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organization. The first six thousand
years of human experience has
proved abundantly that man, under
Satan's sway, is utterly incapable of
ruling himself. Human-devised gov–
ernments always have failed to
bring wodd PEACE.
Y
et man, eve_n
now, seems unwilling to admit that
fact. Men are still trying, in vain, to
work and fight for PEACE. And
that
is where being "born again" comes
in.
God's Government will be DIVINE
GOVERNMENT, by the saints COn–
verted into divine SPIRIT PERSONS,
born of Goo! As those born of
humans are
human
beings, so those
born of the divine God will be DI–
VINE BEINGS, having been given IM–
MORTALITY! They shall be born into
- enter into - inherit the l(JNGDOM
OF Goo.
Kingdom ls a Family
A KrNGDOM is a nation composed
of people, as well as the GOVERN–
MENT of that nation. The Kingdom
of Goo is composed of the divine
FAMILY of God. The One Being we
habitually think of as Goo is the
FATHER ofthat Family.
Christ is a Son of God - a mem–
ber of that divine FAMILY, even as
we may be! That divine FAMILY
is
the Kingdom ofGod.
There are five KINGDOMS - the
vegetable kingdom, the animal
kingdom, the human kingdom (we
are
not
of the animal kingdom, er–
roneous education to the contrary
ootwithstanding!), the angel king–
dom- and the Goo Kingdom!
God (Heb.
Elohim
-
the uní-plu–
ral name, meaning more than one
Person, forming the ONE God) said,
"Let us make man in OUR image,
after OUR likeness." We were made
of material ftesh , but in the forro
and shape of God, and with MTNDS
on a totally ditferent plane than ani–
mal brain. Tbe human family was
made so that we might be able to
receive God's Spirit, and become
His children. Animals were NOT so
made.
In God's wonderful plan for
working out His PURPOSE here be–
low, God has allotted the time
period between Jesus' first coming
in human ftesh, and His second
28
Nicodemus understood
what is meant by
being born. He knew it
meant being delivered
from his mother's womb.
lt meant being
delivered into the world!
coming in power and glory, for the
calling of
some
to receive His Spirit,
and be spiritually educated and
trained, through His Word, to be–
come rulers with Christ wben He
sets up His KINGDOM.
The Crux of Salvation
4) In order that man might be rec–
onciled to God, Jesus also carne for
the express purpose of DEATH, by
His shed blood paying for us, in our
stead, the death penalty we have
incurred as the penalty of sin. In
order that we might be given God's
gift of ETERNAL LIFE, Jesus' resurrec–
tion from the dead was necessary
before we could receive eternallife.
5) The PLAN called for Jesus' as–
cension to God's throne in heaven–
the throne of tbe Government of
God over the UNIVERSE- to become
our High Priest, during these years
of training and spiritual devel–
opment of the heirs of God to be
used in the executive administration
of the Government of God when
Christ
does
set up that Government
over earth's nations.
6)
Jesus could not induct Himself
into the office while here on earth in
human form.
lt
was necessary
for
Him, as explained in the parable of
the pounds (Luke 19), to go to
heaven to there
receive
the authority
of the Kingdom from God (the
Father) - and to be CROWNED! The
coronation ceremony will take place
in heaven at God's throne,
before
Chris t's return in POWER and
GLORY!
7) Then He must return in all that
POWER and GLORY and supreme au–
thority to RULE!
Those are the reasons why Jesus
did not then, immediately, set up or
establish the Kingdom ofGod!
But even Jesus' own disciples
could never seem to understand that
He was not going to set up the
Kingdom of God immediately.
lt
is
human to want things NOW!
WHY Jewlsh Rulers Hated Message
The Jewish rulers of Jesus' day, also,
thought He was proclaiming a gov–
ernment to be set up immediately -
to overthrow the Roman Empire,
then ruling Judea as a vassal state.
One of these rulers of the Jews
was a man named Nicodemus. He
was a Pharisee, and the Pharisees
we(e hostile to Jesus, because of this
new GospeL Nicodemus, however,
wanted to meet this astonishing
Messenger and discuss it with him.
To avoid criticism from his col–
leagues, he carne to Jesus by night.
"We know," he said, "that you
are a teacher come from God."
The "we" implies that the divine
identity of the Messenger and the
source of His message was known to
the Pharisees.
Judea was a vassal state, under
the rule of the Romans. The Ro–
mans were shrewd enough to force
leaders among the Jews to adminis–
ter most of the details of govern-
. ment, under higher Roman officials.
Of course, the Roman rule was pro–
tected by occupying military forces.
This system made life for the Jewish
sub-rulers very desirable - a status
worth maintaining.
At once Jesus perceived the im–
port of Nicodemus' first words. His
Message was the good news of the
coming WORLD ÜOVERNMENT of
Goo - that is, the KINGDOM OF
Goo - the GovERNMENT ofGod.
These Jewish rulers feared that
Message. Jesus was of their race - a
Jew. If they did not oppose Him,
they feared being shorn of their
power, and perhaps put to death as
subversives threatening the over–
throw of the Roman government.
And the Pharisees thought Jesus
proclaimed the
immediate
take-over
of that rule!
Not of This Age
Therefore Jesus did not waste
words. He struck straight through to
the crux point - the Kingdom of
God is
not
of
this
world - this time
- this age - but of the WORLD TO-
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1977