THE REBIRTH OF A KINGDOM PART 3

Genesis chapter 3













Today we are walking in: The Rebirth Of A Kingdom Part 3
















Today we look to the word: RESTORE- H8421- shuwb- to come back; specifically to reply:—answer, restore, return (an answer).








The Torah testifies………….




Leviticus 6:5

Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore H8421 it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.




Deuteronomy 22:2




And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore H8421 it to him again.










The Prophets proclaim………….




Nehemiah 5:11

Restore H8421, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.




Nehemiah 5:12

Then said they, We will restore H8421 them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.







The Writings witness…….




Job 20:18

That which he laboured for shall he restore H8421, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.





Psalm 51:12

Restore H8421 unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.







Baptism with Fire




Water baptism aligned and identified Yahusha’ followers with his kingdom teaching. But what had John meant when he said that Yahusha would “baptize...with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire”? The baptism with the Ruach HaQadesh, which we will talk about in more detail in later teachings, is the consummation of identification with the King and his kingdom, as well as a reception of the power of the heavenly kingdom. The Ruach HaQadesh is the personification of the heavenly government. To be baptized in this way means you are immersed in kingdom philosophy and lifestyle, and that it has total influence over your thoughts and actions.




The word philosophy is derived from the Greek word philosophos, which is a combination of two smaller Greek words. Philos means “fond” or “beloved,” and sophos means “wise.” So philosophos means a fondness for or a love of wise things. Disciples of kingdom philosophy are to fall in love with the mind and will of the King, so that his mind and will become theirs, and their actions mirror his. As the wise King Solomon wrote, “As a person thinks within himself, so he is.”




This process of transformation into kingdom thinking and lifestyle is absolutely necessary because the Creator-King has declared this about the rebellious inhabitants of earth: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways....As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Our thoughts and ways need to become realigned with the Creator-King’s, and we do this by identifying completely with kingdom thinking, submitting to the Master of the kingdom, and being baptized into his power.




The way to fully live out the life of the kingdom, therefore, is to be baptized with the Ruach. We are to be totally submerged in the Creator-King’s frame of reference and mind-set so that we always think his thoughts, live his thoughts, and manifest his life.




The New Testament book of Luke tells us that, following his baptism by John, Yahusha was “full of the Ruach HaQadesh,...and was led by the Ruach in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by HaSatan.” When he emerged from that experience, having overcome each temptation, Luke further records, “Yahusha returned to Galilee in the power of the Ruach,” and the book of Matthew adds, “From that time on Yahusha began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” The message of the kingdom and the fullness and power of the Ruach are intimately connected.




The King-Son Demonstrated the Influence of the Kingdom on Earth




The King-Son not only spoke the message of the kingdom, but he also lived it out. His entire life on earth was evidence of kingdom rulership. Everything Yahusha said or did was the administration of the King-Father’s will through the power of the Governor within him. He spoke about this reality with statements such as these:




√ My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.




√ These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.




√ My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.




√ I and the Father are one.




√ I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.




√ Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.




√ If Yah were your Father, you would love me, for I came from Yah and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.




√ I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.




In the Old Testament accounts we reviewed in the previous teaching, we saw that what we call miracles were actually evidence of kingdom influence on earth. The same thing applies to the miracles Yahusha performed. The administration of the kingdom could be seen whenever Yahusha healed someone who was sick (power over the effects of humanity’s rebellion), delivered someone who was possessed by an agent of HaSatan (power over the kingdom of darkness), fed thousands by multiplying small amounts of food (power over the natural world), or raised people from the dead (power to give life). These acts were confirmation of heavenly dominion over the environment of earth; they were demonstrations of kingdom power over circumstances. Yahusha was saying, in essence, “What you see is what the heavenly government is doing. I’m just manifesting it.”




The King-Son Died to Redeem and Restore Human Beings to The King-Father and His Kingdom




The King-Son’s mission on earth was not only to deliver the message and demonstrate the influence of the kingdom, but also to provide a way for human beings to reenter the kingdom and be reconciled to the King-Father. The children’s separation from the Father because of their rebellion had to be addressed. And the only way their holiness (integrity or internal wholeness and devotion to the Father) could be restored was through a sacrifice.




