KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES
"Teaching the thing concerning the kingdom of God... "
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Part 23
INHERITING THE KINGDOM
(continued)
We are
learning what it means to be a son of God, realizing God's great plan and purposes
involved. One of the most important rights of sonship is that of inheritance.
Heirship depends entirely upon our relationship with God. When we were born again, born of
God, we became children of God and consequently potential inheritors of all that
pertains to our Almighty Father. One inherits in the country of his parentage and
according to the laws of that land. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that in order to enter
into the Kingdom of God human beings have to be born again-of the Spirit.
The Kingdom of God is the realm or land of our inheritance, and that great land is entered
by birth. It is there in the land of the Kingdom of God that we are able to see, enter,
possess and inherit Christ as our All-in-all.
Sometimes when a person inherits money or
an estate, conditions are laid down which must be fulfilled before that person can receive
his inheritance. That principle is also true in the Kingdom of God. For instance, one of
the conditions in the Kingdom is that the full inheritance is given only upon our reaching
spiritual maturity. Another condition is overcoming
the world, the flesh, and the devil. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things;
and he shall be my son" (Rev. 21:7). To be poor in spirit is yet another condition
for inheriting, as Jesus taught, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven" (Mat. 5:3). We must also undergo a mighty change in order to
receive our inheritance, for "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God"
(I Cor. 15:50). Only those who possess the spirit of ministering to and serving their
needy brethren and the groaning creation shall have any inheritance in the Kingdom, for it
was to those who saw the Lord hungry, and gave Him food; who saw the Lord thirsty, and
gave Him drink; who saw the Lord naked, and clothed Him; who saw the Lord sick, and
visited Him, and in prison, and went to Him; it is to these that the King says,
"Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world" (Mat. 25:34-46).
There are four classes of people in
relation to the Kingdom of God today. There are those who see the Kingdom. Then there are
those who enter the Kingdom. After that there are some who press their way in to possess
the Kingdom. And finally there is a people that inherits the Kingdom. To see the Kingdom
is vision or revelation. To enter the Kingdom is exploration, as when the spies went in
and spied out the land of Canaan. To possess the Kingdom means appropriation, as when
Joshua led the children of Israel to conquer the land. And to inherit the Kingdom is to
fully and permanently utilize all of its riches, abundance, provisions and position; and
to fulfill all of its responsibilities and exercise all of its powers, as Israel did once
the land was fully possessed. That is the power and glory of inheritance in the Kingdom of
God!
THE POOR IN SPIRIT
"Blessed are the poor
in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mat. 5:3). It seems strange to say
that the poor in spirit inherit the Kingdom of Heaven; rather it would seem that the rich
in spirit should inherit the Kingdom! There is a great depth here that can only be plumbed
by the wisdom of God. The things of the spirit are always contrary to the logic of the
natural mind. Only when we are willing to reject our minds and our wisdom does God draw
nigh to us and give us light, true light. "But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. 2:14).
It is in that glorious sermon called
"The Sermon on the Mount" that Jesus reveals this great truth. The Sermon on the
Mount announces the laws or principles of the Kingdom of God. The giving of the Kingdom of
Heaven to the poor in spirit sets the tone for these laws. To be poor in spirit does not
mean to be lacking in spirit, but indicates an attitude of heart. The Greek word used for
poor is PTOCHOS. It is one of two words for "poor" in the Greek language. While
the other word, PENES, is used to describe one who has fewer possessions, and has to work
hard for a living, the word PTOCHOS describes the man who has absolutely nothing at all.
It means a pauper or a beggar. It has connections with the root word PROSSEIN which means
to couch or cower. It describes the poverty of one who has been beaten to his knees. To be
"poor in spirit" is to become like Jesus, who "made Himself of no
reputation" (Phil. 2:7). For, "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became
poor (pstchos), that ye through His poverty might be rich" (II Cor. 8 9).
Ah, we cannot come to be taught of God
feeling within ourselves that we are understanding, we are wisdom, we are power, we are
creators, we are kings and rulers, or that we have anything that commends itself to God.
We must be poor in spirit, poor in attitude-unclothed of
self. The word "spirit" is used many times to describe an attitude of heart or a
state of mind. If we say of someone, "He has a good spirit," we don't mean that
he has an holy angel or a well-mannered ghost living inside of him. We mean that he has a
good attitude, disposition, temperament, personality, demeanor, and expression. The
beatitudes are just that-attitudes of being. They are the BE-ATTITUDES, the very attitudes
the sons of God must become. Jesus said in effect, "The attitude of
a poor person is the same attitude that will help you to inherit the Kingdom of God."
