The wonderful age of the kingdom of God on earth is the designated time when our Father shall put every enemy of Christ under His feet. Then, when every enemy is subdued and put under the feet of Christ, there will be no more sin, war, violence, injustice or trouble any where on earth. Instead of war and violence, there shall be peace; instead of inequity and unfairness, there shall be justice. Where there is hatred, malice and enmity, the love of God shall prevail. And where there is sin, corruption and immorality, the righteousness of Christ shall be manifest in all the earth. The Lord will do all this by the power of His Spirit - by reigning - and not by the carnal or religious works of man. The wonderful work of the Spirit shall be far greater and more glorious during this new Day than any time in the history of the world. And we are privileged to be the people that God shall use to fulfill His wonderful, kingdom purposes in the earth.

We have been prepared of the Lord for this new Day by the manifold work of the Spirit in our lives. Those who surrendered to the work of the Spirit in their lives are being chosen of the Lord to reign with Christ. Having learned the way of the Spirit, we are thus prepared to reign with him. Each step we have taken in God, was taken by the leading of His Spirit. When the Lord desired to reveal a new truth to us, He confirmed that truth to us through scriptures, earthly examples, or other means. We need not wonder if some new understanding we receive is the truth of God, for the Lord will always provide confirmation for us. For example, we have known for some time that our calling in God and our spiritual growth in Him was not something we were doing just for ourselves. But we knew we were walking an uncharted, spiritual path for the benefit of many others, as well as for our personal growth in God. We knew also that we were walking this kingdom path for the deliverance of the whole creation, which is a divine purpose to be fulfilled in due time.

That we are walking this kingdom path for the benefit of many others is clearly illustrated in Israel's crossing of the Jordan River. As soon as the priests put their feet in the overflowing waters of that river, the waters parted and stood on an heap, allowing the nation to cross over on dry ground. The priests were not to cross over to the other side immediately, but were told to stand in the middle of the river, as if to hold the waters open, until all the people had crossed over. (Jos. 3:14-17) What a wonderful illustration for us! We are not walking this kingdom path only for ourselves or for our personal gratification alone. But we must press on in the Spirit, ascending the high places in God, until we have attained to His fullness. Then, when we have reached the high place of His fullness, we shall fulfill the example left us when Israel crossed the Jordan. As the priests stood firm in the middle of Jordan's river bed until all Israel crossed over, so we shall stand fast until many others also have entered this new promised land.

The spiritually wise will also know that it is impossible for us to help others by remaining behind with the immature crowds in Christendom. They may not know it now, but they need deliverance - they desperately need help! And to help them, we must leave them for a season, even as Jesus left the multitudes for a season and took His disciples up a mountain to teach them the principles of the kingdom of God. (Mt. 5:1-2) It was because Jesus really "saw" the multitudes and their many needs, that He took His disciples up a mountain and taught them the principles of the kingdom. So also must we leave the multitudes for a season to go higher in God and learn the truths of His kingdom. When we have grown, progressed, and matured in God and in the glory of His kingdom, we will be able to show them the way out of religious bondage and into the greater glory of the kingdom of God. We may think we could free them of that bondage now, and maybe we could. But it is not enough to bring someone out of bondage. We must also show them something, by the Spirit, that is much better than what they left. The kingdom of God, not the old, defunct church order, is the only real answer to the many needs of mankind.

We are learning the new ways of God and His kingdom as we grow in God and progress in His kingdom. We are also learning that our service to mankind, as ambassadors of Christ with the ministry of reconciliation (2 Co. 5:18-20), is more of a spiritual service than it is a religious, or literal, physical work. Our calling in God is to do those "greater works" that Jesus said we would do, which can only be done in the Spirit and by the Spirit. Our service to mankind is accomplished in the heavenly realm of the Spirit, which is the source of all power and authority. Having ascended spiritually to the heavenlies, we shall receive the keys of the kingdom. Then, with the keys of the kingdom, whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Mt. 16:19) When anything carnal or evil is bound in heaven, it is totally bound on earth and eliminated forever, never to abuse or harm anyone anywhere again. And when anything is loosed in heaven, such as the lives of all mankind, they shall be loosed indeed, set free to live the Life of Christ in glorious fullness.

