same wealth as a man who submitted his dreams and plans to The Most High’s will, but his position outside The Most High’s plan does not provide the freedom from worry that the other businessman enjoys. Those who must rely only on themselves to protect their gain often become ill from worrying. There is no joy in that kind of wealth. When the Most High blesses a person with prosperity, He both protects what He has given and He serves as a resource to the recipient. Man needs spiritual resources as surely as he needs physical and material assets.
Your Potential Needs the Benefit of The Most High’s Law
Potential without law is dangerous. Even as breaker switches cut off electricity when an electrical appliance malfunctions and a free flow of electricity is possible, so The Most High shuts us down when we operate outside His laws. This is His safeguard to keep us from self-destructing.
Potential without law is dangerous.
Many people throughout history have harmed themselves and others because they tried to fulfill their potential outside The Most High’s specifications.
Shema Selah, Hear O Isreal the Most High is our God and He is one!!! Get all of His understanding in this season of wisdom!!
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Return To The Kingdom Life!!!
John 1
We are walking in today: Return To The Kingdom Life!!!
Witness kingdom throughout the Bible: H4467 mamlakah--kingdom, dominion, reign, sovereignty, realm
Deuteronomy 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, H4467 that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom H4467 of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
The prophets proclaim..................
1 Samuel 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD
have established thy kingdom H4467 upon Israel for ever.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 11:13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; H4467 but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
Ezekiel 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms H4467 any more at all:
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom H4467 of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
The prophets proclaim..................
1 Samuel 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD
have established thy kingdom H4467 upon Israel for ever.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 11:13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; H4467 but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
Ezekiel 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms H4467 any more at all:
The Power of Influence
Nothing is more damaging to a new truth than an old error. —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I found myself sitting between kingdom and colony. I was the guest of the United States ambassador to the Bahamas for an official state function at his residence. Also attending this function were both the Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and His Excellency, the royal governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. This group of islands lies off the southeastern coast of my country of the Bahamas. At the writing of this book, the Turks and Caicos is a colony of Great Britain. The colony is overseen by the royal governor, who was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. He is the highest authority in that colony. The Premier, however, is an elected official, approved by the Crown, who heads the local government. 26 The Most Important Person on Earth The Premier was the special guest of the American ambassador. The ambassador had also invited other members of the diplomatic corps, as well as distinguished governmental officials and guests from around the world. Previous to this gathering, I had already become well acquainted with the Premier. At his invitation, I had visited his beautiful island territory to address governmental and civic leaders in a special national event, and we had become good friends. During the state function at the United States ambassador’s residence, I also came to know the royal governor fairly well because I was seated between him and the Premier for over three hours during the proceedings. While the Premier is a native-born Turks and Caicos Islander, His Excellency the Governor is pure British. When he spoke, you knew immediately that he was not from the islands. As I conversed with these two distinguished leaders, one on either side of me, I realized once again the principle of kingdoms and their impact on their colonies. It refreshed my perspective and reminded me of my personal experience as a citizen of a former colony of the kingdom of Great Britain. There I sat between the crown and the colony, the governor and the administrator, the authority and the power. The governor was sent from the kingdom to live in the colony, among the people, to represent the Queen and execute her wishes and will in the colony. His primary purpose was to maintain the kingdom’s influence and presence in that territory. The Kingdom Life Years of research have led me to the conclusion that the practical outworking of kingdoms points us to truths and principles that transcend the mere political fortunes of individual empires. Seeing how they function actually:
√ provides us with a deep understanding of our own nature as human beings,
√ reveals the key to our remarkable life purpose, and
√ enables us to exercise our full potential in the world.
These things have tremendous implications for the human race personally, professionally, socially, and politically; for our families, communities, nations, and the world. I am in a somewhat unique position to discuss the nature of kingdoms and their colonies, having grown up in a land that was a British colony for nearly two hundred years, and having witnessed its peaceful transition to independence. I well remember what it meant to live under a monarch—both the mind-set of a kingdom and its functioning and procedures. Yet I also understand what it means to live in an independent nation, having eagerly followed our transition to self-government as a young person. My close acquaintance with these two ways of governing has been extremely beneficial to me as I have explored the nature of kingdom and what it means for every person on this planet. My investigation into the concept of kingdom has convinced me that the success of your life and mine depends upon how well we understand and live out what I will call the kingdom life. I am not referring to a political system or to any particular national government, but to a way of understanding and living everyday life. The success of your life depends upon how well you live out the kingdom life.
