Episode 21: Kingdom Principals Part 1

We have established our belief systems and now it's time to establish the environment in which we will practice them. This will be the first of many in which we will start to explore the environment in which we have been saved for. Let's start exploring our new surroundings as Christians. 

Transcript

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There are experiences that are unique to this kingdom that we would never have experienced before. There are rooms that you have not walked into. There are hallways that you have not navigated. There are artifacts. There are giftings that you have yet to behold. Okay? There are key experiences that are specific to the Christian that a person that's not a Christian would never be able to experience the event. So if you did not, if you were not able to check out my update video over the podcast on Facebook, I encourage you to go and look at that. Um it kind of gives you a layout of what we're about to step into. So to kind of summarize what we're what we're about to start talking about, over the last 20 episodes, we've been talking about these key belief systems that I believe are essential in navigating the Christian life. We've talked about the importance of God's word, that God is good, and that we are responders to him, not initiators. We're not manipulating God to bless us, but we're realizing that he already has blessed us and we're responding to that, right? And we talked about the very beginning of the podcast, the the the confession of God's word, which is a technique, a biblical technique that we use to establish these key belief systems. Okay? What we're going to start stepping into in these next this next session of episodes, this next sequence of episodes, is what I like to call kingdom realities. Now there are four realities, there's probably more, but um, to what I believe, there are four key realities that the Christians should be experiencing throughout their Christian life. From when they get born again to the moment where they at where they go on to glory and see Jesus Christ face to face. Okay? These realities will forever influence how we partner with God in our everyday life. Okay? Now we have established three belief systems. We've already talked about them, but these belief systems will actually be kind of like a help meet when we move into these realities. Picture the realities like a cup, okay? And picture the belief systems as water or or some form of liquid, okay? The realities that we're going to talk to will be our environment. It will it will shape everything we know about the Christian life. It's the it's the the rooms that we walk into, the hallways that we walk walk through, okay? It will shape the environment, it will shape our experiences that we have every single day as Christians. But our belief systems is how we will see these. Okay? So these are experiences will be something that we should be having as a Christian, but these belief systems that we've already established, we will partner with those belief systems in order to access these kingdom realities. Okay, so these so I hope that you kind of see how these belief systems had to come first. The belief systems showed us how to see God, but these kingdom realities is going to base basically define how we partner with God or how we will experience God in our every single life, okay? In our everyday life. Now, but before we can explore these realities, we need to set the stage. Okay? Those of you who have been with me since the beginning of this podcast, you know I'm very story-driven. I like to see, I like chronology. I like to set like to set the stage and kind of and kind of step into it step by step by step. That this step is highly influenced or highly contingent on the previous steps. Okay, so before we can start diving into these kingdom realities, I want to set the stage. I want to we have established some key elements to define the kingdom in which we are a part of. Okay, once we have a healthy viewpoint of the kingdom, then we can start experiencing. So this so for this episode and probably two more episodes after this, I want to establish what the kingdom of God is. Before we can start experiencing it, before we can start navigating, we have to kind of define what it is. Okay, so there are three foundational principles that we're gonna be talking about over the next couple of episodes. There are three foundational principles about the kingdom that we will explore. The first one is that the kingdom is your residence. Okay? That's the one that we will talk about today. The second one is that the kingdom is now, it's not just it's not futuristic. It's not something that we will see in the by and by, but it is now. And the third one is that the kingdom of God is within you. Okay? It's not just a it's such something that we see on the on a cloud or something that we will experience when we go to heaven, but the fact that the kingdom is now, it's your current residence, and that it is within you. So those are the three things that we are going to be talking about over the next couple of episodes. Okay? So, first off, let's look at the kingdom is your residence. Look at Colossians chapter 1, verses 12 through 14, and it reads this giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be per meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. So there are three concepts that I want to pull from these verses that will kind of tie into what I'm talking about when we're talking about that the kingdom God is your residence, it is your home, it is the place in which you you inhabit. Okay? First thing is this we have the scripts, the phrase where it