In the past age of the in-part works, we thought we could bind and loose things on earth with a simple command. We fasted and prayed, commanded, and called on God, to bind or loose something on earth. Maybe we even had the right motive. But we prayed and commanded, and bound and loosed, things on earth only. Yet, we did very little binding and loosing in the heavens, or in the realm of the Spirit. And unless things are bound or loosed, both on earth and in the heavens, there cannot be that complete 100-fold deliverance and victory. Therefore, we saw only the 30-fold or 60-fold deliverance at best. Now, Father is revealing a higher order and is showing us a better way. He is bringing us into the much better and more glorious 100-fold realm of greater kingdom fruitfulness. And He also is showing us how to do those "greater works."

Now, we are being linked with God in a greater way, by the Spirit. We are called to do those "greater works," with the authority to bind and loose things in the heavenlies, as well as things on earth. We are being more closely identified and associated with the heavenlies, or with the realm of the Spirit. We are becoming pillars in the temple of God, no longer going in and out of that heavenly, spiritual realm, but will have a permanent abiding place in Him. The name of God is being written upon us, also "the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." (Rev. 3:12)

According to this scripture, three names representing divine character and authority are given to the overcomers. The first is the name of our Father, the second is the name of the new Jerusalem city, and the third is the Lord's new name. The Greek word for "name" means authority and character. And that is what is being "written" upon us as His overcomers. It is not that we are given a different name, as many believe; but when these three names are written on us, we shall then possess the authority and the character that each name represents.

When we receive the name of God, we will have the authority and the character of our Father. As maturing sons of God, it is our right and privilege, which we earned through suffering and spiritual growth, to have the authority and the character of our Father. We are also heirs of God in Christ Jesus and kings and priests in His kingdom. As such, we also share the authority and the character of the new Jerusalem, as well as the Lord's new name. When the name of the new Jerusalem is written on our spirits and souls, we then have the authority and the character of that holy realm, which is the realm of all the obedient saints and sages of God from the past to the present. And when the Lord's new name is written upon us, we then have His character, His authority, including His creative authority, to do new, creative things in His name. It is far more significant and meaningful for us to have the authority and the character of our Father, in these three areas, than it is for us to simply be called by another name.

God is doing a complete work in us. He is thoroughly changing us from flesh to spirit, making us the overcomers He wants us to be. It is His plan and purpose to thoroughly cleanse and transform us. As He does this, we are losing our own identity and are taking on the identity of our Father, the characteristics of those in the holy new Jerusalem city, and the new, creative identity represented in His new name. When this work is completely fulfilled in us, we shall be fully identified with God and the realm of His Spirit. Then, we shall bind and loose things, both on earth and in the heavenlies. Then, multitudes shall be released from the many bondages that have bound them, and shall enter into the fullness of the kingdom of God, there to receive the benefits and blessings of His kingdom. That which God shall yet do may be beyond our limited understanding. Paul expressed this truth, when we wrote, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." (Eph. 3:20) The Lord is well able to do much more than we could possibly ask or think, according to our wildest imagination. And the power to do all this and more is within us!

When we receive the authority and character of our Father, that of the new Jerusalem, and the Lord's new name, as recorded in Rev. 3:12, we will then have been granted our adoption as fully matured sons of God. The path of sonship has three stages of growth, according to the life and growth of Jesus, the first Son and our example. Jesus was born as a babe to illustrate the great truth that we must begin our journey to sonship as a babe or "a little child." (Mt. 18:2) The Greek word used in this verse to illustrate our beginning as a babe is "teknion," meaning an infant. Although Jesus came from God, He was born as a babe to show that we must also begin our walk to sonship as a babe. Jesus made it clear that unless we become as a "teknion," or as an infant, we could not enter the kingdom.

Next, Jesus grew from the baby stage to adolescence. At the age of twelve, He was found in the temple discussing the things of His Father with the learned doctors, lawyers, and priests. Those who heard Him were amazed at His wisdom. But while Jesus was in the temple, about His Father's business, His parents left town without Him. When they discovered that He was not among their company, Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem to find Him. Finding Him still in the temple after a long search, His mother said to Him, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?" The Greek word for "Son" here is "teknon," meaning a child. He had grown from the baby stage to become an adolescent child. Because He was still a child, Jesus obediently remained subject to His parents. Yet He continued to increase in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. (See Lu. 2:41-52)

Having begun as a babe, Jesus grew to adolescence. Then the time came when He was to be recognized by His Father as a matured, full-grown Son with all the rights and privileges of His Father's Name.

