The Evasive 'Gospel of the Kingdom' (Part II)

Let me start by explaining why Heaven is so boring…

Or, better still, let me try to shed light on why OUR picture of The Kingdom of Heaven is so boring. When I was younger, like any child, I was curious about this amazing Heaven that seemed so fascinating to everyone and I remember asking someone who was close to me what Heaven was going to be like. The response was:

“We will drink from the River of Life. We will sing before God…in the sky”

That REALLY spooked me.

Imagine an eternity of ‘bliss’ where you do not sleep because there is no night, and where all you do is sing änd bow down before God, and get breaks to drink from the River of Life, and then you go back to singing before God. People always try to be ‘reverent’ and say that you cannot describe that as boring, but in honesty, how ‘blissful’ is the notion of singing and drinking water, no matter how amazing the taste, FOREVER and EVER and EVER!!!

That sounds like HELL!


And the reason that sounds like Hell is because we often overlook some very basic fundamentals that are clearly presented in scripture about the very essence and nature of God. The first thing you find out about God in Genesis 1 is that he is a DOING being, or in our terms, he WORKS. ‘In the beginning, God CREATED the Heaven and the Earth…’, and you see that apart from Light that he created with just words, He goes on to SPEAK about what he wants to make, implying there is some THINKING, and then he MADE things – and then he RESTED. God Almighty works and God Almighty takes a break! (Genesis 2: 2 – 3)

God Almighty!

And so many portions of the Bible show us that WORK is something God is involved in and that those who are aligned with him are also going to be involved in (yes, say it) WORK! In the words of Jesus, “My Father is ALWAYS at his WORK to this very day, and I too am working”. (John 5:17 – NIV)

Basically, The Kingdom of Heaven, God’s abode, is a living thriving system where the variety of angels and beings that live there are very involved in carrying out tasks that plug into a larger Divine Plan of a God who is consistently at work. It is for this reason that before man was created, God already had his work cut out for him, like you prepare an office space and a work station before a new staff resumes. Man’s role was clearly defined and it was a very complex job of ruling the Earth, tending the Earth and having dominion over the Earth and all the creatures on the Earth. Basically, he was to ensure the continuum of the extremely delicate balance that was on the Earth – and also to optimise what he had been given as he grew in wisdom and in maturity. This was his role in extending The Kingdom of God, which is a bigger domain than The Kingdom of Heaven.

What does ruling entail? For whatever reason, when many of us think about ruling, we think about sitting on fancy thrones, with a massive crown and people bowing down before us. However, what ruling really entails is decision-making, leadership and creating improvements – and by implication, improving something means you need to know and measure what you are currently responsible for, evaluate the resources at your disposal and use the resources you have to improve what you are currently responsible for.

So man ruling involved man really growing in knowledge about the Earth, and rocks and plants, and animals, and gases and chemical reactions. It would also mean he had to know animal psychology and breeding patterns, life cycles, seasonal cycles, language and communication, etc. He needed to know how to manage waste, how to keep water bodies clean, how to recycle resources, how to improve the nutrition available to plants and animals – and that would explain the reason why he had regular debriefing sessions with his boss and Father in the evening…

The King.

Now, if you remember, I ended the first part of this article with these words:

“Life, by its very nature seeks to expand, whether that life is good or bad. In very simple terms and bringing the story home, Lucifer, the former son of God, had begun to walk and seek evil, but like every other being, He was created by God, and lives by the Life God had given him and what I said before, I will say again to drive home the point: Life, whether good or bad, by its very nature, seeks to expand

And Lucifer had life…”

Lucifer had arrived on the planet and like all who have ‘grown up’ around God, he was (and is) used to WORK, and he sought to expand. So he deceived man, got them to fall out of favour with God and immediately, he could set up shop on Earth. Now, let us clarify in summary 3 key concerns of Lucifer. Everything he does is geared at three basic objectives which are fuelled by hate:

1.    Destruction and degradation of this extension of the Kingdom of God called Earth
2.    The defilement, debasement and degradation of the human race – as well as other creatures linked to the human race.
3.    The destruction of man through separation from God.

It is extremely important to understand the objectives of these two Kingdom that are in conflict and that have been in conflict from the beginning of man’s time on the Planet. God chose Israel from among the tribes of fallen men to be a model of the relationship he wants to have with man. However, there have also been powerful nations from the beginning of time that have been steeped in the occult and exhibit several traits that align with the objectives of Lucifer such as:

1.    The sacrificing of children for ritual purposes.
2.    Human sacrifice
3.    Prostitution and sexual rites as part of worship.
4.    Incestuous relationships
5.    Self-punishment, body cutting and flagellation as a part of religious activity.
6.    The respect and worship of objects and relics

What is important to note is that for both sides of the divide, each side seeks for individuals who will further their purposes and join their ranks WILLINGLY. As you examine what an individual or entity stands for, and the effect of their actions, the side they are on becomes clearer – and sometimes, not understanding the bigger plot and the objectives of Satan allows for a person to accomplish his purpose in ignorance. Every time the Earth is polluted or devastated by bombs or inventions or human greed, every time a human acts in a degraded fashion like having sex with an animal, losing his dignity with substance abuse or drinking blood or cutting down another human being, every time one human hunts another, impoverishes another, maims another or kills another, Lucifer can gladly say, ‘My Kingdom come; My will IS done…’

This is the scope of the conflict.

So how does the Gospel fit into all this?

Very simply, we lost so much at the fall. We lost the wisdom needed to make the best decisions.
We lost the culture of the Kingdom of Heaven that fosters love, togetherness and growth. We lost the ability to relate freely with God. We lost the opportunity to live forever and grow to unprecedented heights of wisdom and maturity that would enable us to be Kings on this planet and Priests to God. We lost the mind of God with our minds getting clouded in its ability to know right from wrong. We lost focus and direction, going from thriving to surviving, and sometimes, merely existing. We lost the ability to see the bigger picture, concerned only with what we will eat, what we will wear – as we wore out the Earth, destroying it and destroying one another in our endless quest for more that never satisfied.

In time, our Earth has become so polluted with the toxins and radioactive poisons that we have created with our own hands. Mutation plagues us with people born blind, lame, deformed in one way or the other as our very make-up gets degraded with the poisoned air that we breath, the poisoned food that we eat, the unfruitful labours that break our backs, crush our spirits and emasculate us as we labour - hard -  to keep a few people wealthy, while they control our lives and the flow of resource. In time, our normal is to fight endlessly, behead one another, blow up one another as we fight hard for resources that are becoming scarce because they are not managed properly. Instead of being ‘gods’ on Earth in our ability to judge and rule, we have become slaves to religion, slaves to government, slaves to drugs, slaves to everything, oppressed on every side – totally opposite to the Culture from whence we came – the culture of Heaven…

And then, after so many years of blood and darkness and death and pain, there finally walked on Earth a man who said:

“Hey, listen up! The Kingdom of God is here! This broken Earth is going to be renewed because God Almighty has begun his plan to RECLAIM The Earth to make it beautiful again, and to extend the culture and LIFE that is IN Heaven to Earth”

The challenge, though is, how is that even possible – but that Man catered to that question when he said.

“I AM the WAY”

                                  TO BE CONTINUED...