Immediately after His victory on the cross and His resurrection, Jesus had legal authority to cast the devil into the lake of fire and to establish His kingdom on the earth. He did not do this at that time for several reasons, which we will look at briefly. In them we can perceive some of the things which must be completed before the end of this age. In Genesis 15:13-16, we see three of these reasons in relation to Israel. We know from I Corinthians 10:1-11 that this was a type of that which would come at the end of the age:
And God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.
"And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
"Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."
Israel would have to experience slavery before they could be used to help set the world free. This is a basic spiritual principle, which is why it is by the Lord's stripes we are healed. By being wounded, He received authority for healing others. The same is true for us—in the very places where we have been wounded, mistreated, or abused, we can receive authority for healing others of these same things. This is because kingdom authority is founded on compassion, and someone who has been wounded will have a basis for true compassion for others suffering the same way. After their slavery, Israel had compassion for the oppressed. This is why every bad thing that has happened to us was allowed to happen—to give us compassion for others who are suffering so that we can be used to heal them. This is why when Paul the Apostle had his apostolic authority challenged, he pointed to his afflictions as the basis of his authority.
The Lord then told Abraham that his descendants would come out of their slavery with "many possessions." They were to go from slavery, the worst poverty there could be, which is being owned and owning nothing, to having more treasures and possessions than they could have ever imagined. This is why there has been such an emphasis on financial issues in the body of Christ. We, too, are about to come out of our slavery, and the wealth of the nations will be coming to us. What are we going to do with it? The Lord is trying to prepare and mature us so that it is not frivolously wasted or greedily consumed on ourselves, but is used for that which will be of maximum benefit to us and to all of mankind—to build Him a dwelling place just as Israel did in the wilderness.
Having the manifest presence of the Lord with us is far more valuable than anything else this could be spent on. The Lord Himself is the answer to every human problem, but He is also more than that—He is the true desire and satisfaction for every human longing. What we need above all things is for God Himself to again dwell among us.
The last reason given by the Lord was because "the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." What Israel did in possessing their Promised Land was a biblical model of what Christ is going to do through the church over all nations. Like Israel, the church has been in slavery, is being set free, is learning how to manage unprecedented wealth and resources, and is being prepared to rule over the earth with her King as soon as the iniquity of the world is complete. That is, when sin has come to full maturity so that the earth can no longer bear it.
As we have discussed a number of times, the Lord Jesus said that the end of the age is the harvest. In other places, it is also referred to as the great time of trouble or the great tribulation. The harvest is the time when what has been sown comes to full maturity and is reaped. All that has been sown in man, both the good and the evil, is about to come to full maturity and be reaped. This is why we see in Isaiah 60 that when darkness is covering the earth and deep darkness the people, the Lord's glory is rising upon His people. We are about to witness the greatest darkness and the greatest glory at the same time. The troubles and tribulation are the result of human problems growing beyond human remedy in every way because we sought to rule over the earth without God. After this, all of mankind will know forever the results of trying to run our own lives, and the earth, without our Creator.
We are also told in Hebrews 12 that everything that can be shaken will be shaken, but we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Those who have not built their houses on the Rock by hearing and obeying the Lord will soon be made manifest. The "key to the kingdom" is Matthew 6:33-34:
"Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
The key to the kingdom, or the key to building our lives on the kingdom, is to make every major decision based first on kingdom interests rather than personal interests. To do this is in our best interest, but this is often hard to see until after the decision. These decisions should include our education, professions, where we live, what we do with the gifts and resources we have been trusted with, our local church, everything. If we live our lives by this basic code of the kingdom, we will not be anxious about the future. If we do not live our lives by this code of the kingdom, we will be increasingly and perpetually anxious because everything we have built our lives on will be increasingly shaky.
We should note here that the Lord does not say we should not plan for tomorrow, but to not be anxious for tomorrow or the future. Planning certainly has its place, but our primary motive in planning anything major should be to do the Lord's will and serve the interests of the kingdom first.
If we have anxiety about the future, it should be a sign to us and a wake-up call that we have not built everything on the kingdom. What are we anxious about? Examine the foundations of it to see if it was built on the kingdom, seeking kingdom interests first, as well as hearing the words of the Lord and obeying them.
If we are anxious, and we realize that there are things in our lives that were built on selfish interests more than kingdom interests, or that we did not hear or obey the word of the Lord, then it can still be corrected. We must first repent of our sin. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, "in the Lord the wrong road never becomes the right road." To get back on the right road, we need to go back to where we missed the turn, which is called "repentance." Then we must resolve not make any more major decisions based on anything but the purposes of the kingdom first and foremost. Next, we must resolve to hear the word of the Lord and obey it. This is the time to get our lives aligned right with the Lord and His purposes so that we will not be shaken along with the rest of the world.
Next week we will cover this most important foundation for our lives in a bit more depth. The goal of our study is to get closer to the Lord, to abide in Him, and do His will. It does not take a prophet to see that the whole world is getting shakier by the day. We cannot delay any longer doing whatever repenting we need to do, and realigning whatever needs realigning so that we stand firmly on His kingdom, and as citizens of that holy nation, preparing the way for the King to come.
