Greetings;
Flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). We do have flesh and blood though, don’t we? I am flesh and blood, but I want the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). The kingdom of God is not a natural kingdom, but when it is manifested within us it affects even the natural things of our lives. It doesn’t come by what we see in the natural, but when we embrace the power of Christ’s kingdom within us it brings God’s influence into our everyday worlds. When Jesus was fulfilling the law, the kingdom of God was at hand, but now by the power His grace it is made alive within us.
Luke 17:20, 21 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
If the kingdom of God is within, shouldn’t there be some form of inheritance today? There is an inheritance that comes from the kingdom of God that is within us. That kingdom within us has the power to affect the things of our lives in both spiritual and natural ways. The authority of the kingdom of God within us will influence the practical areas of our daily lives. God wants us to bring the influence of heaven into earth. He wants His kingdom to come and His will to be done upon the earth as it is in heaven. This is a daily reality and a continual advancing and maturing process in our lives.
The glory of a king is everything that is in his kingdom. King Jesus owns all of creation: visible and invisible. Flesh and blood can’t inherit the kingdom of God, but we have the power of Christ’s Spirit within us that the inheritance of God in our lives might come by the power of His Spirit and even effect the things in the natural areas of our lives. God’s kingdom is the kingdom affecting our flesh, but it is not the kingdom of seeking the life of self. It is the kingdom of His glory. When we live for God and for the wellbeing of others we are living for the kingdom of God. The power to walk that out is hidden within the power of Christ within us. The life of Christ within us empowers us to live for God and the wellbeing of others. This is a spiritual reality, but it is seen in things that appear to be spiritual and in things that appear to be natural in our lives.
If you hate who you are, you will never be able to be who you are destined to be tomorrow. There is a glory of who you are today. We are earthly and of the spirit. We are born of the water (natural) and born of the Spirit. It is these two things together that make us spiritual (spirit-natural) beings. Authority is in the present and not meant to be a mere promise of the future. It is present and progressive in all that we are and do.
The former glory is not the glory of today, nor is the future glory the glory of today. There is a glory of the earthly and to neglect or reject who you are today is a denial of who you are today. The earthly is today and the heavenly is to come. In the process of our journey there is a continued increase in the mix of these two values in our lives.
Did Jesus establish the heavenly seed in the earthly domain? Can we have dominion in the kingdom of God today? Flesh and blood cannot inherit it, but one must be born of the water and of the Spirit in order to inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus was both born of a woman and born of God. We too must be born of a woman and born of God. We must embrace who we are naturally and we must embrace the power of God’s Spirit in our natural lives. We must be ‘spiritual’ (spirit-natural) beings in order to have authority in life.
Psalms 8:4-6 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet…
Our dominion in life comes through an earthly seed and a heavenly one. We must be both natural and spirit in order to bring the authority of heaven into the natural world in which we live. Jesus did all of this. He was a firstborn of a full harvest of spiritual humanity in the earth. He was the firstborn of a race of new creations in Christ. He was both natural and Spirit! He was faithful in the carpenter shop of Joseph and in the harvest fields of His heavenly Father.
Jesus was approached by a Jewish teacher name Nicodemus, in regard to the power of His life. Jesus responded by revealing to Nicodemus that the power of His life had to do with who He was, not what He did. He told him that unless he was born again he could not see the kingdom of God, therefore, he could not understand all that Jesus did (Jn. 3:1-17).
To exercise the authority of the kingdom of God we must first be able to see the kingdom. One must be born again to see the kingdom of God (J. 3:3). Once you see it, you can receive the power to lay hold of it. You are given the right to become a child of God that progressively walks in the authority of the kingdom of God. When we walk in the authority of who we are as sons and daughters of God, we manifest His authority in the things of our lives. Things without the righteousness, peace, and joy of God are just things and not the kingdom of God, but things are part of the kingdom of God because God is the creator and things are part of creation. God doesn’t hate things, but without righteousness, peace and joy things are nothing. Being born again allows earthly creatures to see into the heavenly, but unless we are born of the water and of the Spirit we cannot enter the kingdom of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
God has reserved the entrance to the kingdom of God to new creations. They must be born of the flesh and born of the Spirit. To have the authority to subdue and have dominion upon the earth one must be a human being. We were created in the likeness and the image of God as men and women in the earth. We must embrace who we are: spirit, soul, and body. We must like who we are: spirit, soul, and body. Being natural is not bad; it is the means by which we manifest the power of God’s spirit to the natural world in which we live. The blood is the life of the flesh (Lev. 17:11), but God’s Spirit is the life of redeemed mankind as they manifest the will of God in the natural world in which they live. We must seek to be flesh and spirit, not mere beings of flesh and blood. We are natural beings who are empowered by God’s Spirit, led by God’s Spirit, and manifest God’s Spirit in all that we are and do. Jesus poured out the life of the flesh so that we could have the fullness of the life of the Spirit in our natural place of standing in this life and in the life to come. We can experience the life of the Spirit in all of our natural circumstances.
Eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent and it starts in an earthly house. In Christ, we are connected to God today and forever. A glory is coming into our lives, that far exceeds anything we have ever known, but we also have a glory of God in our lives in every step of our journey. Authority is not based upon who we are destined to be. Authority is based on who we are. Are you glad to be who you are or are you waiting to be someone else?
When we became born again we were no longer men of dust but also men of the heavenly. There is a glory in the vessel of dust and the heavenly. When you hate your earthly seed there is no glory. You are earth and heaven, both are good, both are necessary. To hate the earthly and focus on death with the hope of heaven is missing the glory of the seed. Are you glad to be who you are or are you waiting to be something else? If you are waiting to be something else you are missing the glory of the seed of who you are today. Being content, confident, and committed to be who you are will end all frustration. You will see the kingdom of God. Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit will prevail in your spirit, flood your soul, and inspire your life in all that you are and do.
Jesus established a heavenly dominion in an earthly vessel when He became the heavenly seed in an earthly vessel. He became the Son of Man the Son of God so that we could be sons and daughters of God while manifesting His kingdom and will in the world in which we live!
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Thank you pastor Ted for this: “When we walk in the authority of who we are, we are sons and daughters of God, we manifest His authority in the things of our lives. Things without the righteousness, peace, and joy of God are just things and not the kingdom of God, but things are part of the kingdom of God becuase God is the creator and things are part of creation. God doesn’t hate things, but without righteousness, peace and joy things are nothing.” “We can experience the life of the Spriit in all of our natural circumtances.”
Having recently moved, my life is fuller than I am used to of long ‘to do’ lists and many natural ‘things’ consume my energy, like a garage full of boxes, decorating, decisions, decisions, decisions. I am adjusting to a whole new ‘rythm’ of life, after moving from a home & property I lived in for 26 years! This has bothered me and I’ve wrestled with the ‘less spiritual’ consumption of time & energy. I am finding my way, with God, learning to bring my relationship with Him into all the details of my new daily existence. You’ve put fresh words and meaning into this quest – THANK YOU.