We cannot build according to the divine pattern of God’s concept without a clear revelation and understanding of the kingdom, because the whole of God’s purpose is centered on His kingdom which He has kept and concealed in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.
It is therefore fundamental to know the basic of God’s purpose. God’s will is for His kingdom (His Government, Rule, Reign and Dominion) to be established on earth as it is in heaven – to bring all things on earth under dominion in Christ Jesus.
“Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven” – (Matthew 6:10 GW).
“When He (God) revealed the mystery of His plan to us. He had decided to do this through Christ. He planned to bring all of history to its goal in Christ. Then Christ would be the head of everything in heaven and on earth” – (Ephesians 1:9-10 GW).
This is the goal and master-plan of God’s idea for the earth, and we cannot afford to misconstrue Him and His purpose. Every other thing is tangential, and they all work in proportion to fulfill this goal.
This is the sole reason why we have been chosen and apprehended by Christ Jesus. God has revealed and made Himself known to us through Christ, so that we might know Him, and the justification of this revelation in the knowledge of Him is to be conformed to this plan.
Every fiber of our being, our thoughts and our actions must be in pursuit of this master-plan of God’s idea for the earth. Our day-to-day living, our marriage, our family, our work, our career, and all of our ambitions must focus to equate His purpose, which is His kingdom for which we have been laid hold on by Christ Jesus. This is the purpose for our salvation, and our reason for life on earth.
Our salvation is because of His kingdom. We are saved for His kingdom.
“I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you have part in what He has promised His people in the kingdom of light. God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son” – (Colossians 1:12-13).
Heaven is not the origin of the Kingdom. God is the origin of the Kingdom. It comes from God. Without God there is no Kingdom, and the heaven is nothing without Him. God is the goal and focus. Heaven is simply a sphere or dimension or an expression from where the government of God’s rule is established and manifested through.
The Body of Christ, which is the Church, is established on the principle of His kingdom. Without the kingdom the Church has no purpose. Once we loose the focus of His kingdom we have lost everything.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” – (Matthew 6:33).
More than anything else, we must put God’s work first and do what He wants. His kingdom must become our priority. Be concerned about His kingdom and what has His approval, then the other things will be yours as He has provided.
The apostolic and prophetic ministries are tools for His kingdom to be established in every sphere on earth as the Church is equipped and grow into the fullness of His image. Those who proclaim to be apostolic and prophetic ministry must express the principles of God’s kingdom, because there is no other message that the New Testament apostles and prophets preached, except the message of the kingdom of God.
The primary gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of the kingdom. If Jesus Christ is the pattern for the New Testament Church, then our message must be the same gospel of the kingdom.
When the Lord Jesus came to earth, His first proclamation was repent, for the Kingdom of God is here. This was the only message He preached, as He declared that this was the purpose why He was sent by the Father. This was also the message He commissioned His disciples (apostles) as He sent them out to preach.
“From then on, Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, because the kingdom from heaven is near!” – (Matthew 4:17 ISV).
“And He said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent” – (Luke 4:43).
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” – (Matthew 4:23).
“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” – (Matthew 9:35).
“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” – (Mark 1:14-15).
“And it came to pass afterward, that He went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with Him” – (Luke 8:1).
“Then He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick” – (Luke 9:1).
“These twelve (apostles) Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying….And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” – (Matthew 10:5, 7).
The central theme of the message of the kingdom of God is “JESUS”. The kingdom is about the King. Jesus is the King. We must continue to emphasize Jesus in our message. If we miss the focus of Jesus in the message, then we have lost the essence of the message, and have not preached the gospel. The gospel must be christocentric. Christ should be the center and only focus of the message. Whenever the message of the kingdom is preached, it must activate the Christ in us, and release us into the reality of our new creation in Him. Any gospel message and revelation that is preached which obscures this truth is inaccurate and false, because it obscures God’s self revelation to us.
The proclamation of the gospel of self worth, fortune, personal achievements, destiny and so forth as the primary focus, at the expense of Christ is not the message. We cannot continue to preach only on material things and call it the gospel of the kingdom. We must be very careful not to prostitute the ministry and manipulate the people with deception because of fortune and riches.
The message of the kingdom of God is fundamental to the building of God’s House. Once we lay hold of the revelation of the kingdom and the concept of it, then we can begin to advance in other areas and fulfill our part in establishing and advancing God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.
Earth’s Redemption & Man:
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion 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 creepeth upon the earth” – (Genesis 1:26).
The first intent of God for man was for him to have dominion (rule) over all things on earth. This was the first principle God set in place that is fundamental in His order – The establishing of His Kingdom (God’s rule) on earth.
Man was created in the image of God to be like God, and for him (man) to rule and reign over all things on earth just as He (God) is in the heavens. We are created to be the expression and representative of God’s kingly rule and authority upon the earth.
