The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Eternal Purpose of God, #5

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14)

The order of the development of the Kingdom of God is as follows:

The perfect and perfected Head, Christ, died on the cross for the sins of all men, and then was raised from the dead as the Beginning of the new creation of God.

Christ is brought forth in the overcomers. The overcomers are a firstfruits of the Wife of the Lamb. The firstfruits are, after Christ, the beginning of the Kingdom of God and will be raised to meet Christ at His appearing. They will receive back their bodies from the dead and will be filled with eternal life when the Lord appears in the clouds of glory. This is the first resurrection.

The remainder of God's elect, of the Body of Christ, will, as we understand the Scriptures, be brought to spiritual maturity during the thousand-year period. Whether the weaker believers also will be raised when the Lord appears but in an inferior state or whether they will receive back their bodies at a later date we are not sure. But of one fact we are certain: no person ever will partake of the tree of life until he or she has, through Christ, overcome the world, sin, and self-will (Revelation 2:7; 3:4). No individual has the right to partake of the tree of life until he or she is living a righteous and holy life before God (Revelation 22:14).

All the nations of the earth will be judged. The persons whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be brought forward into the new world. The persons whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.

The first earth and heaven will be destroyed and a new heaven and earth will appear. On the new earth will be the nations of the saved. The perfected Church—the Wife of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, the new Jerusalem—will descend from the new heaven and come to rest on the new earth.

The nations of the earth will walk in the light of the new Jerusalem. This means that the saints who make up the new Jerusalem will serve God by ruling, teaching, and blessing the members of the nations of the saved. All the nations of the earth will be ruled from the city of Jerusalem.

God's purpose in redemption includes as part of its goal restoring man to Paradise. But such restoration is not accomplished by forgiveness alone. Restoration is accomplished by the creation of Divine government, beginning with Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords.

It is only as Divine government is established perfectly, with the accompanying development of righteousness, holiness, and obedience in all of God's creatures, that the love, peace, and joy of God's Presence can return to the earth.

The Kingdom of God is the doing of God's will in the earth as it is in Heaven. God is concerned with obedience, with government, with righteousness, with holiness on the part of His creatures.

To be continued.