The Daily Word of Righteousness

Grace; Heaven; Change; the Kingdom, #10

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29—NIV)

"Conformed to the likeness of his Son"! The Kingdom of God is not in imputation but in an actual change in our personality. God is making all things new in us. When all things have been made new, then God will place us on a new earth under a new sky.

We must be changed! Salvation is change, not a state of legally ascribed righteousness in which God does not see our actual behavior but imagines that we are righteous through Christ. Legally ascribed righteousness is not a kingdom. It cannot come to earth and bring justice to the nations.

A sinful nature cannot possibly have fellowship with God and has no place in Heaven or upon the earth. The blood cleanses us from sin, but only as we continue to walk in the light of God's will. Otherwise we are living a fantasy, not the Christian life as exemplified by the Apostles of the Lamb.

It is time for us American Christians to wake up! We are facing terrific problems if we do not—even the outer darkness!

Conclusion

We have pointed out several passages that speak of the salvation to come in the last days. The purpose of this coming salvation is to complete the work of changing us from our sinful nature into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The great types of the Old Testament portray the movement of the believer from chaos of personality all the way through to the rest of God.

It seems each season of history offers a window of opportunity through which the believer can enter and move forward into a greater experience of God.

We of today are facing one such window.

Much progress has been made since the days of the Protestant Reformation. The twentieth century has seen an emphasis on the Pentecostal experience.

My wife and I were in Bible school in the middle of the twentieth century. At that time God began to speak of what He is going to do in the days to come. The principal Bible type the Lord gave us to help our understanding is the seven feasts of the Lord. Those who have read much of my writing know well that I rely on this type a great deal.

To put it briefly, the feast of Pentecost is followed by the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles. Just as we have experienced the spiritual fulfillment of Pentecost we are to experience the spiritual fulfillments of the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles, the last three of the seven feasts.

The primary idea of the present essay is that the Kingdom of God is not only in forgiveness and ascribed righteousness but in solid, earthly if you will, substance. The works of Satan are to be actually destroyed, not glossed over with some kind of screen. It is a real kingdom, a real rule of God that is on the horizon.

To be continued.