The Culture Of The Kingdom

The arrival of Jesus to the earth brought the long awaited restoration of God's kingdom and rule back to man. We must understand that Jesus' primary purpose for coming to the earth was not to establish a church; but a kingdom. I'm not suggesting that the church is not important. Without the church, the kingdom of God cannot be established and, likewise, without the kingdom, the church has no purpose. The kingdom of God must be the central focus and motivation for the church.

Beyond the culture of the church

The church has been designed to reflect the nature and character of the kingdom of God. However, we need to move beyond a 'church age' mentality and function in the 'age of the kingdom' because the end purpose is not the church but the kingdom.

The church age has been characterised by human effort, programmes and traditions of man which have substituted the original intent and purposes of God. Many in the established church order are recognising the importance of reconnecting to the original intent of God; His kingdom. Unfortunately, a common pitfall that is arising today is trying to 'fit' the kingdom order into the present church order. The Word of God says, you can't put new wine into old wineskins or the wineskin will break. The wineskin, which represents our mindsets and beliefs, must first change in order for the kingdom to be contained and to mature. It requires one to transition out of formerly set paradigms, move to a more excellent place and make room for the kingdom. Furthermore, God is shifting the Body of Christ away from a 'church planting mission' to a 'kingdom planting mission'. The true essence of church can only come out of the kingdom being planted first, not the other way around!

Kingdom culture

There is too much baggage and cultural difference in the church which stands in resistance to the culture of the kingdom. Culture forms our perspectives, the way we see things, our beliefs and the way we conduct ourselves. The culture of the kingdom is different from all other racial, political, religious and social cultures. In order to migrate into the culture of the kingdom we must be willing to die to opposing cultures and be born of the Spirit.

The culture of the kingdom can basically be understood as the 'original culture of mankind' (before the fall). Man walked in the culture of sonship! God's passion is to restore this order back to the earth. Unfortunately, the church has been stuck in a rut of proclaiming the gospel of salvation with a focus on getting people to heaven, rather than bringing heaven to earth. The Word of God says, the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the entire world for a witness to all nations, not the gospel of salvation. The point of being saved is far more than just going to heaven. We were saved that we might first become a son of God and then grow up from an immature son to a mature son to fully represent the interests of God in the earth. Jesus spoke far more about heaven coming to earth than us going to heaven! The kingdom is not man's upward climb to heaven but rather God's rule and reign breaking into humanity to advance His purposes. Salvation works to restore us back to who we are: SONS! The scriptures say, "giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Colossians 1:12

The word 'translated' means to exchange, to transfer or to move from one location to another. This translation is a present reality! We have been relocated into the kingdom NOW! Hence, being saved is for the purpose of walking as a mature son, in dominion, with a focus of manifesting heaven on earth. This is the good news to be declared to mankind. Genesis, before the fall, is a prototype of the present purposes of God for the earth.

Eternal life now

Much of the church's mindset in relation to the kingdom is based on wrong concepts, teachings and theories that must be redefined. The kingdom is a present reality and not something we are waiting to experience when we go to heaven. Jesus said, "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). Nowhere in the scriptures will we find Jesus or His disciples offering heaven as an ultimate goal for our salvation. One scripture from which most teachers derive this concept is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

Eternal life is not about a place after death called 'heaven'. Eternal life is about a person, not so much a place. Jesus said in John 17:3, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Eternal life is about a quality of relationship we have through Jesus Christ with the Father. Based on this truth, we have the privilege of walking with our Heavenly Father in His life on earth NOW!

Moving beyond what we know

The intent of God, when He put His Son on the earth, was to bring the culture of the kingdom of heaven into the earth. God is cutting away and removing those things that impose upon us understanding the reality and truth of the kingdom. The paradigm of our understanding is the thing that forms our prejudices and we end up seeing based upon this. A new day has dawned in the purposes of God for the earth and we need new eyes to be able to perceive and understand new kingdom realities.