I’ve mentioned over the last couple of weeks, that most people think that there must be more to God and being a Christian than just going to church for an hour once a week. And as I’ve said, there is much more and we want you to discover all of it.
Tonight we’re going to start the process of discovering the keys hidden in the Bible that will unlock the information you need to understand God’s master plan, and how you fit into it. We’ll be looking at some very familiar verses, that have been hidden in plane sight. Verses that are so familiar to us as Christians, we normally just gloss right over them. But in these verses, we will find the keys to God’s plan for man.
Let’s start by asking God to open our eyes. Let’s pray.
The concept of God’s master plan for man can be summed up with this one prevailing idea: The Kingdom of God.
When I was introduced to the concept of the Kingdom of God, I finally came to life as a Christian and I began to understand my purpose. It changed my perspective on everything…and I believe it will change yours too.
I had been in church every time the doors were open since I was a small child, but the power of God was not fully at work in my life until I started seeking the kingdom of God. Once I did, everything changed. The Word of God came to life in a way I can’t explain. I’ve never been a reader. As a matter of fact, the best way for me to fall asleep was to open a book…especially the Bible. But once I began to understand the principles of God’s kingdom, I could not get enough of His Word. I couldn’t stop reading. It was like a light was turned on and I was following it wherever it took me.
My prayer is that when I start flipping the light switch on, you’ll be seeking to see the light. That’s the first key to the Kingdom…you have to be seeking/looking for it. That’s why I didn’t see it for all those years, I wasn’t looking for it.
As we begin the journey to discover the Kingdom of God, our first step is to go back to where it all started.
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Stop right there. As Christians we fully accept that God created the earth and mankind…but we never stop and ask why.
We must answer the question of “why” we were created, in order to understand our purpose here on earth.
To understand why we were created, we need to understand The Creator and what motivated Him.
The Bible tells us that God is The King. The nature of a king is to expand His kingdom or territory.
The expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven is why God created the earth, it’s why He created Adam…and it’s why He created you. God wanted to expand His kingdom dominion from the invisible heavens to the visible earth.
Genesis 1:26-28 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; …
Mankind is unique in creation, because we are a reflection of the image of God. Why would God make man look and act like Him, with reason, knowledge and creativity? It becomes clear when He lists our areas of oversight and responsibility.
We were not just created and turned loose to do whatever we want. We were given a management assignment. The verse continues.
…let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them…
God made man in His image because we were originally designed to function in the earth the same way God does in heaven. Man was created, in order for God to delegate His Heavenly rulership authority to Adam for dominion of the earth.
…28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The word “dominion” is a term used to describe how a King rules his territory. Remember, it is always the nature of a King to be expanding His territory. When God created a new physical territory, the earth, He wanted a physical being to oversee it.
From the very beginning, God intended His spiritual Kingdom rule to be extended into the physical earth through man’s oversight.
God is a Spirit and rules the invisible spiritual Kingdom of Heaven.
He created man with a physical body to rule over His creation of the physical earth. Man was created to be the earthly physical rulership extension of God’s Kingdom.
Genesis 2:19 “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.”
Adam was given dominion over the earth. Whatever Adam called an animal, that was its name. His word/voice had authority in the earth.
Our original purpose was to rule with Heaven’s authority in the earth while God our Father rules in Heaven.
But Adam sinned and lost his authority. When Adam fell, he didn’t fall from heaven, (like satan) he fell from dominion over the earth…which was his original assignment of authority or dominion. Adam handed his authority to govern the earth, over to satan when he chose to follow Satan’s lies over God’s command.
The serpent had a punishment for his involvement in man’s rebellion. He had to crawl on his belly from that point forward. Eve had a punishment for her part in the rebellion. There would be pain in child bearing. But Adam’s punishment was different.
Genesis 3:17-19. “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Adam’s punishment was directed at the ground…what he was made from. From this point forward, it would grow thorns and thistles, and it would no longer respond to his words. Adam lost his voice of authority. He would now have to work to get the earth to give up what he needed…until he returned to it.
The thing Adam was supposed to rule over was now going to rebel against him. This punishment was a direct reflection of what Adam had done to God, when he rebelled against God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Adam had rebelled against God’s words and now the earth was going to rebel against Adam’s words.
That’s why God cursed the ground.
Sin had now entered Adam’s bloodline and so the last thing that happened was that God removed them from the garden of eden. He did this because the tree of Life was there and God didn’t want them to eat from it and then live forever in their sin. Adam’s removal was for his own benefit.
Man was supposed to be using God’s authority to rule the earth. God could no longer delegate His authority to us since we were now separated from Him by sin. There had to be a reset to the system God originally put in place, so He sent a second Adam to the earth.
