Kingdom Dynamics for 2024 (4)

Kingdom Dynamics for 2024 (4)

In every generation, since the beginning of time, the dream of a utopian society has motivated and sustained the passion of mankind, producing highly developed cultures and social systems as they moved forward in this pursuit.

This human search for Ultimate Reality is natural and common to all human cultures—even the self-acclaimed atheist inherently believes that, at the very least, there is someone or something out there not to believe in. Even in the most primitive societies we find this expression of desire to seek, find, and understand a Supreme Being as evidenced in the creation, development, and practice of some form of religion.

However, the question confronts us: From where did this natural desire and need to seek for a higher power originate?

This internal soul-searching irritation—that there must be a reason and design for the universe and creation—must have a source.

obviously implies that something is lost. It is impossible to search for nothing. Therefore it is my contention that the very nature of man’s soul search indicates that something he previously possessed is missing.

Our desire and passion to gain this power to control our circumstances and environment is the motivation for our behavior. We strive to gain positions of influence in order to accumulate financial wealth. We seek the power that money promises us: political and spiritual power, the accumulation of status symbols, superior knowledge, and many other forms of controlling dispositions. I believe this pursuit for power is simply the pursuit of dominion over life.

This human preoccupation and desire for power and dominion is also the fuel for man’s obsession with progressive development in all disciplines including political science, social science, biological science, technical science, spiritual research, economic research, and all other aspects of the human experience. The result of this power search is found in the long human march toward modernization. Over the past 6,000 years mankind has tried and continues to try to control and tame the environment through the inventions of primitive and modern instruments.

The human spirit is possessed by this desire to dominate, rule, and control the personal private world and the environment.

Man is in search of the ultimate governing power of dominion.

The desire for power is inherent in the human spirit.

To understand this desire for power, it is necessary to understand the original purpose and design of mankind and the assignment for which he was created.

THE ORIGIN OF THE FIRST KINGDOM

First, it is essential to understand that before anything was, God is. The word God denotes “self-existing one or self-sufficient one”

This was the beginning and creation of the first kingdom called “the invisible Kingdom of God.” This was also the introduction of the concept of “kingdom.”

This concept of “kingdom” is critical, essential, necessary, required, and imperative in order to understand, appreciate, and comprehend the purpose, intent, goal, and objectives of God and mankind’s relationship to Him and the creation.

DIVINE MOTIVATION FOR CREATION

1 John 4:8 NKJV

8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4:16 NKJV

16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

One of the obvious qualities of love is that love has to give and share itself. If this be so, then the very nature of God would be to desire to share His rulership and government.

This was the message of Jesus:

Matthew 25:34 NKJV

34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

It was God’s idea to share His invisible Kingdom with His offspring, which He called mankind, and give to them His nature and characteristics.

Genesis 1:1 NKJV

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The Book of Genesis opens with God’s activity in the creation of the physical world that would be the environment for the manifestation of His eternal purpose

As His representatives they would release, establish, and implement His invisible Kingdom in the visible, natural world.

This is His original purpose for creating man.

It was not an accident.

It was not a fluke.

It came about through the planning and preparation of the great God of heaven who, through His love and wisdom, constructed this awesome plan.

Man was right there in the center of the plan.

The Birth of the Kingdom — The Spirit of Dominion

Genesis 1:26–27 NKJV

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

There are a number of critical principles imbedded in this first mission statement of God, concerning man’s creation, that must be carefully examined:

1. Man was both created and made.

Both of these words are important and are distinctively different in the original Hebrew language.

The word created is from the Hebrew word bara which means to create from nothing.

And the word make is from the Hebrew word asa which means to form from something that is already created.

Therefore, man is the integration of parts that were created from nothing and things that were already made.

This mystery describes the production of man’s spirit-being directly from the Spirit of God, thus making man a composite of the nature, attributes, and characteristics of his source, which is God the Creator Himself.

This truth is critical when discussing the spirit of dominion in mankind. It is also noteworthy at this point to understand that the word for “source” in the original Hebrew is the word Abba which we translate as “father”. This is why God is considered the “father” of all mankind. He sourced us all and thus we possess His nature and likeness.

2. Man was made in God’s image.

The word image here is not referring to physical likeness, but is translated from the Hebrew words tselem and demut, both meaning essential nature, copy, characteristics, and essence.

This denotes that man as a spirit being is an expression of God’s moral and spiritual nature and his attributes make him “god-like,” and place Him above and beyond all earthly creation.

In essence, man was created by God in the god-class and was given the responsibility to exercise that quality as God’s agent on earth.