It happened when John baptized Him. As Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit of God descended on Him like a dove, and rested upon Him. Then the Voice of the Father spoke from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mt. 3:17) This was the moment of His adoption. This was the ceremony at which the eternal Father openly proclaimed Jesus as His beloved Son. And this also is the Word we are waiting to hear from our Father. Only the Father can declare our sonship, for He alone is able to "see" into our lives and determine our spiritual state. Then, having been declared His beloved sons by our Father, we shall do His work in His Name, manifesting the glory of His presence. The Greek word used here for "Son" is "huios," and is used in the New Testament with reference to full-grown sons. (See Mt. 17:5, 2 Pe. 1:17) In due time, our loving, omnipotent and sovereign Father shall declare that we are His "huios" sons - fully matured and given all the rights, responsibilities, characteristics, and the authority of our Father's Name.

This is the fulfillment of John's vision-prophecy of Rev. 3:12. In his epistle, John shows that we are led of the Spirit through these three stages of growth. We begin as "little children," (1 Jo. 2:12), grow to become "young men," (1 Jo. 2:13), and then, being made one with our Father, we become "fathers," (1 Jo. 2:14), or "huios" sons, fully matured adults equal to our Father in His kingdom. When we become one with our Father, we fully know Him. John said, "I write unto you, fathers, because ye have KNOWN HIM that is from the beginning." (1 Jo. 2:14) To really know the Father is to have His mind; it is to know His ways and His will, and have His understanding.

Like Jesus, every one of us who are truly called to become sons of God are walking a similar path to the kingdom. We began as babes in Christ, grew to the adolescent stage, and are now awaiting our full sonship. Every step forward we have taken in spiritual growth was gained by enduring the tests and trials of the wilderness, or by the sufferings of Christ. When our Father disciplines us as He does, He is then treating us like His sons. (He. 12:6-8) He is then pressing us onward and upward to our goal of full sonship! Every bit of suffering we endure, whether a physical affliction, a financial test, a family problem, or another trial, should be considered another step up to the fullness of His glory, or to our sonship fulfilled. (Please read Romans 8:18-30, preferably the Phillips translation.)

The Lord is changing us from glory to glory, from earthly to heavenly, from terrestrial to celestial, from corruption to incorruption, from mortal to immortal, and from natural to spiritual. God is not doing a partial work with us, but He is doing a complete, total and comprehensive work to change us into His image and likeness. If we could view the vast, all-encompassing, sovereign work of our Father throughout all the universe, we would then see how minute and small we are in comparison. When we struggle with these fragile bodies, wondering why the Lord tests and tries us so, we may think that the work He is doing in us is insignificant when compared with the greater, universal work of God in His vast creation. I know I am but a speck of dust in His vast creation. Yet, Jesus turned our attention to the lesser creation, to the animals, birds, and plants, to show us the importance we have in His kingdom. For example, He reminded us of the birds. They do not plant, reap, or gather into barns. Yet, our heavenly Father feeds them all. Then Jesus said, "Are ye not much better than they?"

Jesus also wanted us to observe the lilies of the field, how they grow. He said, they toil not, neither do they spin. Yet, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Then He said, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you?" (Mt. 6:25-30) He told us not to take thought of what we would eat, drink, or wear. All the other nations and peoples of the world are unduly concerned about such worldly things, for they seek those things constantly. Our Father knows that we have needs, not only for the things of this worldly realm, but, what is more important, for the greater and more glorious things of the Spirit. As Paul has written, "For in this (body) we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven." (2 Co. 5:2) Our desire for ourselves is "that mortality might be swallowed up of Life." (Vs. 4) "Now He Who has fashioned us (preparing and making us fit) for this very thing is God, Who also has given us the (Holy) Spirit as a guarantee [of the fulfillment of His promise]." (Vs. 5, Amp.)

