“The Kingdom of Heaven”! (Pt.2)

This is part two of the two part series of “The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven”! We left off in part 1 where [Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee];

Mark [shows Christ as Servant]:   1:14-15: Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the “gospel of the kingdom of God”, and saying, “The time (kairos’) [an occasion; season; opportunity; due time] is fulfilled [(plero’o) executed; verified; completed; accomplished] and the kingdom of God is at hand (nigh; in your reach):  repent (think differently) ye, and believe the gospel”.

We couldn’t talk about the “kingdom of heaven” without first talking about the “Kingdom of God”!

We found that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are one in the same.  That is because “kingdom” in Hebrew comes from different Hebrew root words mamlakah’ (dominion, the estate (rule) or the country (realm); royal; reign):  malak’ (to reign; ascend the throne; induct into royalty; king; queen; rule):   mamlakuwth’ (reign):  malkuwth’ (a rule; a dominion; reign; royal; realm; empire).  So they basically have the same meaning, “dominion; ruling; reigning; royalty; empire”:  and "kingdom" in the Greek is the root word basilei’a [royalty; rule or a realm; kingdom (of God); kingdom ((of heaven)]:  basileus’ (a foundation of power). Both are in relation to "power or ruling authority".

Heaven whether in (Hebrew - shama’yim) or (Greek – ouranos’) it is a (lofty, high, or elevated place).  This is where God dwells (resides) because He is the Most High God, and Kingdom is the power God rules with out of this elevated place.

Text:  Matthew [shows Christ as our King]: .

[Matthew chapter 3 John the Baptist (Christ’s forerunner) begins his ministry in Judea]: 

·         Matthew 3:1-2: In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea:  And saying, “Repent (metanoe’o) [change of mind; think differently; your thoughts must change] ye:  for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (nigh unto you; within your reach].

The KINGDOM of HEAVEN is automatically incorporated into the KINGDOM of GOD, so they are all one in the same as we learned in part one of the “kingdom of God”.   

Man is operating in the kingdom of heaven, yet it is God’s kingdom flowing through man so that man (male and female) can function in this elevated (heavenly) place as God’s representatives, or His ambassadors in the earth. 

·         Genesis 1:26: And God said, “Let us make man in our image (nature; protoplasm; embodiment], after our likeness (the ability to function in God's power):  and let them (male & female) have dominion (radah’) [tread down; subjugate; rule; prevail; reign] over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

Now that Jesus is come on the scene, He is now distributing this power to others:

·         Luke 10:19: Behold, I give unto you power (exousi’a) [ability] (privilege force; capacity; competency; mastery; liberty; freedom; superhuman; potentate; jurisdiction] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

These serpents and scorpions are not physical snakes slithering around on the ground, but those walking around on two feet.  Serpent in Greek is oph’is, meaning the idea of sharpness of vision; a snake (as a type of sly cunning [crafty; deceitful] artful malicious person; Satan].  Scorpion is skorpi’os, meaning to pierce (from its sting); a skeptic (a person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions; one who doubts the truth of the Gospel; a denial of rational belief).  Vipers in Greek is ech’idnah, an adder or other poisonous snake.  These are types of people that resist and come against the truth of the Gospel of God!  This is the same serpent (whisperer; deceiver) in Genesis 3 that deceived the Woman.  In Revelation he has grown into a “dragon”.

·         Matthew 23 (Jesus talking to the scribes and Pharisees):  vs 33: You serpents, you vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?

·         Revelation 12:9: And the great dragon was cast out, that old (aracha'ios) [original or primeval (of earliest times; ages)] serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world:  he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him.  

     He's called "old" because this is the same serpent (devil; Satan) that deceived the Woman (type of the church) in Genesis chapter 3.

D Dragon in Webster is defined as a mythical monster, usually shown as a large winged reptile breathing out fire.  This dragon in Revelation chapter 12 is not that kind of dragon.  In the Greek it's from the root word drak'on, meaning a fabulous (extraordinary) kind of serpent (whisperer; deceiver)[through the idea of capturing; to grasp; entrap]. The "great dragon" is the different systems (a set of things working together as parts of an interconnecting network) whether it's social, political, economical, or ecclesiastical [ideas; philosophies; vain deceit; traditions and teachings of men], that has God's people in bondage as Paul warns us of  in Colossians 2:8: Beware (take heed; discern clearly), lest any man spoil (sulagoge'o) [lead away as booty (spoils of war; plunder); seduce]; strip; rob] you through philosophy and vain (empty) deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

B  Back to Luke 10:19:

With this power (ability) that Jesus has given unto us, we are able to demonstrate the power (dunamis) [miracle working power] Acts 1:8 speaks of:  And you shall receive power (dunamis’) after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

·         Revelation 5:10: And hast made us unto our God kings and priests:  and we shall reign on (over) the earth.

