We are to seek first the Kingdom; this is God’s passion. God desires to see His kingdom come forth upon the earth. Everything else is secondary to this primary purpose.
The Kingdom first must come forth in our lives; we submit every area of it to His Lordship, so that Jesus can be glorified in us. Then we are to see it come forth in our families, our neighbors, our cities, our nations until it invades the whole earth.
As we enter oneness with God, not only are we joined in fellowship, but we have the same purpose.
Jesus was the first manifest son of God, upon the earth. The whole creation expectantly waits for the manifestation of the sons of God, who will enter the heavenly realms to bring down the kingdom of God upon the earth.
Romans 8 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. – New King James.
Jesus attained sonship at the age of 30. Finally, God has a son in whom He was well-pleased. Jesus faithfully served His Father with perfect obedience walking in the light of God’s will for 30 years, never once falling short. The Father could then legally confer on Him all authority upon the earth.
All the resources of heaven necessary to establish the kingdom in the earthly realm, He could bring down. He could legally bring down into the earthly realm whatever was necessary for God’s will to be done in the earth.
We need to understand the Jewish Custom of Inheritance. Jewish customs of inheritance differ from ours. When a Jewish boy reached the age of twelve a special ceremony was held for him. He was recognized as beginning his adult life; he reached the age of accountability where he was accountable for his actions.
This was the time that he became his father’s apprentice to learn his life’s occupation.
At the age of 20 he entered the military service of his country and was subject to the call of battle whenever necessary.
At the age of 30 he was released from active duty so that he could go into business for himself. At the age of 30 it was time for the father to give him his portion of the family inheritance. He didn’t have to wait for his father to die; we can see this in the story of the prodigal son.
Jesus did not leave his natural family to begin His ministry until He was 30 years old. The portion of His inheritance was to receive the Spirit without measure to finish the work He was called to do upon the earth.
John 17:4 I glorified you on the earth, having carried through to completion that which you have given me to do. And now glorify me, Father, beside yourself, with the glory which I was constantly having with you before the universe existed- Kenneth S Wuest translation.
Because of His love and respect for His mother, He used the resources of His inheritance to change water into wine and manifested the glory of the kingdom; God’s will being done upon the earth. The glory of God is His nature and abilities which are manifested in the kingdom of God. The glory of God is the divine presence manifested, in a way that people can perceive it. It is an awareness of the presence of the Lord; He becomes real to you. Personally, it is God with you every day, you can hear His voice and you walk with Him.
He was enabled to do this through the gifts of the Spirit entrusted to Him. He had the Spirit of God resting upon Him without measure. He manifested His sonship.
John 2 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”- New King James.
While upon the earth Jesus had authority in the earthly realm. This manifestation of sonship was raised to a higher level at the time of His resurrection, where all Authority was given to Him in heaven and earth.
When a Jewish man at the age of 30 was given his portion of the family inheritance, he became a joint heir with His Father, being officially placed by the Father in his full inheritance. What had been legally and positionally his at birth, was now experientially his.
Before we can walk in the manifestation of sonship where God confirms our words with signs and wonders following, where we are walking in our inheritance, first comes the time of testing in the wilderness where we incorporate the truth of the Word into our lives becoming a disciple.
Luke 4: 1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil– New King James.
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and fame of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus went into the wilderness full of the Spirit, and He came out of the wilderness in the power of the Spirit. The Greek word for power is dynamis-miracle working power.
Jesus had to pass the test of the proper use of His inheritance. He passed three tests.
He fasted 40 days and was hungry and Satan said turn these stones into bread. He responded- “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
The Devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said if you worship me, I have the authority to give them to you. He responded- “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle ( a high pointed piece of rock) of the temple and said if you are a manifested son of God jump off for it is written in the Scriptures, ‘God has given his angels instructions to protect you from harm and he responded-“It has been said, ‘You shall not put to the test the Lord your God.’
Jesus only did what he saw the Father do and said only what the Father said. He proved He Was a Joint heir with His heavenly Father of the Kingdom and received the authority to bring the will of God in heaven down and manifest it on the earth, to bring down the kingdom of God upon the earth.
When we learn how to abide in the Lord, and his word abides in us, we can ask what we will, and it shall be done for us. We become a joint heir, a co-worker with God advancing the kingdom upon the earth.
John 15: 7 If you maintain a living communion with me and my words are at home in you, I command you to ask, at once, something for yourself, whatever your heart desires, and it will become yours. In this my Father is glorified, namely, that you are bearing much fruit. So shall you become my disciples-Kenneth S Wuest translation.
Before Jesus could begin moving in His inheritance, He had to go through a wilderness period where He was tested, tried and proven faithful. When He was given His inheritance and the Holy Spirit came upon Him, He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for His faith to be tested. After He passed the testing, He came out of the wilderness in the Power of The Spirit to begin His ministry.
