The Daily Word of Righteousness

Our Christian Pilgrimage, #19

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

The blessings of the Kingdom Age will not be poured from Heaven on the nations. The Kingdom Age will be brought to the saved nations through those in whom the Kingdom Age has been created. The righteousness, peace, and joy of the Kingdom will come through those in whom righteousness, peace, and joy are being created now.

This is the spiritual fulfillment of the entrance of the tribes of Israel into Canaan. This is the coming of the Kingdom of God—that which was preached by John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Apostles of the Lamb. This is what was described in vision by the Hebrew Prophets.

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (Daniel 7:21,22)

Now that the glorious Head, the Lord Jesus, has made the atonement through His blood and has been raised from the dead, every aspect of the Kingdom of God is waiting for and depends on the development of eternal life in the members of the Body of Christ. The gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit must serve until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, until we come to maturity—maturity as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

As soon as the members of the Body of Christ have come to unity and maturity the great Head will join the Body to Himself.

And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. (Micah 5:4)

"He shall be great to the ends of the earth," referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. "They shall abide," referring to the saints, the branches of the true Vine—those who are abiding in Jesus.

We are not filled with eternal life and our body immortalized and glorified so we may go to Heaven. Neither is it true that we go to Heaven in order that we may gain eternal life, even though that is where the tree of life is located in the present hour ("in the midst of the Paradise of God"). We go to Heaven to be with the Lord—there to await the Day of Christ. In that day our bodies will be raised from the dead and glorified.

We are filled with eternal life in our spirit, our soul, and our body in order that we may accomplish the Kingdom purposes of God, entering our unique inheritance as an individual. Each of the following Kingdom purposes is a part of our "Canaan," and its attainment requires driving the forces of darkness out of us by the eternal Life of Christ:

To become a part of the Wife of the Lamb.

To become a part of the Temple of God.

To become a part of Emmanuel.

To become a son of God.

To become a member of the Body of Christ.

To become a brother of Christ.

To become a righteous judge.

To become a part of the new Jerusalem.

To become a righteous king.

To become a holy and compassionate priest.

To become a mighty warrior.

To become a restorer of paths to dwell in.

To be continued.