But He does not mean by this that we are to be spiritually destitute! We must realize that
we are the "branch" dependent upon the Root and the Vine just as the firstborn
Son testified of Himself, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of
himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also
doeth the Son likewise. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my
judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath
sent me" (Jn. 5:19,30). It follows then that the poor in spirit are actually the rich
in spirit!
Poor in spirit means "renounced in
spirit." Yielding up everything of self- selfishness, self-assertiveness,
self-interest-that we may gain Christ. One Greek scholar has said that poor in spirit
comes closer in the Greek to mean "teachable in spirit." Ah, that hits the nail
on the head! "Blessed are the teachable in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven." Have you ever observed one who knows everything (in his own estimation), how
far from happiness and fulfillment he really is? Being rich in his own eyes he is
extremely impoverished, for no one can add of their wealth to him. The poor in spirit are
poor enough to receive-they are receptive in spirit, willing to break old habits and ways
and thought-patterns and mind-sets and take new ones. Right on the threshold of the
Kingdom of God we encounter an act of renunciation from the deepest depths of our being.
This is just the opposite of the sociology and psychology being taught in the colleges and
universities. In many schools they teach "self-assertiveness," "take,"
and "realize." But the Kingdom of God will not sanction such concepts. To be
happy and blessed you must be poor in spirit, renounced in spirit, teachable in spirit,
pliable in spirit, and receptive in spirit. Receptive to all that God is, to all that God
does, and to all that God is saying by His Spirit. You must be pliable in the Master's
hands at all times and in all situations. You must have an ear to hear, and a heart to
respond. You must know and think and be nothing of yourself. You don't just belong to the
Kingdom, and you don't bring anything to the Kingdom. But the Kingdom is yours! All the
resources of the Kingdom are at the disposal renounced-poor-teachable-pliable-receptive.
The Kingdom is within you, and it also reaches to the lowest hell and beyond the farthest
star. All the powers of the Kingdom are centered in you, not in your self, but in Christ
your life. "It is no longer I, but Christ that liveth in me." That is the glory
of the poor in Spirit!
The saintly George
MacDonald has beautifully expressed the truth in these inspiring words: "The
poor, the beggars in spirit, the humble men of heart, the unambitious, the unselfish;
those who never despise men, and never seek their praises; the lowly, who see nothing to
admire in themselves, therefore cannot seek to be admired of others; the men who give
themselves away-these are the freemen of the Kingdom, these are the citizens of the New
Jerusalem. The men who are aware of their own essential poverty; not the men who are poor
in friends, poor in influence, poor in acquirements, poor in money, but those who are poor
in spirit, who feel themselves poor creatures; who know nothing to be pleased with
themselves for, and desire nothing to make them think well of themselves; who know that
they need much to make their life worth living; these humble ones are the poor whom the
Lord calls blessed. The gate of the Kingdom begins to open to such a man.
"Whatever such a man has attained to, he straightway forgets; it is part of him and behind him. His business is with what he has not, with the things that lie above and before him. The man who is proud of anything he thinks he has reached, has not reached it. He is but proud of himself, and imagining a cause for his pride. If he had reached, he would already have begun to forget. He who delights in contemplating whereunto he has attained, is not merely sliding back; he is already in the dirt of self-satisfaction. The gate of the Kingdom is closed, and he outside. The man who does not house self has room to be his real self- God's eternal idea of him. He lives eternally; in virtue of the creative power present in him with momently unimpeded creation, he is. How should there be in him one thought of ruling or commanding or surpassing! He can imagine no bliss, no good in being greater than some one else. He would lift every man to the embrace of the Father. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they are of the same spirit as God, and of nature the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs" -end quote. Awesome!
CORRUPTION DOES NOT INHERIT...
The apostle Paul by the
wisdom of the Spirit given to him, said, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption" (I Cor. 15:50).
If there is one lesson we are learning
from all the sex scandals, unethical conduct, fraud and financial shenanigans coming out
of the government in Washington it is the lesson of the depravity of the human nature and
the corruption of the carnal mind. The carnal manifestations that have come out of the
religious systems over the past couple decades are not one whit better than the events in
Washington or what is transpiring in the vilest section of an inner city. We are disgusted
with the fleshiness and corruption on every hand, and I am sure I get an "Amen"
from many who read these lines. Corruption of one kind or another has destroyed the Lord's
people as well as His temple except for the holy remnant. Corruption
cannot inherit the Kingdom of God! Therefore there must be a mighty
victory over corruption in the life of every one who cherishes the beautiful hope of
sonship. We must be changed!
The perfect example we have been given of
one who has been changed into the full glory of the Kingdom of God is Jesus. He is the
first Son to overcome the dominion of corruption, and He is our example. As Jesus
conquered by the Spirit of Life from God, so is it given to every one of His younger
brothers to overcome in this day. To be changed, we must be cleansed and purged of every
vestige of the carnal mind and every work of the flesh. Our omnipotent Lord who lives
within us is completing the work He began when He saved us by His grace. He is bringing us
to completion and perfection by manifesting the power of the Kingdom of God within us.