As we saw, the Old Testament animal sacrifices of the tabernacle and temple were only temporary. Animal sacrifices were not equitable blood payment for the rebellion and the culture of hatred and death that human beings had brought to earth. Animal sacrifice did not have the power to change the perpetually evil hearts of the world’s inhabitants. Only human blood could make restitution for the rebellion and bloodshed of humanity. Instead of making the people pay for their rebellion with their own blood, however, the Father sent the Son to earth as a human being to pay for it with his blood. The Son took the punishment for all the inhabitants of earth, which allowed them to be reconciled to the kingdom. This was the ultimate reason for his incarnation.




The King-Son could reconcile the inhabitants to the King- Father because he was holy. Again, in his humanity, Yahusha was like other human beings in all ways except one—he had no rebellion in him or double-mindedness toward the kingdom. He was fully integrated, devoted, and set apart for the King- Father. He lived within a human body because he wanted to go through every aspect of human experience—he desired to feel what we feel and experience everything about being human, without the rebellion. Yahusha demonstrated by his life what it meant to be a human being with the Governor living within. He was true humanity rightly related to the King-Father and his kingdom.




Yahusha’ death on the crucifixion stake at the place called Calvary (meaning “Skull”) was the plan of the Father to provide for the return of the Governor. It was not a mistake, but part of the program. The earthly temple with its sacrifices would no longer be needed because the heavenly temple had arrived in Yahusha’ own body; the Ruach HaQadesh was present within him. Again, Yahusha was able to be the ultimate sacrifice because he was fully aligned with the King and lived a perfect life. Yahusha explained the nature of his death before he died:




The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.




The King-Son laid down his life in payment for the rebellion of all humanity, past and present. When this was paid, the Father gave him authority to take up his life again, and he was raised from the dead. The Author of life chose to die because of his love for the human beings whom he had created; he desired to rescue them from the kingdom of darkness so they could live within the kingdom of heaven once more. Paul described our entrance to the kingdom through the King-Son’s sacrifice as walking in “newness of life”:




Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Hamachiach Yahusha were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Hamachiach was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.




Some people wish they could go back to the day Yahusha died and prevent his death. We would all want to spare anyone from that kind of death. However, his dying was necessary to fulfill the Father’s restoration plan. Yahusha’ death wasn’t forced upon him; he chose it for the express purpose of saving the world and releasing the Governor to the earth again. Once more, before he was crucified, Yahusha made his choice very clear, saying,




I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.




Yahusha told his followers beforehand that he was going to die to pay for the rebellion of humanity, even though they didn’t comprehend it at the time. He said, “This is what is written [was predicted by the King’s prophet]: The Hamachiach will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.”




Yahusha therefore wasn’t killed as a tragic mistake. He gave up his life in sacrifice so we could be cleansed vessels for the Governor to live in. He kept moving forward with the restoration plan until everything was set in place for our reconciliation with the Father. Just before he died, he said, “It is finished.” The enemies of Yahusha didn’t finish him. He gave up his life when he was finished with his mission. Just before his arrest, he prayed,




Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true Yah, and Yahusha Hamachiach, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.




Again, Yahusha wasn’t a helpless victim of jealous enemies. He is the King of glory who overcame both sin and death. Notice that he prayed to the Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk had foretold, “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Most High, as the waters cover the sea.” Because Yahusha completed the work of restoration, the glory (nature) of the kingdom of heaven was released and began to spread throughout the earth.




The King-Son Destroyed the Ruach of Independence and Rebellion in the Colony




Yahusha’ death at Calvary, the blood that he shed on the crucifixion stake, and his resurrection from the dead were required in order to break the spirit of rebellion in humanity. I use the word spirit because rebellion is really an attitude or nature within every human being. It’s something we’re born with; it is ingrained within us. This spirit is antagonistic to the kingdom of heaven. It couldn’t be wished away or ignored. It had to be broken. And Yahusha did break this power, allowing the earth’s inhabitants to instead yield to the Ruach HaQadesh. Paul wrote, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Ruach, and the Ruach 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 Ruach, you are not under law.”




Breaking a spirit of independence is very difficult, but this is what Yahusha accomplished. He gave us the ability to say to the Father, as he himself said at the most difficult point in his earthly life, “Not my will, but yours be done.” He provided for the spirit of rebellion to be replaced with a spirit of yieldedness to the kingdom. He gave us the ability to obey the will of the Father. In fact, Yahusha said that submitting to him was the same thing as submitting to the Father, since he and the Father are one. “If you love me,” he said to his followers, “you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor [the Governor] to be with you forever.”




Can you imagine anyone in American politics telling the voters, “Do everything I say”? They would think he was crazy because we’re taught not to trust anyone like that. But Yahusha came to bring back the perfect government. In the kingdom of heaven, trust in the King-Son is the only way to experience life. In the kingdom of heaven, independence from the King- Son brings death, as Yahusha explained to his disciples:




Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.