says, Who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. This speaks at the fact that we have been moved from one way of life to another. Okay? The power of darkness refers to the hold that darkness has on us. It speaks to control. Okay, so for anyone that has that I was blessed to uh be born again to have to grow up in a Christian home and experience salvation at a very young age. So I don't necessarily have that that obvious testimony where I was this way before Christ, but now I'm this way in Christ. Okay? I don't necessarily have that. But for those of you who got born again later on in life, you have that testimony, you have that experience, that that template or that picture to where you could say, I remember where I was like this. I remember the the the hindrances, I remember the anchors, the weights that I dealt with, but I now know I now have a different life in Christ, right? Well, the first thing that we understand as far as this resonance thing is that we have been moved from way of one way of life to a whole new way, to a new whole way of living. Okay? Now the power of now notice what it is. We've been moved from the power of darkness, and we've been translated into the kingdom of his dear son. Notice the word power, okay? This speaks of control. It speaks of that we our previous residents controlled us and it forced us to do what probably what we did not want to do. You probably remember scriptures where it talks about where Paul was saying, the thing that I do not want to do, I do, right? That speaks to the slavery of sin, that speaks to our inability to control what we are, what we don't want to do, right? So in our previous existence before Christ, before salvation, our previous life, which is darkness, our previous life was all about controlling us, and it was all about forcing us. Okay? But within our new residence, within our new way of life, we have liberty. In 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 17, it says, Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Okay, so I want you to understand that there is this difference, there is this um contradiction, there's this contraction between the powers of darkness and the kingdom of his dear son, right? So in one way of living, we were controlled, we were forced to do certain things that we probably did not want to do. But in the kingdom of his dear son, we have been moved from one way of life, we have moved from one reality, we have been moved from one existence, and now we are living in something totally brand new, something totally that we have not seen before or lived in, and is and is as a kingdom of liberty. So that's the key thing I want you to remember. This picture on this first part, okay? That we have been moved from one way of living, and now we're moved, we're now we're move living in a totally different environment, okay? The second thing is this is that Jesus is the Lord of this kingdom, okay? The thing that you need to understand, guys, is that there's scripture that says that Satan is the ruler of this present darkness or the kingdom of this of this world. So, this world system, the way the world does things, the way the world moves, it is all orchestrated according to the kingdom of darkness. Now, we've already talked about this. We have been moved from this kingdom structure into a totally different one. Because we now live in a different kingdom, because we now live in a different way, a different civilization, if you will, we have a different ruler. This ruler, we all know, is Jesus Christ. Now, if you look at John chapter 1, verse 4, it says it says this in him was life, and the life was the light of men. Now, life, the key phrase I want I want to pull from this verse is that life was the light of men. Okay? Life was the light of men. Christ's life, the way he lived, what he spoke, the way he ministered, the way he communicated with people, his life, which is recorded in the Gospels, is our light. Okay? It reveals our path, it reveals our purpose, it reveals the direction in our life. So that is one of the key things I want you to take away from uh Colossians, okay? That Jesus, as the ruler of our lives, as the ruler of the kingdom in which we now live, he doesn't he doesn't just dictate instructions. In the kingdom of darkness, again, it was all about control. It was all about, it was basically dictatorship. It was about this is the way it's going to go, and you have no choice in the matter. La di la di la da. Okay, is all about that, forcing us to do things. But in the kingdom of light, there is liberty, there is freedom, but yet our ruler, he sets an example on how to live. His life is our light. His life explains things, it directs our steps, for the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord, right? Okay, so he doesn't just sit, he's not just sitting on a throne saying, Do this, do that, and doesn't give an explanation, doesn't give a reason why. Okay, that's not the nature and the character of our God. But the scripture says that he has forsook his divinity, okay, became lower than the angels, and he's now l he lived the life of a human as an example for us to uh to for us to reflect and for us to uh mimic, okay? Scripture says that he says, When I go to see my father, you will do greater works than I. Why are we able to do that? Because we have his example. Not only do we have the partnership of the Holy Spirit who helps us and empowers us and renews us and able to do these works, but we have his example. We have his example recorded in scripture that explains, directs, renews, uh, comforts, encourages us to do not only the things that he did, but much more than what he did. Right? Okay, so Satan controlled and forced