This is a compilation of articles on the topic of Spiritual Identity. It is all about definitions of who you are based on the sacrifice of Jesus. It is an exploration of the theme of divine call. Issues explored include: A kingdom not of this world; Blessedness; Death by proxy; Delegated authority; Embrace your birthright; Grace to the humble; The Lord is your inheritance; The Lord my identity; The Lord's property; and The measure of your value.
3. CONTENTS
1
A kingdom not of this world
4
2
Blessedness
8
3
Clouds without water
10
4
Death by proxy
14
5
Delegated authority
16
6
Embrace your birthright
20
7
Grace to the humble
22
8
How to be a waistband
26
9
Living without gates or bars
30
10
New relationship with God through Jesus Christ
33
11
Not the Lord’s
37
12
The divine prerogative
41
13
The Lord is your inheritance
43
14
The Lord my identity
46
15
The Lord the Fighter
50
16
The Lord’s property
54
17
The measure of your value
57
18
The right to become sons
59
19
The yoke of Babylon
63
20
Who is David?
67
21
Appendix
69
4. 1
A KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD
John 18:36: Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If
my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been
fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my
kingdom is not from the world.”
We have obtained a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews
12:28), but the kingdom of this world is passing away.
Nevertheless, we need to understand the working of that
kingdom so that we can fully benefit from it. In this kingdom that
is not of this world, everyone is a child of the King and have the
opportunity to be close to him. In this kingdom, we have the
Holy Spirit in us is constantly maintaining the reality of that
kingdom within us (Romans 14:17).
In the kingdom of the world, obedience is everything; the
people must obey the ruler, but in the kingdom of God, to
fellowship with the King by the Holy Spirit is mandated
(2Corinthians 13:14). In the kingdom of the world, the rulers are
aloof, and especially the kind of kingdom under which Jesus was
judged. However, in the kingdom of God, everyone that is a child
of the king has the right to be on “first name basis” with God.
What I mean is that we all have the same right to the presence of
the king – the name of Jesus. You can call the King by his name,
and without ceremony draw near to him. Actually, you are
always near him since he is in a spiritual location not a physical
5. A KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD
one.
This is the only kingdom where the king dies for the kingdom
to show his loyalty to them. In the worldly kingdom, the kings are
not expected to die for the subjects; instead, the subjects go to war
in loyalty to the king and die expressing that loyalty. In the
Kingdom of God, the king died and gains our loyalty, inspiring an
equal devotion to him in the believers, the subjects (Galatians 2:20,
2Corinthians 5:15).
Here in the world’s kingdom, you are great if you are served,
but in the kingdom of the more you serve the greater you are
(Luke 22:24-27). In the worldly kingdom, whether mediaeval or
modern, through politics, you look out for ways to get the better
of others and serve your own interest and ambition. Politics
means striving for position and seeking out ways to push yourself
forward in an acceptability contest.
But in the kingdom, you are supposed to esteem others better
than yourself (Philippians 2:3-4). Such frame of mind is alien to
the worldly culture. However, it is the only culture in the
heavenly kingdom, where strife is not acceptable and selfish
ambition actually disqualifies you from being positioned in the
kingdom (James 3:14-17).
Path to progress in the kingdom of God is how well you help
others to progress. Love is the defining word in relationships and
therefore everyone is to look out for other (Romans 12:9).
How much do you see yourself as part of the kingdom Jesus
was talking about? And what is your input to it? If it is great, you
will among those who will love His appearing (2Timothy 4:1, 6-8),
who have their treasure in heaven and not on earth (Matthew
6:19-21), they have been setting their minds on things on heaven
and not on earth (Colossians 3:1-2).
In the kingdom Jesus was talking about, spiritual power is
emphasised rather than physical might. The kingdom of God
reigns where it matters: over principalities and power (Ephesians
1:19-23).
This kingdom cannot be shaken. And we can only access that
kingdom by faith, because it is not visible to the eyes. That is why
many people falter at that point having lived all their lives on
physical evidence, refusing to engage with anything that cannot
be measured in the laboratory. They want the kingdom to make
5
6. A KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD
sense. But like to Pilate, the talk of another kingdom, unseen with
angels to boot, is mere gibberish.
But it is really simple. Humanity once abused the God’s
closeness to them in Eden with satanic deception coming through
the physical gates: the senses (Genesis 3:1-8). The senses of man
therefore became veiled to the realm of the spirit, because man
was no longer alive to God.
So to reach God, man needed to look beyond the physical
evidence but he had become a mere physical being, devoid of the
life of God, without the equipment to look beyond his “nose”.
This set up an impossible situation that was only bridged by the
cross of Jesus.
The kingdom of this world in time past, before the sin of
Adam, was the kingdom of God, but sin made the devil the god of
this world. Therefore using the access point of Jesus, people are
introduced to a spiritual kingdom. After that avenue has been
well exploited, Jesus will come back a second time and the
kingdoms of this world would become the kingdom of Christ
(Revelation 11:15), a physical cum spiritual kingdom.
Now, the kingdom of God is primarily spiritual. That was why
Jesus warned that the kingdom of God does not come by
observation nor bound to a physical location, the kingdom is
where Jesus as Christ is and that is in you (Luke 17:20-21).
Therefore, he wants to set up his throne in you in a spiritual
kingdom (John 14:23).
And that is where it matters. Jesus said, it is not what goes into
a person in food that defiles a man but what come out of a man
(Matthew 15:16-20). Defilement, being unacceptable to God is
spiritual (negative). Sanctification, being acceptable to God
(positive) is also spiritual. Therefore the divine rule is from inside
out.
It is therefore logical that mere physical evaluation cannot
define what is spiritual. Jesus did not conform to the definition of
spirituality in his time, which was largely measured in physical
terms, how you observe the physical requirements of the law with
the exaggerated and twisted additions of the Pharisees, with their
overemphasis on physical conformity.
Paul once fell into that trap of misjudging Jesus and said later
that he once viewed Him according to physical parameters
6
7. A KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD
(2Corinthians 5:16), but not anymore; he views Him now
according to His spiritual credentials, because his spiritual senses
are developed (Hebrews 5:14).
Man had a capacity to appraise the spiritual things but he lost
it in Adam because of sin. Jesus now said, except a man be born
again he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5-7).
He also equated being born again to being born of the Spirit:
the beginnings of the stirring up of the spiritual senses.
A church that is not helping the people to develop their
spiritual senses will fast become merely a physical organisation,
with no spiritual value to the people. They may be great in
humanitarian efforts, full of practical discussions in their bible
studies, and analysis of the political situation of the time.
However, they miss the whole point of the church, which is the
laboratory for testing and developing the spiritual capacities of
the people of God. Because the kingdom they signed up to, when
they gave their life to Christ, was not of this world.
If you are not developing their capacities in that realm, you are
not really helping them.
What are you giving the people, which is more than they can
get from the government in welfare, get from the society in
business opportunity, or more than they can get in a good
management school? You should give them what is out of this
world. They don’t want to be made comfortable, but be stretched
beyond the confines of their senses. That is where the kingdom is.
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