1 Coninthians 15:45 “And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
When Jesus came, He was called “the second or last Adam”, because He was the second or last man to be born directly from God, not of natural means.
Luke 3:38 “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Adam was called “the son of God” before Jesus arrived. This is because Adam was the first man who came directly from God and not born through natural means.
We can see from this that Adam and Jesus were tied together much more than we had previously realized.
So now, we can begin to understand the answer to the big question:
Why did Jesus come to earth?
If you boil it down to its very core, Jesus came to repair the kingdom system that Adam had broken.
Jesus reintroduced the dominion or authority of the Kingdom of God in the earth through man. And that could only be done by being what Adam was created to be originally…sinless.
The perfect life Jesus lived, allowed Him to become the only legitimate sacrifice to atone for Adam’s original sin. We were all born into the family of sinners because we are a direct blood descendant of Adam.
This is why we all need to believe in and call on the name of Jesus to receive His offer of salvation from our sinful condition.
The ultimate goal of Jesus was to restore our relationship with the Father, which then allows us to re-engage His Kingdom expansion plan through out earth and man as the rightful delegated ruler over the earth.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
It says that God loved “the world”…This means His entire creation and the original order He set in place. His KINGDOM expansion plan. Not just people. God loved it all.
I’m about to say something that might shake your religious foundation. I’m not trying to be controversial or shocking. I’m just trying to turn the light switch on, so you can see the truth.
Jesus did not come to earth and suffer on a cross just so you could get a free ticket to heaven when you die.
Jesus came to reset the original order and relationship that God wanted with man. Which was for us to fulfill His assignment of delegated dominion authority over the earth and His kingdom expansion.
You may have a hard time accepting that.
If so, Here are some questions to consider:
If you believe all God wanted for mankind is for us to be with Him in Heaven, why did He put us on earth to begin with?
Did God make a mistake and then say, “I guess I shouldn’t have put man on the earth, I’ll bring him to heaven when he dies.
If the only reason Jesus came was so that you could join God in Heaven, why are you still here after accepting His gift? Wouldn’t God take us there as soon as we are qualified to go?
Here’s the problem: If you believe that The only reason Jesus came to earth, died and then rose again was for your ticket to Heaven, it becomes very easy to become self centered, thinking that everything else that Jesus did and taught are optional. You got the main thing taken care of and the rest of life is just about trying to get through it till you die.
The reality is, that Heaven is a side benefit of us being restored to a right relationship with God. Are we so heavenly minded, we’re no earthly good? We’re supposed to be so Kingdom minded that we are the earthly good. Remember that salt and light thing that Jesus talked about?
The main reason Jesus came to earth was to provide mankind a way to be restored to a right relationship with God…so His Kingdom can be expanded “on the earth”.
While we are here on this earth, we are supposed to be about the business of Kingdom expansion. A great example of what this looks like is the tagline “Until Jesus runs this town”. Which means we will keep pushing toward the goal of everyone in Simpsonville accepting the gift that Jesus offers and allows themselves to be ruled by The Spirit…at which point Jesus would be running Simpsonville. Until Jesus runs Simpsonville!
Everything Jesus did and taught was to show us the attitude, power, authority and posture we are supposed to exhibit in the earth, in order to expand His kingdom.
When Jesus taught us to pray, He said our first declaration after acknowledging God’s holiness was to declare that God’s Kingdom should come and His will be done “on earth, as it is in heaven”. What we are actually saying when we pray the Lord’s Prayer is that God’s Kingdom and rule over earth through mankind will continue to be expanded.
When Jesus arrived and re-established God’s Kingdom expansion, He had the authority that Adam was originally given.
Jesus, exercised His authority over the earth when He calmed the storm, when He cursed the fig tree, when He turned water into wine and when He healed people. Jesus’s authority in the physical earth was delegated Kingdom authority from the Father in Heaven.
One thing to note, is that none of these acts of authority/power were for His benefit, they were to expand the Kingdom by showing God’s power and glory.
When we give or serve at church we are not just helping FUEL, we are actively participating in the expansion of the Kingdom of God in the earth.
People who view their giving or service as doing the church a favor are missing the point entirely. That’s why they can so easily mistreat each other, get offended and end up walking away from their family in Christ.
When we focus on understanding the reason why we are here on earth, there is joy in giving and serving, no matter the area or duty.
Living in the service of Kingdom expansion is the very reason God has saved you. There is no greater purpose for your life than to take what God has blessed you with, and to use it for His Kingdom.
His Kingdom come. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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