3. God created man.

This word man is important because it does not refer to gender as in male, but was the name given by the Creator for the species of spirits that came out of His spirit. In essence, man is plural in tense and was the name given to the spirit species. It is also essential to note that spirits have no gender and thus man is neither male nor female but pure spirit.

4. The Creator said let “them” have dominion over the earth.

This statement is most critical and contains the secret to the transfer of power and authority from God to man, from heaven to earth, and from the unseen to the seen world.

This is the foundation of divine delegation of responsibility for management and rulership over the earth to man. This is significant because the nature of God’s holiness and integrity does not allow Him to violate His own words. Thus when God spoke these words, He established the conditions of His relationship to earth through mankind. He did not say let “Us” have dominion over the earth, as that would have given Him legitimate access to earth without reference to mankind; but by these words He established mankind as the only legal authority on earth, with the power of attorney to act on His behalf. Perhaps this is why God has never done anything on earth without the cooperation of a human entity and was ultimately the reason for the necessity of His entrance into the human race as a man. Consequently, Jesus—the man—made Christ—the God—legal on earth. This is the power mankind has on planet Earth.

5. Let them have dominion.

This is the most fundamental principle for understanding the nature and the desires of mankind. Here the Creator expresses clearly, emphatically, why He created man. This statement leaves no doubt as to what motivated His creating man and His expectation of man’s behavior.

It also establishes man’s assignment and the standard of success for his existence.

This word dominion lays the foundation for the Kingdom concept as it relates to God’s purpose and plan for the human species.

6. Over the fish of the sea, birds of the air, the livestock, earth, and all that creep upon the ground.

This statement is crucial as it defines the nature and boundaries of the rulership of mankind. It is essential to note that the human entity is not included in the context of man’s domination. The implication is that God the Creator never intended man to rule over or dominate his own kind, but rather to rule the creation and resources of earth.

The Creator’s first declaration of man’s purpose for creation is hidden in this word dominion; and

For man to understand himself and his purpose, it is imperative that this word be thoroughly understood.

The words dominion or rule are synonymous and derive their meanings from the same root words.

The Hebrew words from which the concept of kingdom dominion comes are rendered mashal, mamlakah, malkut; and the Greek derivative is the word basileia.

The definition of these words include “to rule,” “sovereignty,” “to reign,” “kingdom,” “to master,” “to be king,” “royal rule,” and “kingly.”

Therefore the definition of dominion can be crafted in the following way:

To be given dominion means to be established as a sovereign, kingly ruler,master,governor,responsible for reigning over a designated territory, with the inherent authority to represent and embody as a symbol,the territory,resources,and all that constitutes that kingdom.

Mankind is intended to embody the nature of God on earth and serve as His divine representative in the physical world. The creation and commissioning of man was the first introduction and establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

KINGDOM OF KINGS

It is also vital to apprehend that God’s design for heaven’s earthly kingdom is totally distinct from the structure and ideology of earthly kingdoms established by men.

The proclamation by the Creator in Genesis 1:26, for man to have dominion over all the earth, was given to the entire species of mankind, both male and female. This is a fundamental precept as it renders all mankind “rulers” or kings in the earth. In fact, this mandate further establishes the Creator’s intent for mankind to rule not over one another, but to exercise their royal sovereignty as a “corporate kingship,” responsible to master, govern, rule, control, and manage the earth and its resources. Therefore all mankind is created rulers and kings; mankind is a kingdom of kings. Perhaps this is why Jesus is designated “King of kings” in the culmination of His redemptive work.

This concept is also echoed in the word of God to the entire nation of Israel through Moses when they were released from the oppression of the kingdom of Egypt under Pharaoh.

Exodus 19:5–6 NKJV

5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

THE INTENT OF THE ORIGINAL KINGDOM

The intent of the establishment of God’s original kingdom of kings was to extend His rulership, will, and nature from heaven to earth.

THE LOSS OF THE ORIGINAL KINGDOM

His indwelling presence guaranteed constant communication and fellowship with the will, mind, intent, and purposes of God and heaven so that He could execute His government’s will on earth. This relationship made the Holy Spirit of God the most important Person on earth and established Him as the key component of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The loss or separation of man from the Holy Spirit of God would render mankind a disqualified envoy of heaven on earth, for he would not know the will or mind of the government of heaven for earth.

As we read the Genesis record of the encounter of mankind with the adversary, the devil, in chapter 3, we see that the goal of the attack was to drive man from the garden of relationship with God and heaven, resulting in the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.