Christ is reigning in mighty power upon the throne of our lives, by the Spirit. When He
has completed His cleansing, purifying, transforming work within us, we shall be fully
prepared for the last trump transformation-the redemption of our body. Paul wrote to the
Romans, telling them that the whole creation travaileth in pain together for deliverance
from the bondage of corruption. But I must remark that the
corruptibleness of "flesh and blood"-the body-is but an infinitesimal part of
the great and dreadful realm of corruption.
The Holy Spirit, speaking through the
apostle Peter, has given us these blessed words of divine understanding. "According
as His divine power has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through
the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust" (11 Pet. 1:3-4). The Amplified Bible renders verse four, "By means of
these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through
them you may escape from the moral decay, rottenness and corruption that
is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed) and become sharers of the divine
nature." And J. B. Phillips has beautifully translated, "It is through this
generosity that God's greatest and most precious promises have become available to us men,
making it possible for you to escape the inevitable disintegration that
lust produces in the world and to share in God's essential nature." Corruption is
thus far more than the aging process in our mortal bodies which eventually leads to
physical death and dissolution.
The word corruption is from the Greek
PHTHORA meaning "to destroy by bringing into a worse state or inferior
condition." According to Romans 8:20-21, the whole creation, animate and inanimate,
is subject to the bondage of corruption. Corruption is so universal and absolute that it
was formalized about one hundred years ago into a fundamental law now called The
Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law states that "all systems, if
left to themselves, tend to become degraded and disordered, and deteriorate."
Physical systems, whether watches or suns, eventually wear out. Organisms grow old and
die. Instead of life and growth there is decay and death. There is no permanency in
anything physical. This universal law of the cosmos is diametrically opposed to the theory
of evolution which supposes a progressive improvement and refinement of living organisms.
From the very heart of events from the
dawn of creation this law of corruption has been manifested in the things that are made.
The fall of Adam into sin, separation, sorrow, pain and death, is the very first sad
example of the law of corruption. Man has ever been the object of God's solicitude and
care. Man came from the hand of God created in His image and likeness, crowned with glory
and honor, and given dominion over all the works of God's hands. Gradually, however,
subjected as he was to this gross material realm, formed of the dust of the ground, the
cycle of his career turned downward from his high plane upon which God had placed him,
until he reached the depths of disaster. The race of Cain was a filthy, perverted race;
they were hateful and violent and they were murderers. They were boastful and vile in the
extreme, and would have nothing to do with the God that made them. They were the offspring
of a murderer who slew his brother. They filled the earth with their lust, violence, and
evil, until even the righteous line of Seth was corrupted and they were so bad that the
scripture says that "their thoughts" and all the "intents of their
hearts" were "only evil continually." They were so bad that God could not
wait for them to die, and another generation to arise, but in order to re-establish some
order in the earth He had to sweep all of them off the earth into hell.
Noah alone, out of all the families of
the earth, was perfect in his generation and found grace in the eyes of the Lord. His
uncles and aunts were not righteous. His brothers and sisters were not righteous. His
cousins and nephews and nieces were not righteous. They were all corrupt. How do we know
this? They were all swept away in the judgment of the flood! Only eight souls out of an
entire civilization were spared. Righteousness started afresh in the earth with Noah and
his seed. But this did not help, for man's one obsession and inborn trait all through the
centuries has been rebellion and backsliding and faithlessness. And so again God made a
new provision. So far, His saints had freely mixed with the world. But now He purposed to
segregate them from the world. He purposed to remove them from the idolatrous influence of
the ungodly. And so, beginning with Abraham, He began this segregation. He called Abraham
out from the world and promised him a land, an inheritance. When once in this land, his
seed were to destroy completely, even to the last man, the heathen who dwelt there.
"Thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: but thou "halt utterly destroy
them."
Here was a truly remarkable and wholly
new provision. For in Egypt God took His church and made a nation of them. And then He led
them out of Egypt with many infallible signs and wonders and miracles. He divided the sea
for them: the same sea in which their enemies perished. He gave them a tabernacle and
sanctuary, patterned after the true Sanctuary on High, and there He condescended to have
His very presence dwell among them continually. He gave them a perfect set of national
laws written by the finger of God Himself on stone. He showed them His power. He fed them
with manna from heaven. He preserved their clothing and shoes throughout the whole period
of forty years of wanderings in the wilderness. And yet, in spite of God's manifest love
and care, their very first act, when Moses left them to go up into the mount of God, was
to make a golden calf and fall down to it! Talk about corruption!
