The spiritual Kingdoms Part One
By: Evelyn BrooksWe are going to be taking a brief overview look at the spiritual kingdoms. There are only two. The Kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Both of these kingdoms are now a part of this earth. This is evidenced by the evil and the good that abounds. We will learn a little about each and see how when we became born again we moved from the kingdom of darkness to that of light.
The Kingdom of darkness is ruled by Lucifer. That was his heavenly name. Now his name is Satan, prince of this world. According to Ezekiel 28, he was a high angel. It is believed that he was the leader of praise and worship to God in music. He was created with musical instruments built into him. He was beautifully adorned with jewels of all kinds.
Because of Satans' beauty and magnificence he became puffed up with pride, thinking that he should be above his creator. Sin was found in the heart of Satan and his fate was sealed. He was cast out of heaven to the earth. He took along with him 1/3 of the angels in heaven that he had deceived into thinking that he should be above God. Rev. 12:4 & 9 The kingdom of darkness had begun upon the earth. Satan became the god of this world.
God longed to have man created in his own image to love and to love him in return. So mankind as we know it was created in Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They were clothed with the Glory of God! They were perfect, they knew no sin. Their fellowship with God was perfect and wonderful. They had God given dominion or authority over everything in the earth including Satan. They in no way had to bow to Satan.
We all know the story of how Satan, through a serpent, deceived Eve into being disobedient to God and thereby, removing Gods glory from man. You can read all about it in Genesis 3. Through Adam and Eve, sin entered the life of man. God had given them free will and they choose to disobey God. Division came between God and his beloved man. Man took on a sin nature and everyone being born hereafter was born into sin. God is a holy God and can have no fellowship with sin. Satan had managed to separate God from his beloved man. It looked as though Satan had won. Not so! God had a plan. Short range, long range and an eternal plan of redemption for man! A plan to reconcile himself to us.
The things we are talking about here goes very deep and many lessons can be written on the things we have discussed briefly. But I just wish to give an overview to help you understand the two spiritual Kingdoms. By default in the garden of Eden Satan took dominion over what God had given man. God had given man dominion over the earth but by rebelling against God and sinning, Adam and Eve turned it over to Satan. In Genesis 3 you can read about the hardships that would come into their life as a result of their sin.
In verse 17 God said "cursed is the ground because of you". God goes on to tell them how hard everything was going to be now that they, through sin opened the door to Satan. He tells them about thorns and thistles. He tells them about sweat and pain. This is because Satan has nothing good to offer. I promise you, every inch of ground in your life that you turn over to Satan will produce nothing but thorns and thistles, sweat and pain. That is the Kingdom of Satan, pain and torment of every kind.
Good news though! Through the blood of Jesus Christ the Kingdom of God has come to earth. We have been delivered from the curse of sin and the curse of death. Unlike Adam and Eve and all the others up through time we no longer have to sacrifice innocent animals as an atonement for our sins and we no longer have to be separated from our creator because God, by the blood of his own son made a way from us to pass from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Light. Read the book of Colossians. It is only 4 short chapters. It tells all about how Jesus reconciled us to the Father through his death.
Colossians 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the circumcision of your sinful nature God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having concealed the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
We are all born into sin or satans' kingdom and we all have the same opportunity to inter into the kingdom of God, by asking for forgiveness and putting our faith in the blood of Jesus and receiving Jesus as our new Lord. When we do, we are no longer a part of this world. Our citizenship is not earth but heaven.
Once we enter the Kingdom of God everything is new and different. II cor. 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Praise God! A little time in satans'' kingdom will get you ready for something new!
Our God is 3 but yet one. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He created us in His image and are also a triune being. We are body, soul and spirit. When you were born again, the work was completed in your spirit. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, God is the anchor of your soul. Put your trust in God. He is more than able to keep that what is committed to Him.
It is Satans' will to keep you struggling over your own salvation and keep you immature in the things of God so that you will be no threat to his Kingdom. If you are in fear over your salvation you are not trusting the one who saved you. We will go much deeper into this later. But if this is an area where you stumble, make up your mind right now that the Blood of Jesus is more than enough to do what the word of God says it will do. And determine that you will not listen to your accuser, but you will put your trust in Gods saving power and you will begin to live like the citizen of heaven that you are.We have learned about the two kingdoms. We have learned that both kingdoms are in the earth, even though there is a very real heaven and a very real hell separate from earth. We have learned that Satan cannot hold anyone in his kingdom, but everyone has a free will to choose Gods Kingdom. In a few days you will receive Part 2 of this teaching--How To Operate Successfully in Gods Kingdom.
Practical Application:
For the ideas in this teaching that are new to you, spend some time meditating them. Talk to God about them. Do some study and digging on your own.
Read the entire book of Colossians.
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