Yahusha was destroying the idea of independence and rebellion, showing that this leads to deadly consequences. In contrast, dependence on him leads to life because “apart from [him] you can do nothing.” We are to be dependent on him so that he can help us be what we were created to be. Paul discovered this truth firsthand. Yahusha told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s response was to say, “When I am weak, then I am strong [in the power of the kingdom].”




The key, then, to being freed from the grip of rebellion, restored to wholeness and devotion to the King-Father, and released in the power and life of the Ruach is to acknowledge and receive the cleansing that the King-Son accomplished for us when he paid for our rebellion through his death. His was the ultimate sacrifice for the rebellious nature of human- ity. It was a sacrifice for all of humanity. It is available for all people. Yet each human being must make a personal decision to commit to Yahusha’ kingdom school and enter into the king- dom by accepting his sacrifice to break the spirit of rebellion and by desiring to realign with the King. As he does this, he will receive the nature of the kingdom within.




“He Lives with You and Will Be in You”




This brings us back to what Yahusha told his followers about the Governor, the Ruach of the King: “He lives with you and will be in you.” Yahusha’ followers had seen the demonstration of the Governor’s power lived out in his life. The Governor’s works were manifested on the earth, but no other human being besides Yahusha had the Ruach living within. Yahusha was promising the disciples that, through his sacrifice, the Governor would be coming back to live within them, also, just as had been promised since Genesis 3 when the rebellion occurred. This would not only align them with the nature and thinking of the kingdom, but it would also empower them to live it out just as Yahusha had lived it out on earth. Soon, the Governor would be taking up his official residence again in the citizens of the kingdom on earth, as the prophet Joel had foretold.




The King-Son’s Ultimate Reason for Coming to Earth




After his resurrection, Yahusha told his disciples, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised.” The King-Son was restating the essential reason for his ministry. This next statement may shock a few people, but I believe it is vital for us to understand: the promise of the Father was not Yahusha’ sufferings, his death on Calvary, or even his resurrection. Over the centuries, the Christian church has emphasized these aspects of Yahusha’ ministry to the point that I believe the ultimate reason he endured them has been obscured.




Through the years, people—especially religious people— have changed the meaning of the Father’s promise to humanity. Christianity has become the celebration of what Yahusha did rather than a reception of the reason He did it. We have declared a message that Yahusha never gave. We’ve changed the promise into one of leaving this earth and going to heaven, when what we’re called to is restored dominion over the earth through the indwelling Ruach.




The result is that we have worshipped Calvary, rather than benefiting from it. Yahusha’ sufferings, death, and resurrection were the means to an end—the reconciliation of humanity to the King, and, ultimately, the restoration of the Ruach to humanity. They were not ends in themselves. We’ve made the process the purpose. The promise of the Father was the reappointment of the Ruach as a result of these things. The entire reason for the King-Son’s coming into the world was to break the stronghold of HaSatan, destroy the grip of rebellion from human beings, and reconnect them to their King-Father so that the Governor could be restored to them.




The Ruach is what all human beings need in order to be realigned with the King and fulfill their purpose on earth. We should note that John the Baptist never emphasized the blood or death or resurrection of Yahusha. He emphasized the Ruach HaQadesh, because John was expressing the specific reason for his coming: “He will baptize you with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire.” Humanity is not in need of a “religion.” We don’t need rituals and traditions. We need this promise of the Father to be a reality in our lives.




We must come to truly understand that the Ruach HaQadesh is the heavenly government personified. He is the source of the power of the kingdom in our lives. The Old Testament experience of the priests and prophets was only a shadow of what was to come. At that time, the Ruach HaQadesh couldn’t live in human beings; he could only be among them. But now, Yahusha was saying, “The Ruach of truth...lives with you and will be in you.”




As I said earlier, every miracle of Yahusha, every healing, every act of dominion—whether it was walking on water, casting out demons, or cleansing a leper—was not for entertainment or for making an impression; nor was it for the purpose of creating a religion or providing interesting material for preaching. These things were for the purpose of producing evidence to the world that the Ruach of the kingdom had returned to earth and would soon live within humanity again.




Just before Yahusha died, he gave his disciples many instructions, and these instructions had important information about the Governor. He was trying to tell them, in effect, “Everything I’m about to suffer is all because of my purposes concerning the Ruach HaQadesh in your lives and in the lives of those who will believe in the future.” He told them, in essence, “I’m going to leave you, but don’t panic or worry. The Governor is going to come back; he will be with you forever, and he’ll never forsake you.”