Read the account of their sojourn in the
wilderness. Read the accounts of their idolatry after they entered their own land. Yes,
the first thing they did upon coming into their promised land was the exact opposite of
what God commanded them. Instead of destroying their enemies completely, they began making
covenants with them. No wonder God says concerning them, "But the house of Israel
rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised
my judgments...and my sabbaths they greatly polluted" (Eze. 20:13). No wonder God
says, "I have called and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man
regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof...they
hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord" (Prov. 1:24-29). And
friend, human nature has not changed one particle in all the years. Believers as a whole
(the popular church) are just as wayward and rebellious now as they ever were. God's
church has ever been "a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good,
after their own thoughts; a people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face"
(Isa. 65 2-3~. And it was not to the fleshly Israe! of old, but the New Testament Church
that the Lord Jesus sent this piercing rebuke, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against
thee...remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works;
or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place,
except thou repent. Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed
unto idols, and to commit fornication. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and
will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. I know thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Obviously, the law of
corruption was still at work!
Let us go on. God intended that His saints, as long as they obeyed Him and walked with Him, should be masters of the earth. They were: that is, until God, because of their sins and backslidings, had to cut them off. He was very lenient with them. He made more than one new provision following their rebellions from Him. He gave them every consideration and every opportunity to reign over the earth. For did not He tell them that if they would hearken unto Him, "thou shalt be blessed above all people"? (Deut. 7:14). "And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour" (Deut. 26: 18-19). "If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God...the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth" (Deut. 28: 1). Ah, here was great provision made which would enable God's people to dominate the whole world! And they did enjoy that heritage of power and honor for a time. Consider the Patriarchs, and Job. Consider Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, of whom God witnessed that they were very great. And then consider king David, and consider king Solomon in all his glory, a glory so resplendent that even the Queen of Sheba witnessed, "Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it, and, behold, the half was not told me: the wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard" (I Kings 10:7).
But then there came a change. A new order
was introduced. For, in spite of all of God's provisions and blessings, His people went
from bad to worse. And here is the result, foretold by Moses in the wilderness. He told
them that if they would not keep God's commandments then, instead of being masters of the
earth, "the Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before shine enemies...thou...SHALT
BE REMOVED INTO ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH" (Deut. 28:15-25). Of all the physical
proofs of the inspiration and infallible accuracy of the prophecies of the Bible, there is
no proof that can compare to that great sign of signs which is the NATION OF ISRAEL. In
721 B.C. the northern house of Israel was carried into captivity into Assyria and
consequently disappeared from the page of history so suddenly and completely it was as
though the land of their captivity swallowed them up. Historically, however, the ten
tribes escaped their captivity and through various migrations became scattered throughout
the continent of Europe, just as the Lord had said.
The house of Judah finally experienced
the same fate. Some thirty-five years after Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem,
the wrath was poured out. Jerusalem fell, and great was the fall thereof! Signal,
terrible, and unparalleled was the Jewish war, ending with the siege and capture of
Jerusalem by the Roman general, Titus. It needs a pen dipped in fire and in blood to write
the story in its true colors! The sufferings and miseries that overtook the Jewish nation
in that age, are all but indescribable, the very record of them is appalling. And they
have been scattered for two millenniums through all nations just as the Lord said. In this
sordid picture of the unceasing degeneration of the human race, as well as God's own
people, we receive the unimpeachable testimony of the universal LAW OF CORRUPTION. Ah, my
beloved, if you think corruption refers only to the mortal body, you are badly mistaken.
It runs much deeper than that. Science states that "all systems, if left to
themselves, tend to become degraded and disordered, and deteriorate." God puts it
this way: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men
shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers
of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof: from such turn away" (II Tim. 3:1-5).
Oh what a stormy sea the world has sailed from Adam's transgression until now! What indescribable travail the earth has seen under the curse of bondage to corruption! And not just man, not alone the earth, but the whole creation was made subject to this vanity and it is the whole creation that now groans with a sort of universal travail, waiting for the sons of God to reach the glory and honor of adoption, waiting for the transfigured family of sons at last to speak the wonderful words of life and deliverance. In the throes of corruption all things are propelled by the swirling momentum of the downward spiral to destruction, utterly helpless and powerless to invent any method of preventing the ultimate catastrophe.
The dark foreboding and terror of every
creature and all things is not unlike that of the victim of punishment by the Hohenstaufen
house in Germany. One of the methods of punishment, it is said, was to incarcerate the
victim in a luxuriously appointed room. Instead of feeling any special remorse, he was
rather delighted with his lot. In a day or two, however, the prisoner realized his
illusionment. He noticed, as he arose each morning, that the walls had slightly
contracted. At first he could scarcely conceive of it. He examined the space closely and
found his fears verified. He watched the movement very closely, and sure enough, they were
gradually contracting. In oiled and silent grooves these heavy metal walls were gradually
drawing closer and closer. He was startled, and placed all manner of objects to check the
oncoming tide. But it was all in vain. The walls were irresistible in their progress. It
dawned upon him that this beautiful luxurious room was a deceptive snare.
