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BACKGROUND
Kingdom of God
KINGDOM OF GOD, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Heaven
HEAVEN.
The
full background to this teaching is available online at this link
For Serious Students
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Online links to scriptures (New International Version [NIV] unless otherwise stated) are shown in blue
| THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD |
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 In the church, when we think of ‘eternity’, our mind is automatically programmed to think of the future.
This has come about because we have been taught that ‘heaven’, which we consider to be the kingdom, is somewhere we will go when we die, or be zapped up to when persecution comes, and live forevermore in magnificent mansions, sited on streets paved with glistening gold, attended to by fluffy white angels, where we will live with Jesus in perfect peace and joyous harmony, forevermore! An eternal 5 star hotel in the sky!
Alright, I may be exaggerating a little, but you get the idea, I am sure. The kingdom is a place of eternal rest that we aspire to enter at some time in the future.
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 But is this traditional teaching of the church correct?
I trust that as we proceed through this teaching, our current paradigms will be challenged and embark on a voyage of discovery together to learn of some of the immense dimensions of the kingdom that encompass the past, present and future, all bound into one.
To commence our study we need to obtain an understanding of what, for many of us, is the curse of our existence, and that is, time, or rather, the shortage of it! For the boundaries time places on us are at the very heart of our current perceptions and misunderstandings about the kingdom of God.
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| A MATTER OF TIME |
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 One thing I have discovered in God over the years is that He is not bound by time. Time is a curse of sin! Before Adam and Eve crunched on their delicious (New Zealand - yes, we now have a crunchy variety here called Eve!) apple, there was no need for the concept of a beginning and an end - the foundation of time. They would never grow old, living for eternity in the perfect paradise that was the Garden of Eden, communing with God.....
Genesis 3:8
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 Time, as we understand it, was totally irrelevant.
Was there any pressure then, to get things done today? Or was it the perfect situation for the procrastinators amongst us! These musings are outside the square, or perhaps, completely ridiculous!
Seriously though, with sin came death, and suddenly, our days were, and remain, numbered. Time, because it is a limited quantity, assumes vital importance to us. Particularly so, as very few of us know how much of it we actually have left!
So our human thought patterns are shaped and limited by time. For us, everything has a beginning and an end, with varying lengths of time between the two. Therefore we cannot truly fathom eternity.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
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 We can only understand eternity through the limited concept of time, following time, infinitely. But actually, eternity is timeless. It is without time. No watchmakers there!
We have the concept, influenced much by the wonderful descriptions of Revelation, that we will float on clouds with angel wings, worshipping God for ever and ever. That is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (how about Leap year?), year in and year out, forever. Yet, although I cannot understand it, I do not believe that this will be the case. Our thinking here is limited by our ingrained limitation of time. In eternity, time does not exist. Eternity then, will be completely different to what we expect.
Take, as a limited, human example, air. We give no thought to the air we breathe, the first essential of life, until we are placed, say in an airtight room, where we know the air will run out! Then it becomes hugely important to us! What was previously unimportant becomes life limiting!
In eternity, time won't simply be abundant, by definition, it won't exist.
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 So what is the point of all this?
While we look at life through the colored spectacles of time, of a past, present and future, God doesn't. For us time is a line, with a beginning and an end. For God time is more like an eternity symbol. And He can be at any and every place on it, all at the same time! For God there is no past present and future, as there is for us. This understanding can, for example, help us better understand the concept of predestination, for in God all time is as one. While this may all sound theoretical, it is of huge importance in understanding the things of God. For in God, past, present and future are all one.
Take, for example, 'salvation'. We look to our salvation as having taken place at a specific time on a certain day. Once saved, always saved, is the logical but incorrect theology that arises from this. For, in God, the day of our first salvation is but the first day. From then on we are being saved as we live our life and we will continue to be saved, if we remain in obedience to Him, for the remainder of our life on earth and throughout eternity. Incidentally, we will not avoid persecution either, in end times, as Jesus says here. Again, we must hold firm to our salvation to be saved.
Mark 13:5-13
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 Another interesting example is prophecy. We, in our Western mindset, look at prophecy as having a single fulfillment. Yet the Jewish viewpoint is different. For the Jews, prophecy has ongoing fulfillment. It can be fulfilled in different ways, generation after generation. Imagine if we viewed the Book of Revelation in that way. All our 'pre-s' and 'post-s' could be true! Now, that is something to muse upon!
However, getting back to the 'kingdom of God', the same situation applies. In God's eyes and way His kingdom is not past, is not present, is not future. It is all of these at the same time!
That is enough to ponder upon for one week - for me anyway!
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| <i>NEXT WEEK:</i> A REVELATION OF... THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD continues |
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 We look at the kingdom, past and future.
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| A NOTE FROM DAVID |
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 There are traditions of the church that we blithely accept without questioning. Kingdom future teaching is one of these.
May we truly desire to seek out the truth that God is now revealing about His kingdom in the present day. This surely will both galvanise and revolutionise the church in this end time age.
BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY
The Coins of Jesus' Time
Coin of Tiberius, AD14-37, AR Denarius. Bust rt/PONT MAXIM, 'Livia' seated rt. as Pax holds branch.
This is the "Tribute Penny" These coins would have been in circulation throughout Jesus' adult life. This would have been the coin he held for his "render to Caesar" response.
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So until next week.......
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD!
His servant and yours
Learn more about us at...
www.wwj.org.nz/about.php
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A DAVID'S DOODLING
3. The foolish deny God; the wise acknowledge Him, while the godly experience their God.
David Tait
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Check
out the WWJ website for….
More David's Doodlings: www.wwj.org.nz/dd.php
Pets Rule!: http://www.wwj.org.nz/pets.php
The World's Greatest Groans: http://www.wwj.org.nz/groans.php
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