A striking illustration of the Governor’s return occurred at the moment of Yahusha’ death. The curtain in the temple separating the people from the Holy of Holies tore in two from top to bottom, signaling that Yahusha had made provision for human beings to be holy and receive the Ruach once more. The Ruach no longer had to be separated from them, dwelling only between the cherubim on a mercy seat that had been sprinkled with the blood of animals. Because of Yahusha’ ultimate blood sacrifice, the Ruach could once more be at home within human beings, giving them direct access to the King.




The Goal of the King




The King’s desire to restore the Ruach HaQadesh to humanity, therefore, is what made the entire redemptive program of Yahusha Hamachiach necessary. The principle goal and primary purpose of Yahusha’ coming into the world was to deliver the Governor of heaven to the colony of earth. Everything else was a means to that end. He didn’t come to bring us to heaven. He came to bring heaven to earth. This is why our Master Teacher taught us to pray, in what we call The Most High’s Prayer, that the King- Father’s influence, will, intent, and laws be done on earth—the colony—as they are in heaven—the home country.




The Roman Empire as a Type of the Heavenly Kingdom




The best time in history for the concept of the heavenly kingdom to be fully communicated to the inhabitants of earth was during the time of the Roman Empire, and this is a major reason why the King-Son, the Messiah, was born at that time. It was not a random choice by the King; it was the perfect time. Paul wrote,




When the time had fully come, Yah sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, Yah sent the Ruach of his Son into our hearts, the Ruach who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, Yah has made you also an heir.




The structure and functioning of the Roman Empire (though not its moral nature) at the time of Yahusha served as a type of the kingdom of heaven. For those living under its rule in Palestine, the analogy would have been obvious. Caesar was the emperor or king in Rome, and he was a type of the heav- enly King.




Caesar sent Pilate to be his procurator or governor over the region of Judea, to oversee it and create the culture of the Roman Empire there. Similarly, Yahusha said that when he returned to the Father, the Governor would be released to earth, enabling the inhabitants to fulfill the will of the King on earth once more, making it into a replica of the kingdom of heaven. Yahusha told his disciples, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Ruach of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me,” and “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”




Political concepts familiar to the people of the time were present for them to come to understand that Yahusha was talking about the return of the Governor to earth to enable them to fulfill the will and work of the kingdom of heaven. Interestingly, Yahusha’ enemies recognized that his message was about a kingdom, not a “religion.” This kingdom demanded full loyalty to the King-Father through the King-Son. Because Yahusha’ enemies did not want to submit to the authority of the heavenly government, they sought to kill him. They told Pilate that Yahusha was a threat to the political order of the day, saying, “We have no king but Caesar.” In this way, they pressured Pilate into choosing between killing an innocent man and appearing to support a king other than Caesar. He caved to the pressure and allowed Yahusha to be crucified. He was responsible for his choice, even though Yahusha’ death was part of the heavenly restoration plan. Every person essentially faces the same choice. Allegiance to the kingdom of heaven does not allow for any person or anything to take the place of the King.




The Release and Reception of the Governor




After the King-Son’s life on earth, a process unfolded by which the Governor was given to his followers. First, of course, the Ruach HaQadesh dwelled within the body of Yahusha—the first human being to have the Ruach within him since Adam and Eve. When Yahusha died on the cross, eyewitness and disciple John recorded that he “gave up his spirit.” Although this term can be a description for taking one’s last breath, I believe it also has a deeper significance here. The Greek word for “give up” means to “yield up.” Therefore, I think this term means that Yahusha also released the Ruach HaQadesh back to the Father in heaven at his death.




When Yahusha was resurrected, he was raised by the power of the Ruach, and the Ruach again dwelled in him. Paul wrote, “And if the Ruach of him who raised Yahusha from the dead is living in you, he who raised Hamachiach from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Ruach, who lives in you.” Just as the King-Son was raised from death by the Ruach, and the Ruach dwelled in him, those who enter the kingdom through the King-Son’s sacrifice will also receive the Ruach.




At Yahusha’ resurrection, then, the Ruach was now poised to return to humanity and rescue lives that had lived in rebellion, confusion, and despair under the kingdom of darkness. Just as the Ruach brought life out of emptiness and order from chaos at the creation of the earth, he would transform the earth once more into a colony of heaven through the return of the kingdom in the lives of its citizens.