When he realized that this comfortably
and beautifully furnished room was to be his death cell and the place of his doom,
invariably cold perspiration poured out of his temples and he cried out frantically for
help. But no response came. The metal walls simply gave back a hollow echo and continued
to draw closer. When the furniture had been demolished by the pressure and the walls had
come so close he could not do anything but stand upright, he placed his back to the wall,
and bracing himself with his hands and feet, he tried with one superhuman effort to
withstand his doom. But the walls were not to be gainsaid; they were not to be denied of
their prey. Finally the walls crushed him to death. Is this not the sense of every man who
beholds the ravishing power of corruption in his body? As old age appears, with its
multiplied physical weaknesses, degeneration, ailments and limitations, they feel
themselves crowded to the wall and think they are daily approaching their fatal and final
end. Unable to make any further resistance, they passively submit themselves to the
inevitable and slip away quietly from this world. Behold in this, my friend, the awesome
power of the BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION!
The crumbling ruins of ancient
civilizations buried beneath the swirling sands of ages bear silent testimony to the
unrelenting power of corruption. Proud empires which like the towering mount Everest
dominated the lives and fortunes of multitudes of men and vast stretches of global real
estate, have disappeared from even the memory of those now dwelling upon the earth. In the
afterglow of a thousand battlefields, in the shattered dreams of kings and world
conquerors, in the light of treachery, moral decay, and spiritual bankruptcy, the word of
God standeth invincibly true. Mighty empires and nations that with the vaunted pride of
wealth, commerce, education, refinement, and disciplined armies controlled the souls of
men have all eventually fallen and crumbled to dust beneath their own weight, becoming
like the dust of a summer threshing floor and the wind blew them away.
The universe itself is no less subject to
the bondage of corruption. As a recent article in Discover magazine reported, six or seven
billion years from now the sun will begin to die, but it will not die alone. When the sun
runs out of hydrogen fuel at its core and begins burning the hydrogen, helium, and heavier
elements in its outer layers, it will swell tremendously, expanding out to earth's orbit.
In its death throes it will swell into a red giant star, engulfing and incinerating
Mercury, Venus, and Earth. Life on earth-if indeed any still exists-will surely end. A
like fate awaits every star and planet in every solar system in all the two hundred
billion known galaxies that make up the universe. Everything is winding down and burning
out. In the light of this solemn knowledge let us reflect again upon the Holy Spirit's
sacred message of hope and deliverance, "For the earnest expectation of the creation
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creation was made subject to
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because
the creation itself 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. And not only they, but ourselves also,
which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom.
8:19-23). Lift up your heads and rejoice! O creation-the sun will not burn itself out, the
earth will not be incinerated, the universe will not collapse, the myriad worlds scattered
through space will not pass away, because the creation itself shall also be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God!
What a word! What a hope! Universal deliverance from the bondage of corruption!
The reversal of the Second Law of Thermodynamics! No wonder the earnest
expectation of all creation WAITS FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD! Hallelujah!
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. The message is clear-we must
be changed! That is what it means. Mortal flesh and corrupted blood cannot inherit the
Kingdom realm of God. As long as our bodies remain in the vile form they are now in, they
cannot inherit that eternal sphere. "Neither cloth corruption inherit
incorruption." Standing alone these words sound as though that which is corruptible
is beyond hope. The body of corruption would go to the grave with no hope of resurrection
or change forever. And it would mean exactly that were it not for the qualifying message
that follows. "Behold, I show you a mystery...this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed
up in victory" (I Cor. 15:50-54).
No one can deny it-we must be changed,
spirit, soul, and body! Only by a mighty quickening of divine life can soul and body
inherit the Kingdom. The apostle does not say that the body cannot inherit the Kingdom,
merely that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom. The word of God has made it very
clear that our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, "shall change our vile body, that it
may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able
to subdue all things unto Himself,' (Phil. 3:21). The vile body of flesh and blood cannot
inherit the Kingdom, but the changed body does indeed inherit the Kingdom. Oh, the mystery
of it!
