Last week we started asking the questions: Who am I, how did I get here and where am I going? To see if new are showing signs of Spiritual Alzheimer’s. I want to do a little review before we continue on to part 2. Who am I? This is a vital question, because if we don’t know our identity, we won’t be able to understand our position and our potential. Who we are, is foundational to everything else in our life. It provides clarity and direction. In the natural, we can know who we are, by knowing who our parents are. It’s the same in the spiritual. We have to begin by knowing who God our Father is, in order to understand who we are supposed to be as His children. Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, which is love, but when he sinned he distorted the image of God. Mankind became self centered and focused on imitation “love” that would make us happy. In doing this we abandoned our original assignment. The sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross was to realign us with God’s image...in order for us to get back to our original assignment. Which was to fill the earth with His glory. That was His original intent for our rulership or dominion of the earth. God gave us our original identity of love, so we do not need to look for our identity in the approval of other people. Our identity is found in Christ. We have established that God is love. And so if we are to have the image of God, we must put His love on display.
1 John 4:7 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. His love being on display in our life is how we know we have been born again. Love is the highest spiritual law for a Christian to live through. The importance of Love in the Kingdom cannot be overstated. It is the very foundation of everything. Here is a kingdom key: Love is the currency of the kingdom. Currency is what we use to establish the value of an item and then we use it to purchase that item. For instance, if you go to a car dealership and they have a car priced at $15,000, you have to decide if you value that car at the same amount that they do. If you do, you give them $15,000 of currency. In the Kingdom, God has placed a value on you and He has based it on how much of His currency it cost Him. God’s Kingdom currency is love and the amount of His love that you are worth is found in this verse. 1 John 4:9 “9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” If you are a Christian, God has purchased you with the blood of His only Son. So that you could become His son also. You have been “born again”. Not of a natural birth, but a spiritual birth. God is now your Father. John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When we accept Jesus we are literally born into a new spiritual realm, which is the Kingdom of God. We should expect to
function as a natural born citizen of that Kingdom. We are no longer citizens of this world but citizens of the Kingdom of God. That is why Jesus says we are no longer of this world. John 17:15-16 “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” We are now foreigners in the world where we currently live, and as such, we must abandon the selfish principles that guide this world and seek the principles that guide us in God’s Kingdom. Once we are born again spiritually, we have the right to be called His children. John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe on His name.” Here’s another kingdom principal: Princes only answer to their King They don’t obey the rulers of other kingdoms. Can you imagine being a prince and letting someone other than your father the king tell you what to do or how you should think? In the Kingdom of God, that is who you are...a child of The King. That is your identity. And why is that so important? Here’s why, as His son or daughter you have been given all the rights associated with being His child. And that includes an inheritance.
Galatians 4:1-7 “I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” You have access to the full inheritance as a child of the King. In the natural, here on earth, when is an inheritance received? It’s received upon the death of the one who provided the inheritance. If your parents are still alive your inheritance cannot be received, but when they leave earth, the inheritance is yours... provided you have reached the age of maturity. If you are still a child you cannot be trusted with the full resources of the inheritance, because you will quickly waste it on selfish foolish things. Since Jesus has left the earth, the inheritance is now available for you to possess...provided that you have become spiritually mature. If you are still a spiritual child you cannot be trusted with the full resources of the inheritance, because you will quickly waste it on selfish foolish things. Are you confused as to why you don’t have any spiritual power as a child of God? Could it be that you are not spiritually mature enough to handle that level of power? You’ve heard preachers talk about what you should have as a believer, but you don’t have it. Why? Can you look in the mirror and ask yourself that?
So what is our spiritual inheritance? As a child of the King, your inheritance is the Kingdom. Everything that is in the Kingdom is yours. The question we have to answer is “How do we receive our Kingdom inheritance? Luke 17:20-21 “20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” The pharisees and Jesus’ own disciples were expecting a military takeover of Rome in order to establish an earthly kingdom for Israel. So Jesus was explaining that the Kingdom of God is not coming in that way. He said the kingdom of God is within you. So our inheritance as a son or daughter of God is the Kingdom... and the Kingdom is inside us. You might be asking yourself, well how does that work? What does it mean to have the kingdom inside of us? When Jesus was leaving the earth He said this: John 16:7 “7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 16:13-15 “13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the
Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” When you become a Christian by accepting Jesus as Lord over your life, The Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. The Holy Spirit dwelling in you is how you are connected to the Kingdom and have access to the inheritance that has been given to you. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” If we are going to use the currency of the kingdom of heaven, which is love, we have to be connected to heaven. That is the role of the Holy Spirit in our life. We can read in the Bible all about how Jesus loved people, even those who didn’t love Him, but unless the Holy Spirit is active in our lives, we have no chance of actually being able to do that ourselves. That is the main problem in Christians today. We’ve attended hundreds if not thousands of church services and listened to just as many sermons. The problem is not a lack of knowledge. We have all the information we could possibly need about how Jesus loved everyone...but we still do not have ability to do it ourselves. Why is that? It’s because we haven’t actively pursued a relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our connection to our inheritance of the Kingdom and its currency of love. The Holy Spirit will grow you up in Christ, so that you will be spiritually mature.