 The good news in relation to the “kingdom of heaven” is that we don’t have to sail off to go anywhere to get to this “kingdom” as religion tells us, because the “kingdom is within us” (Luke 17:20-21) states: "The kingdom of God comes not with observation (ocular evidence):  neither shall they say, lo here or lo there"!  "For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you"!    We are God’s “kingdom” of “kings and priests” in the earth and we are one with Him in Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Ghost!! 

·         Revelation1:6: And he hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.  Revelation 5:10: And hast made us unto our God, kings and priests:  and we shall reign on (over) the earth.

·         1 John 4:17: As he is, so are we, in this world! 

Now that we know that “kingdom” is ruling and reigning by the power of God, we also know now that this elevated or high place this power flows out of is “heaven”.

Heaven is not off somewhere up in the sky beyond the blue as we’ve been told.  There are different levels of atmospheric pressures.  Starting from the lowest to the highest from Earth’s level, there is the troposphere [where airplanes fly]:  stratosphere [where the ozone, an unusual type of oxygen molecule, heats this layer as it absorbs energy from incoming ultraviolet rays from the sun]:  mesosphere [burns up most meteors and asteroids before they’re able to reach the earth’s surface]:  thermosphere [UV rays causes photoionization/photo-dissociation of molecules, creating ions:  it constitutes the larger part of the ionosphere]:  ionosphere [includes the thermosphere, parts of the mesosphere and the exosphere]:  exosphere [outermost region of a planet’s atmosphere].  The magnetosphere [is the magnetic part of the Earth’s atmosphere].   So beyond this is endless space.  This information is from NIWA – Taihoro Nukurangi - Education & training.  So with this information, my question to people that believe heaven is up beyond the blue, “Where up there is heaven”?

HEAVEN in Hebrew is the root word shama’yim, meaning to be lofty (towering; high; elevated; exalted).

HEAVEN in the Greek is ouranos’, meaning elevation; heaven (as the abode of God); happiness; power; eternity; (spec) the Gospel (the good news).

This tells us that “heaven” is that which is “above sea level”.  The “sea” being that which contains the conglomerate of multitudes, nations, and tongues of peoples in the earth that are confined (incarcerated; imprisoned) to systems of that which are governmental, economical, social,  ecclesiastical, etcetera (and the like).

·         Genesis 1:10: And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas.

·         Revelation 17:15: The waters which thou saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 

The “sea” is also known scripturally as the “deep” (an abyss or spirit prison).  Luke 8:26-39 [in the country of the Gadarenes, Jesus cast the devils out of Legion]: 

·         Vs 31: And they (the devils) besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.

This word “deep”, is from the Greek root word ab’ussos, meaning, depthless, (spec) (infernal) “abyss”; bottomless pit. 

·         Revelation 20:1-3: And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:  and after that he must be loosed a little season.

This “deep” is the place where the devil rules, a place of torment, misery, ignorance, sickness, poverty, death, that has a grip or grasp on God’s people.  And this “deep” isn’t down in the center of the earth, but it is circumstances and conditions that people are bound in right now.  It is a spirit prison that affects people emotionally, mentally, physically, socially, financially, across the board.  But Jesus said:  John 10:10:  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I am come that they might have life (Zoe) [eternal and everlasting], and that they might have it more abundantly.

·     Now take notice in Luke 8 that these were devils that had Legion bound and were asking Jesus not to send them into this place called “the deep”.  Now if the devils didn’t want to go there, why would people want to be there (in that state or condition of torment)?

·         Luke 8:32: And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain:  and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them.  And he suffered them. 

·         Vs 33: Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine and the herd, ran violently down a steep place into the lake and were choked.

The devils asked Jesus not to send them into the deep (Luke 8:31).