us, but Christ directs and provides his life as an example within the direction. Again, he's not just saying, do this, do that, I'm I'm ordering you to do this. No, but the thing that he tells us to do, he has already done it. And because he has already done it, he has the tools, he has the equipment, he has the knowledge, he has the experience to actually guide, teach, instruct, and help us to do the things that he is requiring. He doesn't just tell us to do it and just leave us high and dry. He tells us to do it, but then he empowers and equips us with the knowledge and equipment to actually do the thing that he wants us to do. If you remember in Acts chapter 2, when we have Pentecost, before that, in Acts chapter 1, Jesus says, before he basically says this, before you go and do the Great Commission, tarry in Jerusalem until you have been endued with power. Why did he tell them to do that? Because there is an equipment, there is an empowerment that I want you to have so that you will be successful and beneficial in the the calling, in the directives that I'm wanting you to do, right? So again, this just re-re-emphasizes. He does not equip, he just he does not tell you to do something and then does not give you the equipment to do it. So some of you are you're sitting here listening to this podcast and you're thinking, hey, the Lord is telling me to do something. He's telling me, I'm sensing the Lord to step out in faith, start doing something. But I don't have the finances, I don't have the vision for it, I don't have the partnership for it, uh, my my family might be against it, I might be getting negative voices. And I just want to encourage you that he equips, he equips you for every good work that he wants you to do, right? For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works that he before ordained that we should walk in them. He empowers us, renews us, and equips us to do every single thing that he wants us to do. So just take courage in that, take comfort in that. That if he is behind it, he is if he is behind the vision, if he is behind the directive, he will also fund it, he will also equip it, and he will also empower it to be a success. Not only for you, but also for those that you will minister to. Okay? So his life, as recorded in the gospels, is our template, our example, and it is our guidepost and how we are supposed to live. In the kingdom of darkness, it was all about controlling us. It was all about ordering us around with no with no help or assistance. But in the kingdom of light, there is liberty, there is freedom, and within that freedom, there is there is direction with assistance. Not just direction, which is a dictatorship, okay, but direction with assistance. He doesn't leave us high and dry, okay? So in this new home, in this in the in that the fact that the kingdom of God is our residence in this new home, okay, not only not only have we been translated into this new home with a new way of living, a new way of thinking, a new way of moving, okay, but we've been translated into this, we have been moved into this new home with a different Lord who leads by example. Okay? Now, this third concept that I want us to pull from Colossians chapter 1, verse 13, it says this, is this the con the phrase where it says redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of sins. Okay, there are realities that we are to experience that we cannot experience in our previous residence. Okay. For now, again, for those of you that uh you have memories of your life before salvation, you will probably remember some of the things that you did. You probably remember some of the tendencies that you na that you lean towards. Some of you might still be circling with those on this side of the cross. It's okay. I'll probably talk about in the I'll talk about that in future episodes. Okay, but there are certain experiences, there are certain realities, there are certain convictions that you would not be exposed to if you stayed in the kingdom of darkness. Okay. America has a specific culture, has a specific way of doing things, has a specific way of seeing, moving, talking, living, all of that. But when you go to a different country like Great Britain, or when you go to a different country like um somewhere at like Mongolia or whatever, there are different cultures, and because there are different cultures, there's a different way of living, there's a different way of communicating, there's a different way of relation of having and developing relationships. Okay, and there are and my point is those cultures are so different, they're they're not bad, they're just different, right? They're just different, they're just different, and you would never experience the different cultures of Great Britain, you'll never experience the different cultures of Nigeria, you'll never experience the different cultures of Australia if you stayed in America, right? And so my point is that there was a different way of living, there's a different way of cult, a different culture in the kingdom of darkness. That you kingdom of darkness, and and thank God we have been moved from that, we have been moved from the powers of that, we have been removed from the control of that, and now have stepped into the fullness and liberty of Jesus Christ in the kingdom of his dear son, right? But my in the kingdom of light, in the kingdom of his dear son, just like that, there's a different culture, there's a different way of living, there's a different way of communicating, there's a different way of relating to one another, and that is actually contrary to how the way the world works, right? Scripture talks about that um the darkness did not understand the