The Past Work of the Spirit Points to the Kingdom of God

Included among the many and varied functions of the Spirit in ages past has been the work of God to reveal His greater purposes in the kingdom of God. All the previous ages, along with God's purposes for each of those ages, have pointed and led to the kingdom of God, to be fulfilled in a greater way. The paths of the faithful patriarchs of the past, including the many covenants and conditions given by God to each of them, lead to and conclude in the kingdom of God. The form of worship revealed in the Old Testament was not the ultimate; nor is the Church the ultimate! But the true Church, which is the body of Christ comprised of sons of God, is the vehicle that God is using to lead to the greater fullness of the kingdom of God. Yet the kingdom of God is not the ultimate either; God is the ultimate; He is the highest, the preeminent and supreme One, into Whom all things, both in earth and in heaven, shall eventually be gathered. It is our Father's purpose that Christ shall reign until every enemy has been put under His feet, including death, the last enemy. Then, when every enemy is conquered, the kingdom shall be delivered up to the Father, that God may be all in all. (1 Co. 15:24-26)

The kingdom of God began within us as a mustard seed. The seed-life of His kingdom was planted within us when we accepted Christ as our Savior. If we have followed on to know the Lord, that kingdom seed within us is being nurtured by the power of the Spirit along with the anointed word of God, which we received by the faith of the Son of God. As we have obediently walked with the Lord, that kingdom seed has been growing within us ever since, and shall continue to grow until the power of the kingdom of God within us shall burst forth into a new and greater Life.

The power of the kingdom of God is such that Christ dwells within us to reign as King within, fully occupying us until we are changed to become all that God and His kingdom is. As we progress and grow in God, so also does the kingdom of God within us grow and expand until He consumes every part of us, changing us, and replacing the old nature within us with the new nature of Christ in His fullness. As the nature of Christ is love, peace, life, and righteousness, so we become all that He is, including all His many wonderful attributes. As a plant grows from a seed, it develops in stages "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." So is the kingdom of God! (Mk. 4:26-28) The kingdom of God, that was planted as a seed in our lives by the Spirit, grows from the seed stage, to the blade stage, then to the ear stage, and after that to the full corn in the ear stage, until He occupies the whole of our being. It is impossible to see the kingdom of God as something that is dormant and inactive, for the nature of the kingdom is to grow and increase until He occupies the whole.

The late George Hawtin wrote of these stages of growth of the kingdom of God. He wrote of its\His beginning as a seed within us, which has been growing to maturity within us. Then He wrote of the thousand-year age of the reign of Christ in the earth to put every enemy under His feet. He also wrote of a full-grown kingdom that has swallowed up everything of earth and the heavens, recreating the earth and the heavens to become that new earth and new heavens wherein dwelleth the righteousness of Christ. Of the kingdom within, Brother Hawtin wrote, "The kingdom of God begins within you on that day when Jesus Christ is first invited to enter your heart. In the day you repent of your sin, particularly the sin of unbelief, even that very hour Jesus Christ, the Savior of all men, becomes your personal Savior, bringing into your heart then and there the redemption purchased for all men through the blood of His cross. The work of salvation is wholly of God.

"Though the work of salvation is wholly and entirely of the Lord, we can never absolve ourselves from personal responsibility and faithfulness to God. While redemption is wholly of the Lord and "we are God's workmanship," yet it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. 1 Cor. 4:2. To what extent the reign of Jesus Christ and the glory of His kingdom shall increase and prosper within us will depend upon the kind of loving co-operation and submission He finds in our hearts. Our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our King, means absolutely everything, both now as He reigns within us and in the age to come when He grants us a place in His throne.

"As the protoplasm contains within its minute cells the very essence of that life which is to be, so the kingdom of God within you, infinitesimal in its smallness, contains within itself every essence of that vast universal kingdom to come. We must rightly conclude, therefore, that all things spoken of the kingdom of God within us will later be carried out in greater fullness still when at last that kingdom embraces the universe. Conversely, then, it must also be true that all things spoken of the vast universal kingdom of God equally apply to the kingdom of God which as a tender plant has taken root within us.