To be created in God’s image and likeness means that we are to have the same nature and characteristics of His righteousness, holiness, authority and sovereignty which is continually being renewed in full knowledge with the image of the one who created it.
“However, you were taught to have a new attitude (thinking, mindset). You were also taught to become a new person (God’s Image) created to be like God, truly righteous and holy” – (Ephesians 4:23-24 GW).
“(We) have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him” – (Colossians 3:10).
God is a Spirit with an endless life that is eternal. If man was created by God to be like Him here on earth, then man is an eternal spirit-being in God’s class, with an endless spirit life that is destined to rule on earth. God’s desire is that man should have dominion over the earth, and establish His governmental rule (Kingdom) upon the earth as it is in heaven (Gen. 1:26-28, Matthew 6:9-10).
We must grasp this concept that, as God is in Heaven, so has He made us to be on earth. He is the El-Lohim that rules in, and from the heaven, but He has made us gods in the earth to rule the earth according to His will in heaven. We are created by God to be a part of this class of the El-lohim family; this is an awesome reality of who we were created to be.
For some reason, we have changed God into our depraved likeness, and we have reduced Him to our imaginations. This has created a false hope in the Church, and an expectation of what we think the plan of God is about.
Our imagination has become a hindrance to the purposes of God in the Church, and it has affected the advancement of the Kingdom of God in and through us.
Our mindset is now a stronghold (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). We must allow the Holy Spirit to take its place in us, first in our mind, to change and transform the way we think (Ephesians 4:23).
It is absolute ignorance to think less of ourselves in Him, because the original status of who we were, and all we were created to be has been restored back to us in Christ Jesus through His finished work on the cross. This is the purpose and reality for our new creation.
“For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” – (Romans 8:29).
In being all God wants us to be, we must remember that God’s greatest desire is for us to be conformed to the image of Christ. God doesn’t just want us to come to Him; He wants us to be like Him.
Who we are has been hidden through the ages, but God is now unveiling our true identity to us by revelation. One of the greatest discoveries apart from knowing the Lord is to know who we are. We cannot find purpose without discovering our value in Christ.
God created the earth for man, and it holds a place in the plan and purpose of God. Man was an integral part of God’s plan for the whole of creation. The earth has no purpose without man, because it was created to be inhabited by man.
“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is God!), who formed the earth and made it (He established it; He did not create it empty (He didn’t create it for chaos), He formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other” – (Isaiah 45:18).
The purpose of God for the earth has not failed, neither has He given up on His intent. It is still the same today as it was in the beginning.
“And the devil said to Him (Jesus), “I will give You all this domain (Kingdom) and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” – (Luke 4:6 NASB).
Man’s authority and dominion was relinquished by Adam to the devil in the Garden of Eden in Genesis Chapter 3 through his ignorance and act of disobedience that led to his fall. It was handed over to the devil by Adam.
The good news (gospel) is that all (power, glory, authority, dominion, kingdoms) that was handed over to the devil by Adam has been restored back to us through Christ Jesus. The kingdom and all its power and glory have been restored back through Christ Jesus. What a joy to know who we are and what we are in Christ Jesus!
Everything we are, and that which was lost in Adam, including our dominion heritage, in Christ Jesus who is the Last Adam, ALL is restored to us.
Anything less is a lie from the devil, and it is not Kingdom. I refuse a lesser life of oppression, suffering, pain, sickness, disease and a second-class citizenship; I choose an ever increasing life as a New Creation.
The present condition and the desolation that is continually plaguing the earth into chaos and darkness are the result of man’s corruption and the failure of the Church to rise to the occasion to understand the Kingdom and to fulfill her purpose and destiny. For the earth to be restored the Church must first be restored, and for the Church to be restored, the revelation of God’s purpose must first be restored to us. This is why there is a rediscovering, and the restoration of the message of the kingdom of God back to the Church, so the Church can function accurately in the pattern the Lord has ordered. This is the only hope for creation!
It took a man (Adam) to bring corruption upon the earth, so likewise it took a man (Christ) to bring redemption and restoration.
“As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ” – (1 Corinthians 15:22 GW).
A new man restored in the image of God is the instrument to bring transformation in the earth. The first chapter of the book of Genesis carries a whole lot of revelation that clearly defines God’s purpose for man and the earth:
1. In the beginning God created the universe (the heavens and earth) – (Genesis 1:1). Everything God created was good and perfect as we know.
2. The earth became a waste, void and desolate (Genesis 1:2a). If everything God created was good and perfect, obvious within the process of time something must have happened between verse 1 and verse 2. How then did the earth get in this condition to become waste and void?
3. Darkness was upon the face of the deep (Genesis 1:2b). Darkness was the cause of earth’s desolation. Darkness can be attributed to be ignorance, the devil, evil or wickedness. Darkness is the absence of light, and light means revelation (the Word of God – Psalm 119:105, 130). Where darkness exists there is no order (Job 10:22), so therefore order is a product of light.