The working of the Holy Spirit in our lives is how God gives us the ability to live through Christ and not just for Christ. Galatians 5:16-23 “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Verse 16 instructs us to walk by the Spirit, and then it says why we should be doing that. So we will not carry out the desire of the flesh. The desire of your flesh is to do the exact opposite of what the Holy Spirit of God wants you to do. They are actively working against each other. The desire of your flesh, is for your flesh to be in control. It’s the distorted image of God that the fallen man has. It’s selfish and wants only what pleases it. What the flesh wants is listed in verses 19,20 and 21. Let’s look again at what they are. Galatians 5:19-21 “19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and
things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” These are the things that will keep you from your inheritance... the kingdom of God. Our inheritance as children of God comes through the Spirit and our flesh is working against it. If you allow your flesh to be in control, these are the things it will pull you toward. All of these things please the flesh and may feel good in the moment, but they are bad for us and will keep your life in a mess. If you allow your flesh to control you, you will be spiritually immature, breaking spiritual laws and there will always be consequences to breaking the law. So why do we keep struggling and doing it? The struggle that you have is a spiritual one. Ephesians 6:12 “12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The problems will manifest in your life as some of the issues listed in Galatians 5, but the root cause is a lack of the Holy Spirit in your life. The Holy Spirit will fight against the real enemy that is just using your flesh. That is the truth of what is really going on. When you allow The Holy Spirit to control your life, He will provide an inheritance of the following Kingdom things:
Galatians 5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Did you see that? Against all of the fruits that the Holy Spirit gives us...there is no law! If you are operating according to the Spirit’s control, you are not breaking any spiritual laws. And what was the first fruit listed? Love. The first thing you get from the Spirit is Kingdom currency. Love. And what are we supposed to do with that currency? We are supposed to give it away. Remember how we’ve talked about generosity recently? That’s not just about monetary currency. It’s about the spiritual kingdom currency also. What happens when we are willing to be generous with kingdom currency? God gives us more if it, so we can be even more generous! If you plant lots of seeds of love, you will receive a large harvest of love. So there will always be plenty to give away. Who are we supposed to give all this love to? Everyone. That’s right, everyone. Who did Jesus give it to? Everyone. Even those who hated Him. The Holy Spirit working through you, as your kingdom connection to heaven, is the only way you can give love to those who hate you. That’s the problem with religion. Religion only loves those who are lovable or agree with their way of thinking. Jesus did not come to establish a religion. He came to re- establish God’s kingdom colony on the earth.
He understood that you can’t hate someone into the Kingdom. You can’t judge someone into the Kingdom. You can’t argue someone into the Kingdom. That’s just not possible. The Pharisees hated sinners and wouldn’t associate with them. But Jesus loved hanging out with sinners, because He was under the control of the Holy Spirit and was sent to share the good news of the Kingdom with them. Today, a lot of church folk hate sinners and won’t associate with them, but children of The KING who are under the control of the Holy Spirit, know how to love sinners. Now I didn’t say to go sin with sinners. You can certainly be around someone without engaging in or endorsing their behavior. But you absolutely do have to be around people, to earn the right to share your allotment of kingdom currency with them. And what is God’s kingdom currency? LOVE. So let’s recap. 1. God is Love. 2. We have been created in the image of God. 3. Love is the currency of His Kingdom. 4. Our value is based on how much of His currency He was willing to spend on us. 5. He loved us so much that He sacrificed His only Son in order to adopt us. 6. When we accept Jesus as Lord and are born again, we are given the right to be called children of God. 7. Children have an inheritance. 8. Our inheritance as children of the King, is to inherit the Kingdom. 9. The Holy Spirit is sent to live in us as a connection to the Kingdom.
10. Our flesh works against the Spirit to break spiritual laws. 11. The Holy Spirit working through us, gives us the ability to love even our enemies. 12. Our rulership assignment is to spread His Kingdom currency of love in the earth. So, let me ask again, who are you? What’s your identity? Are you going to be a spiritually immature child of the flesh with an inheritance of life long problems or a spiritually mature child of the King with an inheritance of the abundant Kingdom life through the Holy Spirit? The choice is yours.
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