 In another scripture “they besought him much not to send them away out of “the country” (Mark 5:10).  This word “country” is from the root word (cho’ra) [the idea of empty expanse; room; space of territory; region] also (chas’ma) [to gape or yawn; a chasm (abyss) or vacancy (impassable interval); gulf].

Luke 8:  They (those devils) didn’t want to leave the country of the Gadarenes.  Numbers 32, Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manassah wanted to stay on this side Jordan and keep their possession or their inheritance in Gilead and many other cities they took.  But it was under the condition that they go over Jordan ahead of their brethren armed to help them possess their inheritance. 

·         Numbers 32:15: The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sun-rising.

Gad's name in Hebrew is guwd (goode), meaning to crowd upon; attack; invade; overcome:  and from gadad’, meaning to crowd; to gash (as if by pressing into); cut; gather together; assemble by troop; gather.  

Jacob blessed him in Genesis 49:19: Gad, a troop shall overcome him:  but he shall overcome at the last.  Gad’s blessing was mostly on the personal level and not lifted to true spiritual expression.  This is like many Christians, who are geared more to that which is natural or carnal, rather than those things which are spiritual.

·         Romans 8:6: To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Gilead, the place they remained in is from the root word galed’ (gal-ade’), meaning, heap of testimony; a witness. This is why we must “Let Christ’s mind be in us” (Philippians 2:5) so that we can think like Christ. Thinking in the higher realms of spiritual elevation (heavenlies) we’re able to take hold of and witness to what’s true, so that our spiritual mind can flow to the other quarters of our own individual earth , heart, soul, and body (the total man) which are the areas Jesus said we must love the Lord our God with (Mark 12:30), and cross over into our “promise land”, which is life, health, peace, immortality, dominion, authority and power, now, and not via a dirt grave. Don’t let your “Gilead” (testimony; witness) be that of carnality or fleshly.  Don’t allow the carnal mind to rule, because it can become “A city of them that work iniquity (awven’) [to exert oneself in vain; come to naught; nothingness; trouble; vanity; wickedness; affliction; evil] and are polluted (aqob – aw-kobe’) [fraudulent; crooked; deceitful] with blood” (Hosea 6:8).  What “blood”?  The “guilty blood of Adam” that had become contaminated through the deceit of the serpent's message that he partook of in Genesis 3:6-7.  But Jesus cleansed the “blood line” by shedding His “innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4) and took away the “guilty stain” and gave us eternal life!!

·         Romans 8:1: There is therefore now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Vs 2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

·         1 Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Jacob blessed Gad in Genesis 49:19: Gad, a troop shall overcome him:  but he shall overcome at the last.  Meaning the Gadarene’s never made it into the promise land and never became entangled with Judaism or religious order as Israel did, so they stayed on the border (perimeter) of the blessing and they never possessed all that God had for them.  God's total blessings comes to us through total obedience.  Same as today, there are those that have followed the systems of religion into that which they thought was and some still think is the promise land but have found themselves in bondage to the systems (structures; networks) of religious practices of men. 

In Mark 5:10, those devils besought Jesus not to send them away out into the country.

Country is the Greek word cho'ra, meaning an empty expanse; space; territory; region. It goes to another root word chas'ma, meaning to gape or yawn; a chasm (abyss or vacancy [impassable interval]; gulf.  

Anytime someone is "yawning" it usually denotes sleep, and this is where religion has many of God's people, "asleep", through vain deceit and traditions of men.  But it's time to "WAKE UP"!  Ephesians 5:14: Awake thou that sleep and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light (illumination[knowledge]).

This "country" (empty expanse; chasm (abyss or vacancy; gulf) is the same place "the lost son" in Luke 15:11-32 was in, when he left his father's house.  It's also the same place the "rich man" was in, being in hell in Luke 16:19-31) with the "great gulf" between him and Lazarus (Jesus).  These  places, "the deep, the far country, hell and the great gulf", are all places of torment (agony; suffering; pain; anguish; misery; distress; affliction; trauma; death; woe)!

·         Proverbs 14:12: There is a way that seems right to a man (iysh) [mortals; carnal and flesh mindedness; those in Adam], but in the end it leads to death.

Jesus didn’t say, that He was “a way”, but he said:  John 14:6: I am “the way”, the truth and the life! “The” makes the subject it is referring to definitive (conclusive; final; ultimate)!