An Anti-Kingdom Perspective
The concept of kingdom may seem antithetical to the contemporary mind. Empires and their colonies seem outdated in the twenty-first century, just fading remnants of the past. Many nations today have representative governments. A number of former colonies and protectorates have gained their independence. Opportunities for self-government have expanded greatly throughout the world, and we rightly celebrate the political freedoms and opportunities these changes have brought. Human history has seen enough tyrannical kingdoms and dictators to want to move on to a different form of government. Democracy is essentially humanity’s reaction to perverted kingdoms. The founders of the United States rebelled against what they considered an oppressive government, and the very genetics of contemporary Western society are anti-kingdom. Because of the strong influence of political and social ideas of independence and freedom, this perspective has permeated the world and affects many areas of our thinking, not just the governmental realm. It shows up in how we view and conduct ourselves in personal relationships, business, media, education, and even religion because our cultural experiences produce our definitions. This is why the concept of kingdom is dismissed by most people today as irrelevant, and is even considered out-and-out frightening by others. In the light of these developments, however, many people no longer understand what life in an authentic and uncorrupted kingdom entails. I believe this lack of understanding has hindered them in the way they’ve approached their lives. Most of us have forgotten why kingdoms historically had such a profound impact on people and nations for thousands of years, some of which is still being felt. They haven’t recognized what the concept and history of kingdoms reveal that is vital to us today. I therefore want to present to you, step-by-step, how the practical working of the kingdom life answers essential questions about our human existence, purpose, and fulfillment. We have approached our personal goals and problems, as well as our national and global crises, from many vantage points, but not often from this perspective. Democracies are valuable political institutions for us today, but I’m referring to something that transcends our contemporary politics and government—something that speaks to the basis of our very being as humans. It has significance for people of all nations, religions, and creeds. It lies at the heart of the existence of every person on earth, whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jew, agnostic, or atheist. Just as I found myself sitting between kingdom and colony, you and every other person on the planet are, in a sense, supposed to find yourselves in a relationship between kingdom and colony, and to experience that dynamic in your own lives. Kingdom Power
The character of this kingdom is, again, nothing like the political kingdoms of the past and present that seek to force others under their control based on territorial power, greed, or religious doctrine. Those kingdoms enslave. But the very nature of humanity, as well as the personal and corporate progress of the world, are designed to develop and thrive from the outworking of this kingdom. 30 The Most Important Person on Earth I mentioned in the preface to this book that the principal issue of humanity is power, defined as “the ability to influence and control circumstances.” We all want to direct and influence our lives in a positive and fulfilling way. The nature of this kingdom speaks directly to this need. Understanding our association with this kingdom begins with an exploration of what all human kingdoms have shared in common and how they were different from the contemporary experience of government most of us are familiar with today. Then we can move to the larger context of what these qualities reveal about our human existence and purpose. The Nature of Kingdom Government I define a kingdom as “the governing authority and influence of a sovereign ruler who impacts his territory through his will, purpose, and intentions, which are manifested in the culture, lifestyle, and quality of his citizenry.” A king must have his dominion, or his territory. We call it his “king-dominion” or his kingdom. You cannot be a king without having territory; you have to be ruling over something. And you cannot be a king without having kingdom citizens who live and work in the kingdom. In a true, traditional kingdom, all power is vested in the monarch. The king actually, personally owns the country, including the people. In contrast, a president or prime minister in a representative government doesn’t own the country; he governs it on behalf of the people. In a true, traditional kingdom, all power is vested in the monarch. 31 The Power of Influence The king implements his vision for the kingdom. There is no congress or parliament to discuss which laws they’re going to create. There is only the monarch, and he has immediate access to his handpicked, trusted council, who carry out his wishes. The job of these advisors is to take the will of the king, translate it into the law of the land, and make sure it is enacted throughout the kingdom. A kingdom is therefore the governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting and influencing it with his personal will. In a kingdom, the king’s personal interest becomes policy, and the king’s personal will becomes law. The effectiveness of a kingdom and its power is therefore its ability to influence and control the territory according to the vision of the king.
