The Daily Word of Righteousness

Pressing Toward the Mark, #15

For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. (I Corinthians 11:12)

In order for Christ to become part of mankind He had to be born of a woman; there is no other manner in which one can become part of mankind—one of the heirs of salvation—other than by being born of a woman. Such is the established plan of the God of Heaven.

Rulership over the material universe belongs to mankind alone. But we perish in our bodies, losing our ability to remain on the earth, because of the death that works in us as the result of sin. Christ has appeared, being born of a woman, that He might be Son of Man as well as Son of God; for it pleased the Father that in all things Christ have preeminence.

Through His death on the cross Christ destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Having been raised from the dead, Jesus is the Firstborn of the new creation. The new creation is the uniting of the Divine with the human in such a manner that the visible expression of the invisible God can abide on the earth and govern the handiwork of God Almighty.

The relationship of Heaven to earth is similar to that of a colonizing power to its colony. The earth is a colony of the mother country, Heaven. The Almighty Emperor is God the Father. He has given full authority and power to His Son, Christ. God expects that His Son be obeyed in all matters great and small.

The earth and its inhabitants have been given to the Son by the Father as a land of promise:

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. (Psalms 2:8,9)

The most important aspect of the Kingdom of God is the will of God. The doing of God's will in the earth is the goal of the Christian Church: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

The goal of the efforts of the Christian Church is to bring the rule of Heaven into the earth. The coming of the Kingdom of Heaven to the earth is synonymous with the doing of God's will in the earth. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done . . . ." The performing of God's will in the earth requires overcoming and casting out Satan by the authority and power of Christ.

It is important to understand we are fighting our way downward toward the doing of God's will in the earth. We begin above, not beneath, the powers of darkness. We commence the conflict from a position of eternal salvation, already possessing eternal life in the Presence of God Almighty.

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 2:6)

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: (Ephesians 1:21)

To be continued.