"We who were once dead in Adam have been already made alive in Christ. He who is alive forevermore has become my life and now He who sits upon the throne of my life must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. I do not ask you to struggle with those arch-enemies of yours - the world, the flesh, and the devil - but I do beseech you to yield the kingdom which you are to Jesus Christ, the King, that He may destroy these enemies from within you and reign on the throne of the kingdom of God within you until He has put all enemies under His feet. Your greatest enemy is not the devil; it is your own flesh. If men did not love their flesh so much, the devil would have no power at all in their lives. You will find men and women who claim to hate the devil and all he stands for, but no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it. Yet it is the flesh that lusts against the Spirit of Christ!

"The flesh unceasingly wars against the Spirit of the King and His kingdom that is within you. Just as the forces of evil and wicked-ness in the world in hate and envy proclaim, "We will not have this man to rule over us," even so the flesh, desperately striving to revive the corrupt nature of Adam within you, would push Christ from His throne and reign in His stead. It is never our striving against the evils of the flesh and the world and the devil that counts for anything at all; the Christ within us would make short shift of them, but we have the wretched habit of failing to yield these evils to the King. Yea, we protect and excuse them until our wilfulness calls forth the rod of iron. We cannot overcome our enemies ourselves. Christ alone can put them under His feet. Our responsibility is to yield ourselves to God that He may reign. It is the civil wars that rage in the kingdom within that hinder the work of God, closing fast our eyes to understanding and shutting up the gates of revelation, experience, and growth in Him." (End of quote.)

How wonderful are the hallowed truths of the kingdom of God within us! Even more wonderful is the blessed truth that the reign of Christ within us shall continue to increase, as the kingdom of God increases (Is. 9:7), until every enemy within us has been put under the feet of Christ. Only as Christ is given absolute control of our lives to fulfill His will, as well as full authority to reign within us, can all our own individual enemies be fully conquered. The great truth of the kingdom of God, whether it is the kingdom within us or the kingdom in the vast universe outside of us, is that "He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under his feet." (1 Co. 15:25) So we shall keep Christ on the throne of our lives, allowing Him to reign within us until He has put all enemies under His feet, and the throne of Christ and the power of the kingdom of God within has triumphed over all else in our lives. And since the kingdom of God within us shall ultimately triumph over every one of our individual enemies, we have the assurance that His kingdom shall also triumph over every other enemy in the whole universe all around us and outside of us, in the fullness of time.

The kingdom of God began in the hearts and lives of the Lord's elect. When Christ fully reigns in our lives, as I believe He now does, we then have no will of our own. Our only desire now is to do the will of our Father. Then the kingdom of God extends to the world around us, to begin the blessed age of the dominion of Christ, the age that has just begun. That there are ages (Greek, "aion" or "genea") of time in the purposes of God is an established truth, revealed to the elect by the Spirit of the Lord. (See Ge. 1:5, 8, 13, 14, 19, 23, 31, also Ecc. 3:1, Eph. 2:7, 3:5, 21, Col. 1:26) That there was to be a "church age," and a "kingdom age," or a thousand-year period of the reign of the kingdom of God on earth, are well established truths, which also were revealed by the Spirit.

There is no Biblical record that the Lord ever named the ages of time. But God created the ages of time for man's benefit, and then set forth His purpose for each of those ages before the world began. (2 Tim. 1:9, Tit. 1:2) By the revelation of the Spirit, the Lord's anointed messengers came to understand God's purpose for each age, and then named them accordingly. Although there is an age called, "the kingdom age," the kingdom of God cannot be limited or confined to an age. The kingdom of God is much more than an age; His kingdom is the realm of the eternal, limitless and Almighty God!

Brother Hawtin wrote of the thousand-year period we call the kingdom age many years ago. "The dispensation of the kingdom of God is very, very near, even at the door. The hour to which we have come is all important. Let not your lamp be depleted of its oil lest you hear the Savior say, `Could ye not watch with Me one hour?' The kingdom of God is the purpose and focal point of all previous dispensations. Jesus said that the kingdom was prepared from the foundation of the world. Matt. 25:34. All previous dispensations with all the beauty and power of their truth are combined in the glory of the kingdom of God. Awaken, then, and sleep not lest its morning come upon you unaware!

"The signs of the end of this age (of the church) abound on every hand. Every sign that heralds the end of this age is at the same moment the swift and glorious harbinger of the kingdom of God in the earth. While confusion is consuming the world and the vast majority of professing Christians are falling in line with it, the kingdom of God is coming to the fullness in the hearts of God's elect. The kingdom of God without and in the earth is now at hand. Everywhere you look the kingdoms of this world are falling to pieces. The feet of iron and clay are smitten. Soon we shall hear the triumphant cry, `The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign unto the ages of the ages.' Amen.

