The Kingdom of Heaven – The Parallel Universe
People living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."
From that time on Jesus began to preach,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
Matthew 4:17.
The Coming of the LORD Jesus spearheaded the invasion back into Time/ History, of the Creator God’s Parallel Universe. This Parallel Universe is called the Kingdom of Heaven; it is a Spiritual State where God Holy Spirit is sovereign and has always existed.
To be Human is first and foremost to be a spiritual being. We are spiritual whether we are redeemed Believers or not! As unbelievers we are “dead” to God, but because we are created in His image, we are spiritual and must therefore exist forever!
The Kingdom of Heaven is the State where the LORD Jesus is sovereign. It is a Spiritual State as distinct from the Natural State that is defined as the World of unredeemed Humanity.
The World in scripture almost always refers to the condition/worldview dominated by the influence of the powers of darkness, the Devil’s realm.
The LORD Jesus so loved Unredeemed Humanity, that He gave Himself as a ransom to release from that domination of Death and Destruction, individual men and women; who, by the exercise of their spiritual energy (faith), devote and submit themselves to the rule of the Sovereign LORD Jesus.
This in itself entails an acceptance of a personal shortfall from perfection (sin), both deliberate and unintentional: to ask for forgiveness in repentance and releasing from judgement all who have wronged them.
This process is called “believing in Jesus as Son of God and Saviour of Mankind.” The “believing” process is primarily a Spiritual activity not just an intellectual one.
Because it is a Spiritual process it initiates a spiritual interaction between God, Who is Spirit and Man who is also spirit and establishes the Believer into the Parallel Universe of the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2Co 5:17
This means that the LORD God has imprinted His DNA, as promised, into the Believer’s life.
After that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.Jer.31:33
Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. Joh 1:12-13
So let us live in the consciousness of the Parallel Universe.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Col.3:1-2
Believers are children/offspring of God the Father and we are told that the LORD Jesus is not ashamed to be known as our brother, because we are sharers in His Inheritance.
In the Scriptures Believers are also known as disciples or saints (set apart ones). Nowhere does God call us Christians. That is a curse name that the pagan non- believers gave to the Father’s children. It became accepted by the secular church and therefore became the religious label for all believers.
The Spiritual life of Believers became stunted as the spirit of religion insinuated itself into the fabric of the Body life of the church. The Divine messages to the 7 churches of Asia in the Book of Revelation reveal that process.
As the Religion of Christianity became more and more influential, so the Spiritual Life of Believers became less effective.
That Life was sustained only by strong individuals throughout history who kept Faith with the Eternal Gospel of the Lord Jesus. No wonder that period became known as the Dark Ages. The history of Christianity demonstrates it’s foundational weakness, it’s fault-lines are clear for all to see, division after division, each division claiming justification for protecting the religious “truth” of men’s philosophies. Religion is man’s attempt to explain the unexplainable. It is based on men’s intellectual understanding not on the Wisdom of God Holy Spirit.
The LORD Jesus said,
"Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.” Mk 7.6-13
I am convinced that in these days, days that so many people are calling “the last days”, that it is prudent if not imperative, that we use the right words when we try and proclaim the message of the Kingdom God and His Son, and demonstrate that we are living in the Parallel Universe.
If we name the offspring of God the Father as Christian, then they will grew up as religious adherents, bereft of some of their inheritance, and denied much of their Spiritual enabling. We will sow into them the spirit of division, and they will not be able to recognise their true identity. They will forever be following the dictates of strong personalities, or use their strong personality to create a following of their own. Sometimes disguised as “church planting” Just as the LORD Jesus predicted:
“ From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it”.Matt.11:12
Christianity and the Kingdom of Heaven are not the same things.
There are too many Christians who are self confessed non-believers
In this day it is confusing to any seeker after righteousness and truth to be told that, my form of Christianity is better than someone else’s Christianity.