·         Romans 8:6: To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  1 Corinthians 15:22: In Adam all die:  even so in Christ, shall all be made alive.

Those devils in Luke 8 that Jesus cast out of Legion, if they didn’t want to be confined to the torments of the systems of men, why should we want to. 

Jude 6: The angels who kept not their first estate were sons of God that followed the system (structure; organization; order) of religion of their day.  

·         Luke 11:49-51: Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:  that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple:  verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation. 

The same religious system (structure; organization; order) that caused the Adam race of people to fall in Genesis is the same system (structure; organization; order) that killed Jesus, and it’s the same religious system (structure; organization; order) that’s working against God’s people today!  Though the devil is bound in that religious system, when you and I (we) get out of the system we are free from those serpents, scorpions, devils, and Satan, terms Jesus Himself used in relation to those that came against Him.  

Once we’ve been delivered from the “religious systems (order; network) of men”, we’ve been pulled up out of the “deep” and raised above “sea level” into “heaven”, the higher places of spiritual elevation because we’ve been transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2).  We’re no longer thinking with the mind of men that Paul speaks of in Colossians 2:8, “Philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men, rudiments of the world, because we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), and are therefore “after (following; in the wake of) CHRIST”!  This is what’s called “being delivered from the power of darkness, and being translated (methis’temi) [transferred; removed] into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13), which is the kingdom of light!

That’s what "heaven" is, God hath exalted us up into this elevated place where He dwells and we are already there being in CHRIST!

·         Ephesians 2:6: And hath raised (sunegei’ro) [roused (from death) in company with, and has revived (quickened; refreshed; brought back; reestablished; restored; awakened] us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly (high; elevated) places “IN” CHRIST JESUS.  So when we are “in Christ”, we are already “in heaven”!

The “heavenlies” in the Greek is “epouran’ios”, meaning a high place.  Then it goes to ouranos’, which is elevation; heaven (as the abode of God); power; eternity; happiness; the Gospel (the good news).

Let me deal with “heaven  the abode [dwelling; establishment] of God” for a moment.

·         Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The “beginning” here does not denote a calendar date, but it is a “Person”, the Man Jesus the Christ:

·         Colossians 1:18: And he is the head of the body the church:  WHO is the beginning (arche’) [commencement or chief (in application of order time, place, or rank); first]: the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence (superiority; supremacy).

·         Revelation 1:8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ENDING, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty:  vs 17: I am the first and the last.

·         Revelation 3:14: And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God”.

Again I’ll say: Genesis 1:1, the “Heaven” was the [God or Spirit] aspect of Jesus:  St. John.1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The “Earth” was the [Man or flesh] aspect of Jesus:  St. John. 1:14: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

·         Genesis 2:1: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 

In God’s language, the “heaven” and the “earth” are in relation to people, not just where the sun, moon, stars, and planets are:  nor where the grass, rocks, and trees grow.

Host is the root word tsaba’, which is a mass of persons (or things); especially organized for war (an army); soldiers; company; to mass (an army or servants); fight; assemble. 

·         Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory (kabowd’) (weight; splendor or copiousness; honor) of God, and the firmament shows (manifests) his handy-work (ma’aseh’)[acts; deeds; doing].

But the “declaring” of God’s glory (kabowd) [the weight (heaviness of His anointing)] is manifested in His people.  Declare is the Hebrew root word (caphar’) meaning [to record, (impl) to inscribe; celebrate: scribe; tell; show forth; speak; commune; talk; proclaim].  There is nothing out in the sky that can talk or proclaim the goodness of God.  Only “man” (male and female) can do that.

Look at that definition “inscribe”, which means to write or engrave; print as a lasting record.

·         Hebrews 8:10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel (we God's people are His Israel] (not the one in the Middle East):  after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind (dian’oia) [deep thought (revelations); its exercise (process of thinking); understanding], and write (epigraph’o) [inscribe] [we literally become the Word in the flesh] or mentally [we have the mind of Christ] them in their hearts (kardi’a) [thoughts; mind; understanding; the core of their being]:  and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people [nation; my Holy City, New Jerusalem; a community of free people; a people bound together as one in Christ]!!

·         Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach (evangelize; address; speak; spread) the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

God uses “people” to get done what He wants done!  Only man can declare (tell; talk; proclaim) God’s glory (His kabowd’; His anointing)!!