"The world, which for six thousand years has endured the ever increasing injustice and inequity of the rule of man, is soon to see a change so unbelievable in its glory and magnitude that even he that seeth it will scarcely believe it. For centuries and dispensations the world has been blighted by the government of the carnal mind until the confusion and disorder has become so great that men's hearts fail them for fear and for looking after the things that are coming upon the earth. But the long, long night of sin and misrule is nearing its end, for the sabbath of the dispensations draweth nigh - that seventh dispensation in God's order, which is the millennial sabbath. For in six days God made the heaven and the earth and all that in them is, and on the seventh day He rested from all His work of creation.

"Those six days of work and labor represent the six thousand years of man's travail under the misrule of the carnal mind, to be followed by a thousand year sabbath day of rest in which all the former things will have passed away and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever (or, for the age). The zeal of the Lord of hosts with perform this. Is. 9:6-7.

"What a glorious day for all the world and all the inhabitants thereof will be this millennial day when Christ shall reign! And how much more glorious will it be for those saints who, having suffered with Him through the ages of darkness and travail, will now reign with Him in love and peace that the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters now fill the seas. Then no man shall ever say, `Know the Lord', for in that day all shall know Him from the least to the greatest. Thus has the Lord revealed that in preparation for the increase of His government He has mightily increased the Governor in that through trial and affliction He has perfected a vast family of sons that they through Christ as one body in God may be able to take the kingdom and reign with Him for one thousand years." (End of quotation.)

It should be clear to us all that the dominion of the kingdom of God is manifest in stages. It began in our lives as Christ reigned on His miniature throne within us, to rule and reign in us and over us until every enemy within us is put under the feet of Christ. Then, the kingdom of God progresses to encompass an age of time during which Christ shall reign over all the earth to put every enemy in the earth under the feet of Christ. God is eternal and is not subject to time! Yet He created the ages of time for man's benefit, due to man's inability to receive any revelation of God immediately, without preparation. Time helps prepare us to receive from God. To show the importance of TIME in the purposes of God, Paul clearly tells us that Jesus was born and came to earth "when the fulness of the TIME was come." (Ga. 4:4) When Christ, both Head and body, will have fully reigned in the earth, and the fullness of the TIME has come, all enemies everywhere in all the earth will be defeated. Then the whole earth and everything in it and of it will be blessed with the love, peace, justice, life, and the righteousness of Christ. The reign of Christ shall then cover the whole earth, giving Him world wide dominion, and changing this old earth into the glory of the new earth, by His Spirit.

Brother Hawtin also wrote of this world wide dominion: "The intention of a world wide kingdom was in the omniscient mind of the omnipotent Lord from the very beginning. Adam, created and made in the image of God, was given dominion over the whole earth. He was to have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowls of the air, and every living thing that moved upon the face of the earth. It is clear also that this dominion was not to be given to Adam alone, but to all his posterity. Therefore the plural word is used, `Let them have dominion.' Gen. 1:26." (End of quotation.)

The kingdom of God is a realm in God far beyond the carnal or natural understanding of any one of us. We need the mind of Christ to help us understand just a portion of that kingdom which shall conquer all enemies and cover the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. If, in God's great plan of redemption, it should be His purpose to extend His kingdom to the far reaches of space, as I believe it may be, then we should attempt to understand this also, not with the carnal mind but with the wisdom of the mind of Christ. Brother Hawtin also included this aspect of the kingdom of God, when he wrote: "I am sure, from the unfolding revelation of scripture, that His kingdom will expand and fill the whole earth and finally the entire universe as well. The vastness of the heavens, teeming with rock strewn planets and stars, now keep their lonely night vigil, waiting like mother earth for the times of the restitution of all things, even the day when the Lord will restore and make the heavens new and the kingdom of God will spread from earth into the vastness of the limitless universe." (End of quotation.)