Worse still, is the conflict between Arab and Jew and Christianity. It is a proven fact that, in this, the simple and sincere Believer in Jesus, commands a greater respect and hearing that is denied the Christian religious zealot however doctrinally correct.
Because we Believers are primarily Spiritual beings we must function in and through God Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of Jesus. We do not work for Jesus, but we work with Him. By His grace, (that empowering Presence) we use the enabling Spirit energy through prayer, which is what praying is, the application of spirit energy out of the Parallel Universe of the Kingdom of Heaven into the natural world.
All Scripture predicates the existence of this Parallel Universe: the co-existence of Eternity and History, the angelic and demonic beings, the constant yearning for the something “other” throughout the world.
It is only in the culture of the Western world that the concept of the spiritual dimension to life has been dismissed or neglected.
However there are powerful signs of an awakening to the realisation that such a dimension exists, and we Believers must state our understanding of the true condition of life by living it. In the text of the prayer that the LORD Jesus taught His followers to use; the words, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven,” reveal to us that there is a Parallel Universe that we need to be very much aware of, and so be more effective in living our lives with Him.
The regenerative/recreation that the LORD Jesus spoke about to Nicodemus, involves a complete change of Heart and Mind. This can be used as a ‘chicken and egg’ scenario. But, as in much of Scripture, it is not ‘either or’ but, ‘both and’. This is the cause of controversy, because the principles of the Parallel Universe are not understood.
The Bible says,
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Eze 36:26
The chicken and the egg were created together at the same time
The condition that has been the concern for many is the difficulty that people have of transferring the thought process into a heart experience.
The answer has been found by the paradigm shift of focus, by the Spirit from the head to the heart. A difficult process for the cerebral Westerner, however, God Holy Spirit works the miracle in the life of the meek and repentant true seeker after God.
The “Christian” who cannot appreciate the significance of this wording is still functioning in the idiom, of the “world”, and will be assessed as such, when attitudes and mind sets are judged.
Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
Jesus says,
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. Joh 12:46-48
And again:
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Mat 5:14-16
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2Cor.4:6
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) Eph 5:8-
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.2Cor 5:17-20
From all this we see that Light and Life are forms of energy expressed in, through, out of, us. Jesus says, “if anyone opens the door of their life , I will come into them.”
In another place He calls us His co-workers.
He wants to live and work with us. Too often we focus on doing things for Him, which by definition means, we retain a measure of control.
In the Parallel Universe of His Kingdom He gives us access to His Energy. He said and still says, “All Power/Energy and Authority is mine.” Then He commissioned His followers to go and make disciples through and by, His indwelling Life/Energy.
In our Western mindset, we have confused “Power and Authority” as being the same thing:
Executive Power.
They are not.
Power is Energy, Authority is Executive.
We function in, through, and with Energy. The LORD Jesus is the source of all Energy/Life.
The focus of our Life/Energy is our heart,
The source of our Executive authority is our mind.
Too often people get their priority muddled.
The result is a religious activity of hard line philosophical doctrine, instead of pure relational Faith Life.
God focuses in our hearts, because what we want, our will, energises our minds. So we are told to:-
“ offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.
Rom 12:1-2
In other words to live now in the reality of the LORD’s Parallel Universe, His Kingdom. To receive the Bread of Heaven in the here and now, and work with Him to feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to release from captivity the prisoners of darkness, to establish Hope for the despairing, to give Life to the dead!
The LORD Jesus Himself lived in the experience of the Parallel Universe, that is His Kingdom.
Joh 18:36
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
Mat 26:53
Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
Praise and honour to God the Holy Spirit, Who makes all this possible.
Praise and honour to God the Son, Who made all things new.
Praise and honour to God the Father Who is the Maker.
AMEN and Amen.
I'd like to thank peter for letting me post this mindset / thought process.
Peter and his wife Ann are great friends and great saints who have spent their lives pushing the envelope with dialog aimed at empowering and challenging
mike
motorcityguvnor