light. That's also in John chapter 1. Okay, the darkness did not understand the light. What does that mean? That the ways of God are so contrary to the ways of the world. Scripture also says that the foolishness of God confounds the wise of man. Okay? In other words, his ways are so different, his ways are so high and and and contract and different from the ways of the world. That when if we are doing things the way the kingdom wants us to do things, if we are experiencing the kingdom the way God wants us to experience, the world should be taking notice because it is so different. Okay? You've heard this before that if you if you're acting just like the world, you might not be saved. You probably have heard this concept before. I want to take that a step further, okay? It is for the world's benefit that you live according to the ways of the kingdom because it is so different, it is so um peculiar than the ways of the world that it is in their interest that they have a different option, that they have a different perception on way of living. Okay, it's recorded in Romans chapter 10. How can they call upon him whom they whom they have not heard? In other words, how can they choose a way of life that they have not been exposed to? How are they going to get exposed to a new way of living? We we present that. We present as ambassadors of the current kingdom. Okay? So three concepts, right? Three concepts that we uh about this new residence that we are living in in the kingdom of God, okay? We have been moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. We are now living in a different kingdom, which requires us to look different, speak different, connect differently, move differently, minister differently, think differently. Everything is supposed to be different because we are in a different community. You would not there are certain customs, okay, that you would not be able to experience if you stayed in the kingdom of darkness. We have a new ruler. We have a new ruler, and he does not just give orders, he does not just tell us what to do, okay? But he leads by example, okay, and we are responding to that example. I hope you're seeing the uh one of our key belief systems echoing back into this, okay? He is our key example, he is our template, he is our blueprint, right? And we follow not only what he has said and done, but we yield to everything that he's telling us to do. And not only does he tell us what to do, but he actually shows us how to do it through his life, but through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, right? But again, and now because we are living in a different residence, there is a new way of life that we're supposed to be experiencing. There are experiences that are unique to this kingdom that we would never have experienced before. There are rooms that you have not you have not walked into, there are hallways that you have not navigated, there are artifacts, there are giftings that you have yet to behold. Okay, there are key experiences that are specific to the Christian that a person that's not a Christian would never be able to experience. Okay? And and this leads into what we're going to be talking about for the backbone of this next section of the podcast is that there are four key realities, in my opinion, that every Christian should be experiencing throughout their Christian life. Now, we're not going to get into that just quite yet because there are still two more key concepts about the kingdom in specifically. The kingdom that we need to go over. Okay? So, all in all, the main thing I want to get with you get to today is that whether you just got born again, whether you just got saved, or maybe you've been a Christian for many, many, many, many years, I want you to adopt this posture, adopt this mindset. You, if you have not already, you are living in a different environment. Okay? Than what then what the world lives in. You are supposed to stand out. Right? There and this goes beyond just operating in power. This is an operating in the gifts of the spirit. This just goes beyond that, guys. I feel like sometimes when we talk about you're supposed to be be different than the world, we got we automatically go to the gifts of power, the get the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Okay, great, awesome. I'm talking about that that when the world is shaking, you're steady. When the people on your job is freaking about getting laid over, you're steady. You're at peace, right? Because you know his nature, you know his character towards you. You know the nature and the character of the kingdom in which you reside, right? You know the inner workings of it, you know how to navigate it, you know how to partner with it. Does this make sense? Okay? This goes just beyond the manifestations of the Spirit of God, but but just every day living, okay, that you make choices contrary to how the world expects you to, right? And it gives them, it gives them a different option, it gives them a different perception on how to live, which again is just another way of preaching the gospel. Okay? So I hope this episode has been helpful to you. I hope it's been a blessing to you, and I hope it's it's helping you realize not to just throw it at you that you're supposed to be living differently, but to actually say that you have the opportunity to live differently. Okay? The kingdom of God has a specific way of life, and we're going to be exploring that in greater detail as we go through these next couple of episodes. So again, I hope this has been a blessing to you. I hope this has been uh helpful and beneficial to you and transformative, and you have the good a rest a good rest of your day or night. God bless.