There will be no end to the revealed truths of the kingdom of God! Indifferent, aimless Christians care little for the truth of God. But those who shall reign with Christ should come before their Father regularly, and in repentance, seeking to learn more of Him and His kingdom. Instead of resting on our laurels, maintaining the status quo in our lives and in the purposes of God, and dwelling on the negative things of this world, we ought to vow to learn more about the Lord and His universal kingdom of light, love, justice, peace, and righteousness. If we have any prayer to pray, let it be: "My Father, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth - in my earth and in the earth all around me - even as your will is being done in the heavens of your Spirit." And, more important than our own needs and the needs of those around us, this should be our second most urgent prayer: "My Father, teach me some new truth regularly. Let me sit at your feet and learn of You and Your Kingdom. I believe I am called to reign with Christ in Your throne, and I realize my need of that wisdom that only comes from your omniscient mind. Open my eyes that I may fully see this Day and your kingdom purposes now being fulfilled all around us. Amen."

Kingdom Truths Revealed in the Parables of Jesus

There is a wonderful truth regarding the kingdom of God that we should add to all we have written up to this point. And that truth is this: the kingdom of God completely overwhelms anything and every-thing within its sphere of influence, changes it, and raises it to a higher realm in God. Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." (Mt. 13:34) The kingdom of God is the realm of the purity, the holiness, and the righteousness of God. The leaven of this parable consists of all these attributes of the kingdom of God, including all that God is. When yeast is mixed into bread dough, the yeast induces fermentation, causing the dough to raise, thus changing the chemical structure of that bread dough. And when the leaven of the kingdom is mixed into anything else, such as our lives, that kingdom leaven shall then change us by imparting the purity, the holiness, and the righteousness of God into every fragment of our lives. The leaven of the kingdom of God in our lives thus changes us and transforms us into the image and likeness of Christ. If you have nurtured the kingdom seed that was planted in your heart and life by the Spirit of God, receiving the word of God and the anointing of His Spirit regularly, you shall surely be changed into His image and likeness! The anointing of the Spirit and the kingdom leaven within assures us that this is the way it shall be!

Furthermore, when the leaven of the kingdom of God is mixed into the earth, including not only our earth, but all the many parts of this planet earth, everything the kingdom touches or influences shall also be changed. We have had the leaven of the kingdom of God within us since we were begotten of God. And that kingdom leaven has been actively working within us to change and restore us. Therefore, we shall be recreated and made new by the power of God inherent in the leaven of the kingdom of God! So also shall the whole earth and all the heavens be changed! And so also shall time and the ages of this world be changed!

Just as the kingdom of God overwhelms, overpowers and changes every part of our lives, and also the whole earth, the heavens, and everything it/He touches; so the kingdom of God shall overwhelm and change the ages of time. When the kingdom of God fully embraces and possesses time and the ages, as it surely shall, time and the ages shall cease to exist. The kingdom of God will then have transformed time and the ages of this world. And when time and the ages of this world are overpowered and transformed by the power of the leaven of the kingdom of God, the timeless and limitless expanse of eternity shall then begin.

While in the Spirit, John saw an angel lift up his hand to heaven and sware..."that there should be time no longer." (Rev. 10:6) Most translations show this phrase to be a delay of time, or "there should be no more waiting or delay." (Amp.) Compared to eternity, or to the eternal now, time is that which delays the fulfillment and execution of Father's purposes in the earth. God created time and the ages for man's benefit, to allow for man's processing or preparation, which is necessary to receive from God. In Biblical history, the Lord generally allowed forty years in which to process and prepare His people for the next revelation or manifestation of His plan and purpose.

The writer to the Hebrews clearly and distinctly pointed out the "sundry times" in which God spoke to His people. He "spake in time past," and He also hath spoken "in these last days." (He. 1:1-2) And the word the Lord spoke in times past is very different from the word He is speaking now in these days of kingdom restoration. Thus we can see that God created time and the ages. And then He revealed Himself and His purposes to His people in a different way in each period or age. We should also understand the necessity of "rightly dividing the word of truth" as that word applies to each age or period of time. We can also see that in our own lives we generally want God to hurry up and do with us very soon what He has purposed to do. We soon get tired of the waiting. But time and the preparation which time affords are necessary for us to receive from God.