Very few of the Lord's people understand
the great truth that there are two bodies, but the truth is that
"there is a NATURAL BODY, and there is a SPIRITUAL
BODY" (I Cor. 15:44). Many seem to think that the spiritual body will be the natural
body changed or transformed. But that is not what the apostle tells us. It is not said
that there IS a natural body, and some glad day after while there SHALL BE a spiritual
body. No! "There IS a natural body, and there IS a spiritual body." There
IS! Both bodies are a present tense reality. The natural body is the body of the
outward man, whereas the spiritual body is the body of the inward man. That is why Paul in
another place assures us, "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is
renewed day by day" (II Cor. 4: 16). The outward-man has a body and that body is
perishing-we all know that! But few understand that the inward-man also has a body that is
renewed, being raised up within us, day by day. The outer-man body is the flesh and blood
body inherited from Adam. The inner-man body is the glorious resurrection body of Jesus
Christ inherited from Him. Just as the outer-man body is not given to us
"ready-made," but following conception in our mother's womb is gradually formed
over a number of months, and continues to be formed for years until we reach adulthood; so
the inner-man body is not given to us "ready made," but subsequent to our
begettal as children of God the spiritual resurrection body of Jesus is formed in us by
the life of Christ raised up in us, progressively fashioned as we "put on the Lord
Jesus Christ." And just as the outer-man body is from earth, so the inner-man body is
from the Lord from heaven. The first is a natural and earthly body; the second is a
spiritual and heavenly body.
The inner-man body is the spiritual body.
The inner man body is our house from heaven. So the apostle continues by showing how it is
that the inner-man body exists even if the outer-man body is dissolved or passes away. But
God's highest purpose is that the outer-man body be caught up into, and swallowed
up by, the inner-man body. Hear what the Holy Spirit would teach us in these
words of wisdom and understanding: "For we know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle (the outer-man body) were dissolved (dies, decays), we (still) have
a building of God (the inner-man body) eternal in the heavens. For in this (the outer-man
body) we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven
(the inner-man body, the Christ body): if so be that being clothed (having the inner-man
body) we shall not be found naked (a dis-embodied spirit). For we that are in this
tabernacle (the outer-man body) do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be
unclothed (not have any body), but clothed upon (with the inner-man body), that mortality
(the outer-man body) might be swallowed up of life (the inner-man body).
Now He that hath wrought us for this selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us
the firsttruits of the Spirit" (II Cor. 5:1-5). The only way for corruption to put on
incorruption, and for mortality to put on immortality is for the outer-man natural body to
be swallowed up into the inner-man spiritual body so that the two BECOME
ONE-the mortal made immortal by the resurrection body of Jesus Christ formed within the
inward man. That is precisely why Paul says that we are not burdened to be unclothed, that
is, to die and put off the outer-man body, but we are burdened to be clothed upon, that
is, to put on the inner-man body over top of the outer-man body, that
mortality might be swallowed up of life. Oh, the wonder of it!
Our bodily change and full salvation is promised by our Lord. We ourselves, along with all creation, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODY. This honor of adoption, which means the redemption of our outer-man body, the universal Adamic body, belongs to all the sons of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit within us, as Paul also explained, "If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also QUICKEN (MAKE ALIVE) YOUR MORTAL BODIES BY HIS SPIRIT THAT DWELLETH IN YOU" (Rom. 8: 11). And now, already, praise be to God, we "have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be GLORIFIED TOGETHER" (Rom. 8:15-17). This, then, in some small part is the honor and glory for which the sons of God seek-the glory of incorruption and the honor of adoption. How glorious is the race now set before us! How marvelous and wonderful is it all! Blessed be the Lord who hath called us unto His Kingdom and glory!
The Kingdom of God is the realm of
incorruption and immortality! And we cannot fully inherit that which is immortal while we
are in a mortal state. We must be changed! We must put on incorruption! We must put on
immortality! The only way we can inherit the fullness of the Kingdom of God with our whole
being is for us to be changed. Although we began in some small way to see the Kingdom when
we were first born again, and through the experiences of Christ began to enter into the
Kingdom, and now by faith and obedience are beginning to possess our land, the fullness of
the Kingdom can only be inherited by being changed into the incorruptible, immortal,
imperishable, eternal life of Christ. The corruption of these mortal bodies and carnal
minds cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. If we are to rule and reign with Christ in His
incorruptible throne of glory and power, we must be changed into His image and likeness.
Nothing short of the divine nature can handle such glory and power without prostituting
it.
Let me make very plain that all who are
now entering and possessing the Kingdom have indeed already escaped corruption!
That will sound incredible and unbelievable to many who read these lines. But I must point
out that corruption is not the same as mortality, although these terms are often used
interchangeably by religious people. They do not bear the same meaning at all. Corruption
and mortality are not two ways of saying the same thing. On the one hand, mortality is the
state of being liable to death. On the other hand, corruption is the process by which
death works. We are mortal because we are corruptible, but we are not corruptible because
we are mortal. In physical terms we can illustrate it by saying that the aging process is
corruption, whereas mortality is the condition that underlies the aging process, and the
final result of the aging process.