Back to Psalm to show that God's people are His heaven (His abode):

·         Psalm 19:1: And the firmament:  (raqi’ya) [an expanse (the visible arch in the sky): shows (manifests) his handy-work:  (ma’aseh’) [acts; labor; doing; art; deed; thing made;  power].

The sun, moon, stars, planets are all in their place doing what God designed them to do without the help of man. This is showing forth God’s handy-work (power).

Talking about “heaven” being “the abode (dwelling; habitation) of God”:

·         Psalm 68:4: Sing unto God, sing praises to his name:  extol him that rides (rahab’) [to ride (on); to place upon (for riding); to dispatch [send promptly as on an errand] upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.  We are the "heavens" that are being dispatched by God that He rides in:  Matthew 28:19: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations".  Mark 16:15: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature".

God riding upon the "heavens" by His name JAH (Yahh), in Hebrew is LORD, most vehement / (Yehovah) (the) self-Existent or Eternal:  Self is the identity, character of any person or thing.  Then it goes to hayah, which means to exist, be or become, come to pass / hava’ [to breathe; to be (in the sense of existence); “be thou”.  This tells us that God exists and is manifested in us (people) today in flesh form, as He manifested Himself in Jesus in flesh form.

So with that, let’s take a look at some of the “JAH’S” throughout scripture God rode upon and sent promptly on errands:  Isaiah; Jeremiah; Elijah; Zephaniah, to name a few and there are many others!

Remember, we have the same name God has that He gave to Moses:  “I AM” as spoken of in (Exodus 3:13-14): 

·         And Moses said unto God (Elohyim) “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, “What is his name”?  What shall I say unto them?  And God said unto Moses, “I AM THAT I AM”:  and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, “I AM” hath sent me unto you. 

Moses was the “I AM” God that went and delivered the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage.

·         Exodus 7:1: And the LORD said unto Moses, “See (ra’aw’) [behold; consider; discern; take heed], I have made thee a god (elohyim) unto Pharaoh:  and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet”.

Then He brought that name right on into our day as He spoke it to Moses in Exodus 3:15:

·      And God said moreover unto Moses, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you:  this is my name forever:  and this is my memorial (zikkarown’) [memento; record] / (zakar’) [mark (so as to be recognized)] unto all generations (dowr) (dore) [revolutions of time; ages; dwellings; evermore; posterity]. 

·         Revelation 2: 17: To him that overcome will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving (except) he that receives it. 

And to know what this “new name” is, take a look at Revelation 19:13: And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called “The Word of God”! 

We’re the vesture that clothes Christ that He dipped in His own blood and hath given us His name which is “The Word of God”!!  Hallelujah!!  As he is, so are we, in this world (1John 4:17).

·         2 Chronicles 7:14: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

We God’s people are His “abode” (home; house; dwelling; residence; habitation).  Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Talking about “heaven” being the “abode (dwelling; house; temple; habitation) of God”:

·         Psalm 148:4: Praise him ye heavens of heavens.

·         Isaiah 1:2: Hear O heavens and give ear, O earth.

·         Isaiah 44:23: Sing, O ye heavens.

·         Isaiah 45:8: Drop (ra’aph’) (to drip) down, ye heavens from above, and let the skies (shach’aq) a thin vapor; the firmament; cloud; heaven) pour down righteousness:  let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together:  I the LORD have created it.

Who else can hear, and sing praises unto our God but His people?  We are the ones that have to “drop down” from the higher realms of spiritual elevation and minister to those that aren’t there yet and bring them from “sea level” into the “heavenly realms” of God with His Word by the Holy Ghost.

·         John 7:38: He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow (rhe’o) (“run” as water) [the Holy Spirit acting in and through the believer] rivers of living (za’o) [to live; quick; life] water.  This is the water (Word) that gives life, quickens and makes us alive!!!

In relation to the “EARTH” (remember it’s not just where the rocks are and where grass and trees grow): 

·         1 Corinthians 15:45: And so it is written, “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening (make alive) spirit”.  Vs 46: Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 

That’s because in Revelation 13:8 mention is made of “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”, who is Jesus the Christ.  But the Father couldn’t offer up the Son ahead of the plan.  God our Creator had it already established in His mind for the creation to fall first: 

·         Romans 8:20: For the creature (creation) was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope:  vs 21: Because the creature (creation) itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children (sons) of God.