We can see in Jesus’ a demonstration of what happens to a man, who has really become a manifested son of God in the earth. After the Spirit came to rest upon Him at the age of 30, the heavens remained open to Him so that what He saw the Father do He did, what He heard the Father speak, He spoke. He became the first manifest son of God upon the earth.
When God joins Himself to our spirit in the new birth of the spirit, we go through a process of sanctification where our soul-life is brought into submission to His Spirit, this is the time where our faith is tested. We must win the battle in the wilderness, in order to move consistently in the power of the Spirit.
When the inner warfare is overcome, then the kingdom is established in us, and we begin to walk in our inheritance. This is when we begin to advance the Kingdom.
Jesus was the first manifest son of God upon the earth; He was the first one to forcefully advance the kingdom of God upon the earth. He then ascended into heaven receiving all authority in heaven and earth and released the Spirit which began the war to restore all things.
He has then sat down on the right hand of God hence forth expecting us to come into the manifestation of sonship, so that as His body on the earth, the army of the Lord, the kingdom can grow until it takes over the earth.
Acts 3: 21Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began
Heb 10: But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool (represents God’s dominion).
Jesus was the first man empowered with kingdom authority. While on earth his authority was limited to the earth because of Adam’s disobedience. He then delegated His authority and empowered His twelve disciples to move in the power of the Kingdom that He had. They not only preached the gospel of the Kingdom but also manifested it.
Luke 9 :1 Jesus summoned together his twelve apostles and imparted to them authority over every demon and the power to heal every disease. 2 Then he commissioned them to preach God’s kingdom realm and to heal the sick to demonstrate that the kingdom had arrived. As he sent them out, he gave them these instructions: 3 “Take nothing extra on your journey. Just go as you are. Don’t carry a staff, a backpack, food, money, not even a change of clothes. 4 Whatever home welcomes you as a guest, remain there and make it your base of ministry. 5 And wherever your ministry is rejected and not welcomed, you are to leave that town and shake the dust off your shoes as a testimony before them.” 6 The apostles departed and went into the villages with the wonderful news of God’s kingdom realm, and they instantly healed diseases wherever they went.-Passion translation.
Jesus then sent out 70 more and sent them to every city where He Himself would come.
NOW AFTER this the Lord chose and appointed seventy others and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to come (visit). 2 And He said to them, the harvest indeed is abundant [there is much ripe grain], but the farmhands are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no provisions bag, no [change of] sandals; refrain from [retarding your journey by] saluting and wishing anyone well along the way. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this household! [Freedom from all the distresses that result from sin be with this family]. 6 And if anyone [worthy] of peace and blessedness is there, the peace and blessedness you wish shall come upon him; but if not, it shall come back to you. 7 And stay on in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. 8 Whenever you go into a town and they receive and accept and welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 And heal the sick in it and say to them, the kingdom of God has come close to you. 10 But whenever you go into a town and they do not receive and accept and welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we are wiping off against you; yet know and understand this: the kingdom of God has come near you–Amplified bible.
There was a total of 83 people moving in the power of the kingdom yet very little was happening to change the religious, social and political life of the city. Jerusalem was in fact was getting worse. The hearts of the religious leaders were getting harder.
The power controlling the city from the heavens was not the power of God’s kingdom, but Satan’s. There was a dark, demonic canopy ruling over the city of Jerusalem. The temple area was the most demonized part of the city. Jesus never addressed the Spirits ruling the cities only those who were dwelling in people. At the end of His three and a half year ministry on earth, Jerusalem was more evil in its social, moral and religious life than it had at the beginning.
Jesus was frustrated because He did not yet have authority to deal with the demonic strongholds in the heavenly places; He was distressed until this could be accomplished through the cross. Then he had all authority in heaven and earth- Mat 28:18.
Luke 12 49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how constrained I am till it is accomplished! 51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
The word constrained has the idea of being shut in, restricted and unable to move. The word in the Greek is synechō. It consists of two words 1-together with 2 to hold.
Jesus was bonded to the Father and Holy Spirit; he had to experience this baptism. It was the baptism of suffering by which the power of the devil would be totally destroyed through the work of the cross and the power of the resurrection. Following His resurrection a new powerful level of the Kingdom would come forth which will change the whole world, if we walk in our inheritance. All authority in heaven and earth was given to Him when he received the coronation as king of kings.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.
Go is plural and nominative, which is a governmental term, you have been nominated but not yet elected, it is like being called but not yet chosen. You must be qualified, proved by the Father to receive such authority.
When we enter into the manifestion of the sons of God, we have the authority to make disciples of all nations, not just a few people but whole nations.
The word nations in the Greek is ethnos and it means a multitude, people, race, belonging and living together.
We are responsible for advancing the kingdom until all nations serve and obey Him.
Daniel 7: 27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’
Jesus had to die and take our sin upon his soul and body, so that he could transfer his righteousness and authority to us.
John 12: 27 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose, I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name. “Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
After His resurrection and coronation, Jesus could deal with any aspect of Satan’s work and activity in the heavenly places, through His church (body). While He was in a flesh and blood body He did not yet have the authority to deal decisively with the demonic principalities and powers operating from their strongholds in the heavenly realm. Jesus is now risen and exalted and has all authority and power in every realm of heaven and on earth.