The Word of God does not tell us that any
man has fully escaped mortality, and indeed none has except our Lord
Jesus Christ. "Keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ: who only hath immortality, dwelling in the
light which no man can approach unto..." (I Tim. 6:14,16). The apostle Peter does
tell us, however, that the saints of God have been made partakers of the divine nature,
"having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust" (II Pet. 1:4). Having escaped! Having escaped corruption!
Having escaped the very corruption that was brought into the world by lust, by
the lust or desire of mother Eve when she "saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired
(lusted after) to make one wise..." (Gen. 3:6).
What does this wonderful word mean to us?
Where and when and how have we escaped the corruption that is in the world? Ah, my
beloved, corruption is the process of dissolution that leads to death, the downward spiral
by which all things in the universe are being reduced to a worse state or inferior
condition. All organisms age and grow old. All food spoils. All mountains erode. All
mechanical things wear out. All societies break down in moral decay. Every kingdom and
empire weakens and finally collapses. Every spiritual movement, historical and current,
eventually stagnates and goes into apostasy. Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse.
Suns and stars burn out and self-destruct. There is a universal law of corruption, the
bondage that enslaves every visible and invisible thing of the cosmos. The movement is
always down, down, down.
And that's how it was in my life until
that blessed day when Christ appeared and I was born again by the incorruptible
seed of the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. A divine and
incorruptible life was injected into my reality and in that wonderful moment old things
passed away and all things became new. By that heavenly and divine intervention my course
was changed, my direction reversed, my movement turned up-side-down. Instead of continuing
the downward journey, I commenced an upward climb. And now I can truthfully and joyfully
testify-I am no longer getting worse-I AM GETTING BETTER! Oh, yes! I
AM GETTING BETTER! I am now learning of Christ. I am growing up into Him in all
things. I am putting on the mind of Christ. I am receiving His chastisements and
experiencing His dealings. I am tasting the powers of the world to come. I am apprehending
His righteousness, peace, and joy. I am eating His word and drinking His life. I am
overcoming sins, weaknesses, unbelief, problems, fears, and obstacles of every kind. I am
putting off the old man, and putting on the new man. Daily, continually, progressively,
unceasingly, from glory to glory I AM BEING CHANGED! No longer am I being reduced to a
worse state and an inferior condition-I am now being transformed by the renewing of my
mind into a better state, into a superior condition! I
have escaped the irresistible downward plunge-I have escaped CORRUPTION! Oh, hallelu-yah!
I am now incorruptible-on my way up instead of down!
This truth of incorruption is far too
important to be passed over without earnest consideration. The wonderful truth is that
incorruption leads to immortality. This corruptible must put on incorruption before this
mortal can be empowered to put on immortality. That is the precise and significant order
in the Word of God. God's purpose in man's redemption is not to just deliver us from the
penalty of our sins, but to re-create us, to make a new creature of us, a new kind of man
in the image of Him who created us. Having been molded and fashioned after the image of
the first man, we have now begun to put off that likeness and to put on the image and
likeness of the second man, the Lord from heaven. We must put off the image of the earthy,
and put on the image of the heavenly; we must be changed from the natural, earthly, living
creatures we first were to be re-fashioned as spiritual, heavenly ones. This is not an
option, it is a must; it is not discretional, it is mandatory if we are to inherit the
Kingdom. So the scriptures declare, "And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we
shall also bear the image of the heavenly." My! what a purpose this is. It staggers
the imagination to contemplate such a change; but change we must if we are to inherit the
promises.
Incorruption is the process of man's
"fall" being REVERSED! If one is watching a program on his VCR and decides to
stop and rewind it to see a scene again, he is simply reversing what he has previously
seen with his eyes. It is comical sometimes to watch the people running backwards, and
bodies rising from the ground to the roof of a building. You can see a vase that was
smashed into a thousand pieces put together again, or a car that wrecked, back up and
become as it was before. Whatever you saw was restored to its beginning by passing through
the motion in reverse. And this is exactly what incorruption is: THE FALL OF MAN IN
REVERSE! It means a progressive rising up again into that oneness in God that man knew in
his bright beginning. The order of Adam first being alive, then sinning, then becoming
more and more vile, and finally dying, is put in reverse. From that death we stand up
again in the spiritual life of Christ within. Then we proceed to obedience, overcoming,
and transformation into the image of God-and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death!