Now that Jesus "IS COME" as our Sacrificial Lamb and died on the Cross, for without the shedding of blood is no remission (Hebrews 9:22), we now know that He died to deliver God's creation and bring it back to Him.  1 John 3:8: He that commits sin is of the devil:  for the devil sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 

·         St. John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

·         2 Corinthians 5:19: To wit (know) that God was in Christ, reconciling (propitiating; harmonizing; reestablishing; restoring) the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

1 Corinthians 15:47: The first (former) man (human being; man-faced) is of the earth, earthy:  the second man is the Lord from heaven.

The word “earthy” is from the root word choikos’, meaning dusty or dirty (soil-like).  It goes to (cho’os), which is a heap (as poured out); rubbish; dirt; dust.  This is what the man Adam was taken out of, “the dust”, not the dirt, but the “dust” of the ground.  In Genesis 2:7, that word “dust”, is the Hebrew word aphar’, meaning dust (as powdered or gray); earth; rubbish; ashes; to be gray or rather to pulverize.  When people die, and it doesn’t matter what color the skin is it turns ashen gray, the color of death.  That’s what the LORD God brought the Adam man out of, the state of death he had been in and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man (male & female) became a living soul!  They were breathing but not living, but the LORD God made them “alive” with His own “make alive Spirit”!

·         1 Corinthians 15:22: In Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive!

In other words, we must kill that “old nature”, that “old man” (that first man we were acquainted with) [the “earth man”], so that the “new man”, “the Christ man”, (the second man) – the Lord from heaven” can stand up and rule in us!

·         1 Corinthians 15:48: As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy:  and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  Vs 49: As we have borne (past tense) the image of the earthy (darkness; death), we shall also (already are) bear the image of the heavenly (light; life).

·         Colossians 3:9: Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; vs 10: And have put on the new man, which is renewed (anakaino’o) [renovate (restored; repaired; freshened; purified)] in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

This answers the question in 1 Corinthians 15:46: Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual?  It’s because God our Creator knew that it was going to take the Spiritual Man Christ to deliver the natural man (the earth man) from the depths of defeat (sin, death, hell, and the grave), and bring him back into the heights of victory (divine health; perfect peace; immortality; dominion; power; authority), or “the heavenlies”!!

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN:  [keep in mind the definition of heaven] (elevation; the abode [dwelling; house; temple; habitation] of God; eternity; power; happiness; the gospel).

The “first heaven” (as the abode of God) was behind the veil in the tabernacle He told Moses to build, so He could dwell amongst the people (Exodus 25:8). The “second heaven” (as the abode of God) was the body of Jesus (St. John 1:1, 14).  And the “third heaven” (as the abode of God) is us, His Church, His habitation, His dwelling place, His temple, by the power of the Holy Ghost!

·         1 Corinthians 6:19-20: What?  Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price:  therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

·         2 Corinthians 6:16: You are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So the “kingdom of heaven” is the kingdom that we are become as the “Body of Christ” that has received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that gives us power and hath raised us up into this heavenly realm (kingdom; sovereign state) of dominion, authority, and power in the earth as God’s ambassadors and representatives.

·         Acts 1:8: You shall receive power (du’namis) after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you!  

The “kingdom of heaven” is God’s kingdom, which we are as His representatives and ambassadors in the earth!!  And the “earth” is our domain or the territory in and over which we are to reign NOW!

·         Revelation 5:10: And hast made us unto our God kings and priests:  and we shall reign on (over) the earth. 

And we are to reign not just over the “earth” but the entirety of creation!

·         Romans 8:19: For the earnest expectation of the creature (creation) waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.

In reality, the “creation” is not waiting for Jesus to come back as religion has told us, because He “has come” and “IS COME” (present tense) and did what the Father sent Him to do. 

·         John 17:4: I have glorified thee on the earth:  I have finished the work which thou gave me to do. 

The “sons of God” (male and female) are now manifested (unveiled; revealed; appearing) all over the world, wherever He sends us declaring the Gospel (good news) in its fullness in us, God’s people!!  It’s up to us now, the Body of Christ, the church, God’s Kingdom in the earth to now do the works for God’s glory!!!

·         John 14:12: Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father.

Know assuredly, that we God’s people are His “heavenly kingdom” that He rules out of right here and right now!!

Pastor Gracie Perry