Were it not for the processing and preparation inherent in time, we would receive the seed of the word of God as on "stony places." "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon (immediately) with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself (gained through the tests and trials of time), but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended." (Mt. 13:20-21) If the Lord's purposes for us seem to be delayed, it is due to the greater wisdom of God. He knows our frame and understands our need of tribulation and the tests and trials inherent in time, which are necessary to prepare us to receive the seed of His word. Let time then be your faithful and obedient servant! Take advantage of time and use it wisely! Time serves us by allowing us to be processed and prepared for that which God shall do VERY SOON for His people, and ultimately for the whole world and the entire creation!

Time may be considered that which delays the fulfillment of God's purposes on earth, which then allows us to grow spiritually, enabling us to walk with God with the speed of the moving of His Spirit. When the angel lifts up his hand to heaven and swears that there shall be a delay of time no longer, he is actually declaring an end to time. Time, with all its delays and accompanying trials, will end by the power of the kingdom of God. When the age of the kingdom of God comes to fullness, time and the ages shall then be embraced and possessed by the kingdom of God. Then time and the ages shall eventually be eliminated and swallowed up into the eternal present with God. But not until the kingdom of God has been delivered up to the Father, and God has become all in all (as in 1 Co. 15:24), will time and the ages cease to exist. It is impossible for time and the ages to exist in God, for He is timeless and eternal. When all things are delivered up to God, and He has become all in all, time and the ages must cease to exist, for God dwells in and IS the timeless and eternal NOW. All things everywhere shall then become as He is, for He is the eternal and timeless "I AM!" Selah: pause and calmly think of this!

The parables of Jesus fully illustrate and declare the power and the glory of the kingdom of God. Jesus said, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." (Mt. 13:44) The kingdom of God is the treasure, while the field is the world. (Vs. 38). The treasure of the kingdom includes those who have been apprehended of the Father, yet being hidden in the field of the world. And Jesus is the "man" of this parable.

Seeing the treasure in the field, Jesus joyfully sold all He had, divesting Himself of the glory of His exalted, heavenly state. He obediently and gladly left "the ivory palaces" of His heavenly, spiritual throne to come to earth to die for the sins of the world. But notice: Jesus did not die for the "treasure" alone. Most Christians erroneously believe that they and they alone (as the "treasure") shall be saved, while the rest of mankind are sentenced to burn forever. But Jesus sold all He had, by leaving His heavenly estate and coming to earth to die as a common criminal, in order to buy the whole field of the world. This parable shows us very clearly that our Father's purpose in redemption is to save the whole field, or to save the whole world.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world (age): the angels (messengers) shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Mt. 13:47-50) Here, the kingdom of God is compared to a net that was cast into the sea, bringing into it everything of every kind. Nothing was left out of this net, just as nothing is left out of the kingdom of God. The "good" that was in the net was gathered into vessels, while the "bad" was cast into a fiery furnace.

The kingdom net is that which gathers into itself every person of every nation on earth. Not one person is left out of this kingdom net. Having been gathered into the kingdom net, the "good" of mankind are put into vessels, while the "bad" part of mankind are cast into the fire of the Lord's presence. With the wisdom of the mind of Christ, we can now see that the bad part of all mankind is the sinful, Adamic nature, and the mind and body of old Adam, which is in all of us. The good part of mankind is that which remains when the bad part is removed. In the fullness of time, the messengers of the Lord shall come forth to separate or "sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

All mankind must be brought into the "net" of the kingdom of God just as they are. Then, when all mankind are gathered into the kingdom net, the messengers of the Lord shall separate the old, Adamic nature and mind (or, the bad) from every one of them, leaving only the good part of redeemed man, which is the spirit and the soul. The "bad" part, or the "wicked" souls, are then cast into the furnace of the Lord's fiery presence to be purified and changed. The "wailing and gnashing of teeth" suggests that the fleshly, Adamic bodies are also cast into the fires of the Lord's presence, to be changed, transformed, and raised to a higher level, bringing forth new bodies after the image and likeness of Christ. Thus the kingdom of God is that power that takes every-thing everywhere into God, changes it, raises it to a higher realm, and brings forth the likeness of God in all that once was corrupted and defiled by old Adam. And what a "blessed hope" this is! (Ti. 2:13-14)

Paul and Emily Mueller

P O BOX 25055, PORTLAND, OR 97298-0055