The prevalence of God\’s grace in your life and through your work is the means for God to establish His Kingdom among men.
\”Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.\” Matthew 6:10
In order for \”earth\” to be exactly like \”heaven\”, we need to submit to God\’s counsel. For God \”…worketh ALL THINGS (including your life) after the counsel of His will\” (Ephesians 1:11-emphasis mine). \”Earth\” here represents your life while \”heaven\” represents God\’s plan/purpose.
\”Heaven (that is, the sky) and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.\” (Mark 13:31- emphasis mine).
Only the WORDS, counsels, and purposes of God will not pass away. This means every human desire (whether it produces good or evil) will pass away; it will end in this world.
So, we see that only that which derives from God, which can only be good, will abide forever. That is, its effect will flow into the age to come (eternity).
This will be the yardstick for \”rewardability\” at the judgment seat of Christ.
\”For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.\” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Fire will test for what can be rewarded, and all that falls below the standard will be burnt. If anything remains, it will be the thing that is of Christ, not of man; and that will be rewarded (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).
\”Thy kingdom come…\”
Jesus said, \”The kingdom of God cometh not with observation…behold, the kingdom of God is within you.\” (Luke 17:20-21). This is not a motivational statement to imply that without being saved from sin, a person can be a follower of Jesus. No! This is simply saying that presently, the government of God is available in the hearts of men for their consideration.
\” For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness…\” (Romans 10:10). If you \”believe unto righteousness\” you will enter/you have entered into the kingdom (John 3:3,5). Every person must decide to either open to Jesus or to keep Him outside. When He enters into your life, the agenda of self that was your pursuit before MUST now be denied, as you take up your cross to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).
The Cross is the place where the will of God crosses out your will, as it did to Jesus when He lived on earth (John 6:38, Matthew 26:42, 16:21-23)
\”…Thy will be done in earth…\”
This is why Grace must prevail over human ability in your life. When we \”walked according to the cause of this world\” and obeyed \”the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience\”, we did not need the help of God (Grace) to achieve that which we set out to do, no matter how good it seemed (Ephesians 2:2). We simply sat down and planned and read books and listened to \”great\” motivational speakers and presto, we set out to \”change the world\”.
And even now that preachers are turning to strange teachings, walking away from prayer as dependence on God to prayer as a conversation with yourself, many are deceived by the \”miraculous\” occurrences that seems to follow, not knowing that they have been subtly introduced/initiated into \”scientific occultism\”.
Meanwhile, the prince of this world is a sophisticated global thinker that loves to take advantage of any form of self-worship, to \”stand in the holy place\” of your mind, \”shewing himself that he is God\” and then project his thoughts into your mind, to systematically devour you and your faith (Matthew 24:15, 24; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, 1 Peter 5:8).
\”…as it is in heaven.\”
Grace is only necessary when it is the Will of God we seek to achieve with our lives.
It is what you see in heaven (that which Jesus shows to you by His Word and Spirit) that must be carried out on earth. Since this \”earth\” speaks of your life, it implies the cultivation of your mind by weeding out works of the flesh and planting the seed of God\’s Word (Romans 12:1-2, Luke 8:11). This will produce the fruit of the Spirit, which is a recommendation for service/representing God among men. This is when \”thy Kingdom come\” becomes your reality.
Note: Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Photo credit: Grace Church Waynesboro