The Goal of the Kingdom: Ruling and Gaining Territory
Most kingdoms throughout history have sought to take additional land, sometimes at some distance from the home country, because the power of a king is related to the territory he owns. The more territory a king had, the greater he was respected by other kingdoms, especially if the territories had abundant natural wealth. The home country of the king was his domain, and the outlying territories were his colonies. Once a colony was gained, the sovereign’s number one goal was to exercise his personal influence over it. The king implements his vision for the kingdom based on his personal will.
The Transformation of Colonies into the Kingdom
A colony is comprised of “a group of emigrants or their descendants who settle in a distant land but remain subject to the parent country.”1 The word colony comes from the Latin word colonia, derived from colere, meaning “to cultivate.”2 In this sense, a colony is:
√ the presence of a distinct cultural citizenry in a foreign territory that is governed by the laws and customs of its home country.
√ established to influence the territory for the home government.
This means that a colony’s purpose was essentially to:
1. be an extension of the home country in another territory.
2. establish a prototype of the original country in another territory.
3. represent the values, morals, and manners of the home country.
4. manifest the culture and lifestyle of the original nation.
When a kingdom takes a territory, therefore, its goal is to make that territory exactly like the kingdom. The purpose is not only to gain lands, but also to transform these lands so that they mirror the country in its mind-set and lifestyle, its characteristics and culture. In this way, the kingdom not only extends its power, but it also expands the influence of its very nature. The Roman Empire had a specific way of ensuring the permanency and effectiveness of kingdom influence over its colonies. When the Romans conquered a region, they planted a group of about three hundred of their own citizens, as well as a larger number of those allied with the empire, and a number of settlers, within it to serve as a type of military outpost. These constituted a “colony of Romans citizens” (colonia civium Romanorum) or a “little Rome.” A colony of Roman citizens was free from taxation and military duty. It had its own constitution based on the Roman constitution and was allowed to elect its own senate and other offices of state. The original inhabitants had to adhere to this new government and its constitution.3 These “little Romes” brought the culture and values of the Roman empire throughout Europe and northern Africa. A striking picture of the power and influence of kingdoms over a territory and the lifestyle of its inhabitants can be seen in the various nations of the Caribbean and West Indies. You can always tell who controlled a colony by studying its culture. The Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados are former colonies of the United Kingdom. Cuba was a colony of Spain. Haiti was a colony of France. The cultures of all these islands are distinctly characteristic of the countries that claimed them. You can still see the kingdoms’ influence in the daily lives of the peoples’ customs. If you visited the Bahamas, you’d see the influence of Great Britain in our narrow streets, our driving on the left-hand side of the road, and our habit of drinking tea. When I was a young boy attending school, my classmates and I grew up singing “God Save the Queen.” We were being taught to be a “little Britain.” Similarly, if you went to Cuba, you might think you were in Spain as you observed its architecture and food. Significantly for their cultures, each of these former colonies speaks the language of the kingdom that conquered it. Most kingdoms in the colonial period had to fight for new territory because there was a limited amount of land in the world. Under European control, the Bahamas was initially claimed by the Spaniards. The French tried to conquer it, but the Spaniards held them off. Finally, the British won out over the Spanish. If the British Empire hadn’t won, I might be speaking Spanish today. So even though the Bahamas, Haiti, and Cuba are all part of a chain of islands, whoever controlled the domain controlled the language and culture of the people. If you really want to investigate the power of kingdoms, study the island of Hispaniola, home of both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Two kingdoms grabbed the same island, and there’s a line right down the middle of the island; one side speaks French, while other side speaks Spanish.
Shema Selah we must return to the first and original kingdom--the kingdom of Heaven where Ahayah asher Ahayha rules and reigns!!
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