Before the cross after Jesus was baptized in the Spirit, Jesus moved on earth in the restored power of Adams rule. In His earthly life Jesus was living the life of the last Adam. As the last Adam, He recovered the first Adamic level of anointing and authority and was able to rule over all things upon the earth.
As the last Adam Jesus came and reestablished the rule of God’s kingdom upon the earth, but it came into immediate conflict with Satan’s kingdom which was already established in the heavenly realm above the earth.
After His resurrection, He could now empower His disciples to wrestle with demonic principles and cast them down. It was the casting down of demonic powers that had ruled Jerusalem and controlled the politics, the judiciary and the dead religious systems which held the people captive in their minds through fear and deception so that they could not respond to the preaching and the works of Jesus.
The demons that rule over cities are powerful, and when they are thrown down, the city radically changes. There are principalities and powers that have authority over regions, nations and even whole continents.
Until His death Jesus was called the last Adam, but after His resurrection He was called the Second man. This second man is the Lord from heaven and is not of the earth at all. He has no natural genealogy. He is never called the second Adam, but the second MAN. He is a completely different kind of man. It speaks of the new creation- one that never existed before. His spirit, soul and body are all of a spiritual nature and substance.
1corn 15: 47The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Hebrews 7:1For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
On the cross the sin nature of the whole Adamic race was laid upon Jesus. Jesus became sin on our behalf.
1 Peter2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
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It was not just the acts of sin, but the very nature of sin became a part of Him. On the cross His soul was filled with all the corruption and filth of the human race, He became filled with the worse kinds of evil. He became many times more filthy than any other human being that ever lived. Jesus bore our sins in His body, and His soul became a sin offering as He partook of the evil of the human nature.
For three hours He experienced psychological agony, but as His spirit became active he began to make a confession of faith, we read of it in the psalms.
Psalm 22: 3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
Before He went to the cross, He already obtained His resurrection by faith through His travail in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Heb 5: 7Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
On the cross He was wrestling for other things. He saw us seated with Him in heavenly places. He was fighting for the nations and claiming them as His inheritance by faith. He saw the total destruction of all the power of the evil one. He cried out in triumph.
Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.28For the kingdom is the Lord’s, And He rules over the nations.29All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31They shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
It is finished was not a cry of pain but a cry of victory, it was the cry of a gladiator when he made the killing thrust of battle.
The word was used in accounting when one had debts he was unable to pay and someone graciously paid his debt, the creditor would say it is finished; there is nothing more to pay.
At the same moment Jesus yielded up His spirit. At the same moment the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. The way into the Holy of Holies was now open. The Roman centurion who was in charge of the execution saw a man totally in charge of His own death.
John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
When a person dies, their spirit leaves their body and then their head bows. But Jesus was in control of his death. He bowed his head and then gave up his spirit. No one took his life; he laid down his life.
Our old man was crucified with Christ, our old fallen spirit; soul and body in God’s eyes no longer exist. In Christ we become a new creation that never existed before.
First our spirit, then our soul and then our body are transformed. Our spirit becomes impregnated with the seed of God, his DNA and then our soul goes through a process of transformation, we bring our soul life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our spirit and then our body will be glorified.
Acts 2: 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
The last Adam never rose from the dead. Adam’s race finished with the death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was the last of the human race, they were all in him and are dead in a legal sense and raised as a new creation, but they may not realize it. They must receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior; this is receiving the living word or seed of God in their spirit. Receiving Christ in them the hope of glory
1 Corinthians 15:49And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
In verse 49, in many Greek manuscripts the verb bear is in the present imperative- that means it is a commandment, and the point of time is now. It is not the future tense. It means we must do it now. Sometimes, the translators of our English bible water down what the bible literally says because they have not experienced it and do not understand it.
1corn15: 49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Jesus was the first born of the new creation race.
Col 1: 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Romans 8:29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Rom 6:5 literally reads in the Greek, If we have been united with Him in a death like His, certainly also we are His resurrection. It is not in the future but now.
We are his resurrection, we are glorified. Glorified is in the aorist tense, that is the past tense. This is the legal aspect of redemption.
The vital aspect is coming to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
John 1:16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
We have received his fullness, and grace upon grace.
We go from grace to grace, faith to faith, strength to strength, and glory to glory until we come into spiritual maturity where we are led by the Spirit.
Grace is the empowering presence of God, and as we behold it, we are transformed into the same image. We are partaking of the divine nature.
We behold an aspect of his nature and then practice it until it is written on our heart, and we come into spiritual maturity and are fully developed in the abundance of Christ.
Then we receive our fullinheritance and advance the kingdom as we combat against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
We displace them and take our seats upon our thrones in heavenly places and create an open heaven, where the blindness the enemy puts over the eyes of people gets removed and they receive Jesus as their Lord and enter into the kingdom.