God's Kingdom - Not Just Heaven


His People Carry

     the Hope for Humanity

                                                                                      



by Robert Ricciardelli

Dawn Panorama, January 27, 2010








Jun 26, 2010

Father is increasingly bringing His government upon the earth to quicken mankind toward His image and intentions. It is time to assess and discuss the complex aspect of human behavior from a Kingdom perspective. I pray we ask the Lord often to reveal to us what needs to be known - that which may be hidden, and help us to receive and implement it in our lives for His glory.

The Gospel of the Kingdom is the redemptive manner in which God intends for His will to be accomplished in the earth. This, in itself, should alert us to the misappropriation of prevailing messages of the "preparing us for Heaven" gospel. Yes, thankfully Heaven is in the mix, but the place called Heaven is for later while the work of spreading Heaven on earth is present and ongoing.

This Kingdom is more than the redemptive act accomplished in the Person of Christ, resulting in our going to Heaven. We are thankful for redemption, but we cannot remain stuck there, waiting on Him or Heaven, while all the while He is waiting on us. He has empowered us with His Spirit, and therefore the power of Heaven is within us. No more "hanging on" for Jesus to return when 

"He is hanging out with us" to occupy until He comes.

The sheer weight of the word 'Kingdom' carries governmental connotation, which lovingly demands a behavioral response from us. Christ presented and demonstrated a "Father pleasing" life that is beyond doctrine and rituals. There must be a response to the declarations of, "The Kingdom of God is at hand," and, "The Kingdom of God is within you." I hear the echoes of Apostle Paul's cry of laboring until Christ becomes fully formed in us.

New Birth Beyond the "Heaven and Hell" Destination

Most of us have read the Bible with the lens of being born again and going to Heaven as the final prize - and then collecting many more into our buildings to sing, "I'll fly away," while expecting the world to "fry away" anytime soon. Being born of the Spirit has always been only the entrance into the Kingdom of God, which is the living realm of being Spirit-filled attractors of His heavenly essence upon the earth. The end game of Heaven for each of us will come, but now while we are here, we bring the power and presence of God through our natural lives. This season for us is just getting started, and the first step is to begin to shed our religious ways that many times distracts us.

Impurities in each of us need to be exposed and expelled so that more of His light and nature can flow from us. The new birth represents the coming out of darkness and being reborn into the Kingdom sphere of Agape Love and Light. When this occurs, I am empowered with Kingdom understanding, and am free to act against myself or the nature of "self." The new birth is Father's insemination of His eternal seed to each person who receives and embraces Christ.

John 1:12 But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! This is indeed that which was taken from us in the transgression of man and now restored to us in the last "Son of Man." As His children, we once again have the "God in us" potential to be human as God intended.

 

His life given to me is that which enables me to act against myself, since my life is not my own, and since now   I have chosen to live as a Father-pleaser.


We are Becoming Ambassadors of God's Nature of Love

God is Love and Christ appeared as Love Incarnate for the sole purpose, or rather the specific purpose, of being the one that could and did act against Himself. This He did for the single purpose of bringing in a new creation, one that is capable of acting against self in order to live as He did for the world. His life showed the way, and His death and resurrection secured the way for all of us.

That purpose is stated in Hebrews 10:7: "I come...to do Thy will, O God." This, of course, is restated in the encounter at Gethsemane: "Not My will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42). We can now see the manner in which Father intends for His will to be accomplished on the earth through us, who also say, 

"Father, not my will, but Yours be done in my life." 

Becoming incarnate ambassadors of God's nature, which is Agape love, is His will for us.

The activated ingredients of His nature are present and revealed through His children. As Christ is becoming fully formed in us through becoming disciples of His way, truth and life, His nature will increasingly and supernaturally be revealed. Living a life that Father intends for each of us is the evidence of the power of God within us. This is not works based on anything but an outward flow of His agape nature in us. Religion has rules to follow that create a form of godliness, but it falls far short of His power and His glory, and cannot be sustained.

So, we live under His governance, and His Kingdom government has no end. Nations will continue to rise and fall, but His Kingdom will continue to come while His people rise up as "Kingdomized" servants who carry the hope for humanity. These are exciting times, as the opportunity to present everlasting hope has never been better. We have the freedom through Christ to put down our nature and live in His nature. 


There is no greater measurement to our daily living than 

how much we love our Father and love others. 

You have come a long way, and so have I, and we've got a long way to go. 

But He is with us, and the gates of Hell

shall not prevail against us or

  His Eternal Kingdom.


AMEN !


Robert Ricciardelli
Converging Zone Network &
Visionary Advancement Strategies
Email: Agaperoad@gmail.com


Robert Ricciardelli, along with his wife Joyce, are the founders of the Converging Zone Network and Visionary Advancement Strategies. Through their connecting ministry, newsletters, and social networking platforms, they bring collaboration to over 100,000 each week in various spheres of society. Robert's 25 years in Corporate America has given him a broad world-view of the Kingdom of God in everyday life. Robert speaks at churches and conferences regarding the Kingdom of God, and practical ways to advance His Kingdom into every sphere and mountain of society. Robert is also a Kingdom business consultant, and a transformational life coach, assisting in the discovery of solutions that advance the destinies of individuals, faith communities, and businesses.


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