When we were first begotten of God our
bodies were not "changed" or made "immortal" at that time, but when
that birthing of God's Spirit took place the life of Christ began to be
raised up in us. In that blessed moment the ego of old Adam laid down in us and died,
while the new creation man was conceived within the womb of our flesh. Corruption
put on incorruption! Truly the resurrection had dawned within our bosom. But our
outer-man bodies saw no change. The spirit within, which first died in that long ago Eden,
centuries before Adam's body died, has been quickened by the Spirit of life from God and
caused to stand up from the realm of separation and death. We have experienced the
resurrection of our spirit, and now there must follow the resurrection of our soul. We
have experienced the standing up again of our spirit, and now the awakening and rising up
of our minds, emotions, wills and desires into the mind, emotion, will and desire of
Christ is taking place. Through the process of incorruption all the spiritual faculties
that were lost in the fall of Adam are being restored to the elect by the operation of
God. All that was lost shall be regained. It is more than merely coming to life again, it
is the orderly restoration of the totality of our original state of being including all
the mighty spiritual faculties, capacities, abilities, and all wisdom and knowledge. Such
awesome powers do not belong in a mortal body, nor would we want an immortal body apart
from those powers! That is why God has arranged that the final, ultimate, crowning event
of this restoration will shed itself in the REDEMPTION OF OUR BODY. At that blessed moment
we shall have fully inherited the Kingdom of God!
The spiritual world of the Kingdom of
Heaven is a world with which we become familiar as we walk in the Spirit of God and
experience more and more our union with the Father; a world so wonderfully real that all
who once have had their eyes opened to it beg to remain within its celestial precincts,
never more to return to the lowly estate and level of the natural man. It follows of
necessity that man's being, because it is unsuited to the spiritual world, must be changed
by the power of God. A bird would need a mighty change to be able to live under the water,
or a fish to live in the air; but the Lord promises a much more striking change to those
who are predestinated to be manifested as the sons of God with power.
With what anticipation do we wait for
this glorious manifestation! Meantime we are taught to believe: "We look for the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body..." This is not meant
merely for revelation, to be left for the future; for the full development of our life in
sonship we must seek to enter into it and appropriate it. We do this as we learn to
triumph over death on every level. We do it as we learn to look to Christ as the Lord of
our body, claiming its entire consecration, securing even here and now victory over the
terrible dominion sin has had in the body. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth
death" (James l: l S). We do it as we allow the powers of the coming age to possess
us, and to lift us up into a life in the heavenly places, to enlarge our hearts and our
hopes, and to anticipate here and now, the things that have never entered into the heart
of man to conceive.
Sons of God! Seek after incorruption
and immortality. Let this be the crown of your life in sonship. Do not seek
immortality in your physical body first, or only, apart from incorruption in your
thoughts, emotions, desires, ambitions, will, purposes, hopes, dreams, attitudes, and
actions. Seek to live an incorruptible life, to walk an incorruptible walk, as that which
will lead you to glory and immortality. Nothing will prepare you for immortality more than
faithfulness in every step of putting on the MIND OF CHRIST. The experience of His power
to make you holy, spirit, soul, and body, will quicken you to a power that shall not cease
its work until the sin that causes death has been abolished in your being. As you seek to
experience within yourself to the full, the power of HIS TRANSFORMING LIFE, your heart
will be enlarged to see the position the sons of God have been destined to occupy in the
universe, as having all things made subject to them, and you shall for your part be fitted
to live worthy of that high and holy calling! Can you not see how it is that incorruption leads
to immortality? Immortality is the ultimate end of the process of incorruption, just as
human maturity is the end of the process of physical and emotional development.
This glorious realm of immortality that
lies beyond the power of temptation, sin, limitation, sickness, sorrow and death belongs
to the sons of God, but, blessed be God! it is likewise the hope of ALL CREATION. The
creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption to
begin its journey into the spiritual dimension of immortality in the Kingdom of God.
Creation is not groaning for another revival, nor for another evangelistic campaign, nor
for another healing campaign, nor for more gifts of the Spirit, nor for more apostles,
prophets and teachers, nor for more signs, wonders and miracles, nor yet for 144,000
flaming evangelists just like Jesus when He walked the shores of blue Galilee. For two
millenniums we have had revival after revival, healing upon healing, signs and wonders and
miracles in abundance, New Testament Churches with their five-fold ministries, and none of
them have ever brought forth the fullness of the Kingdom of God on earth, nor has even one
of them or all of them together ever delivered the creation from the bondage of
corruption! The creation continues to groan in its bondage and we ourselves, groan within
ourselves, as we wait for the disclosing of our sonship-the redemption of our bodies! It
is not another "patch-up" job we want, not a re-run of previous moves of God,
but a full and complete and eternal deliverance from the whole dreadful realm of
limitation, imperfection and death!
Jesus is
the first of the firstfruits of this glorious victory. The sons of God are the
firstfruits, redeemed from among men (Rev. 14:5). All creation is the harvest that
follows. It was necessary that after having lived in the flesh and overcome all things,
Jesus should be resurrected Himself by the power and glory of the Father, that He might be
able then to minister even that resurrection life to a firstfruit company; that they, in
turn, apprehending all that pertains to that life, might be able then to minister it to
the rest of creation. For this creation waits expectantly!
To be continued................................................J. PRESTON EBY