“They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you” – (Psalm 82:5-6).
All the foundations of the earth are out of course (without order), because darkness (ignorance) prevails, which is the result of man not walking in the revelation (light) of God. If we want to see a change and order in the earth, the light (revelation) must first be restored.
4. And God said, ‘Let light be;’ and light is (Genesis 1:3). The first utterance (revealed Word) from God’s mouth was let there be light, and the result was restoration and order that was now being established as He spoke. Light means revelation which is the enlightenment of God’s truth that is revealed. The key here is the need for revelation (light), because that is the only thing that can dispel darkness and bring change and order to the present condition of things.
5. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion….” – Genesis 1:26.
We can see here that light precedes man. The moment this was established, man was then set on the scene to walk in this light (revelation) so he can continue to keep the earth in divine order.
6. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion – Genesis 1:28.
The goal was for man to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it (have dominion over the earth). Man was created by God for this purpose. This goal of God has not changed!
The book of Genesis Chapter 1 accounts for the revelation of man’s beginning, but not the beginning of all things, because we can see that the earth itself existed before the genesis of man. Something happened to the earth hence it was desolated by darkness.
It is important to note the word “replenish (re-plenish)”. The prefix “re” means to do it again. Something happened to the earth and it was turned into a formless mass cloaked in darkness, and void. The earth was thus destroyed and reduced to this state by the evil one (satan and his demonic spirits of darkness) which were cast down from heaven to the earth (Isaiah 14:12-17), but the goal of God in placing man on earth was to restore the earth. Man’s assignment was to “re-plenish” the earth as he dominates and rule over all things.
The establishment of the Kingdom of God in the earth is a divine restoration committed to man to bring the earth back into order as it was in the beginning before it was destroyed and reduced into this formless mass of Genesis 1:2. The sovereignty of the Kingdom of God has been from the beginning and the desire of God is for man to rule over all things.
The manifestation of God in the earth in the form of Jesus Christ (The God-Man) was for the purpose of restoring man back to his original state as it was in the beginning of age before the fall. To make us a Spirit-Being, immortal, created and made in the likeness of God to have dominion over all things in the earth realm. This was Adam’s original realm and purpose. This is why if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature restored to the image of God. A restoration takes place in our spirit that affects our being so we can now fulfill our original purpose on earth.
If we can comprehend the truth of God’s goal for man’s creation and his original purpose and place in the garden, then we will realize the purpose for our salvation, because the aim has never been for God to prepare man with an escapism mentality, but for him to bring heaven to earth (Matthew 6:10), to see His Kingdom restored and established in the earth.
In examining Genesis Chapter 1:26-28, you will realize God never blessed and commanded Adam to exercise dominion over the woman or other human beings, but for him to have stewardship and responsibility over the created order of things. With this understanding, we need to be conscious of how we exercise our dominion mandate so we don’t engage ourselves in trying to dominate and control other human beings and call it kingdom. We are made to influence the created order – all things, according to God’s will.
“Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” – (Genesis 1:28 NLT).
When the gospel of the kingdom is not accurately proclaimed, then our authority is abandoned or abused.
“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” – (Romans 8:19-22).
Creation is earnestly looking out with eager longing for the revelation of God’s new creation – the Sons of God, to be revealed here on earth, because the Sons of God is the only hope for its deliverance. God’s plan is that the Sons of God will be the instrument to set creation free from the servitude of the corruption.
But how can we bring deliverance and freedom when we don’t understand our identity and know who we are in Him as the Sons of God? How can we have dominion and rule when we don’t know our purpose on earth? Dominion begins from within. We must first be able to rule over our thought process to be able to overcome and rule without. We must be able to rule over ourselves to rule with Him. To govern takes an internal process of aligning our thoughts to His will.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect” – (Romans 12:2 ISV).
When the mind is elevated and renewed in the way of God, our influence in the environment shift to experience a significant impact; Because we cannot have the manifestation of the kingdom of God within us without the transformation of the environment.
It is like light and salt. It impacts and effect change whenever, and whatever it is applied to.
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” – (Matthew 5:13-16).
We are not born again only to enter the kingdom; but it is Father’s delight to also give us the kingdom.
“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” – (Luke 12:32).
“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” – (Hebrews 12:28).
The grace of God is needed to enable us receive the kingdom, and it must be accepted with reverence and godly fear.
Copyright © 2017 by Israel Onoriobe
Our ministry is a faith-based ministry and this material is provided free of charge to the body of Christ for equipping the saints. If this material has been a blessing to you or a source of encouragement we ask that you prayerfully consider giving a love offering to help us carry the message of the Kingdom of God to the naons – (Hebrews 10:6).
