Christian Churches of God

No. 144

 

 

 

 

The Eternal Kingdom of God

(Edition 3.5 19951124-20001021-20070718-20151016)

This paper deals with the final outcome and objective of the Plan of Salvation. The City of God is explained (see also the paper The City of God (No. 180)) and the spiritual significance is identified. The movement of God to this planetary system necessitates the reordering of the administrative structure of the universe. This is examined.

 

 

 

Christian Churches of God

PO Box 369,  WODEN  ACT 2606,  AUSTRALIA

 

Email: secretary@ccg.org

 

(Copyright © 1995, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2015 Wade Cox)

 

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This paper is available from the World Wide Web page:
http://www.logon.org and http://www.ccg.org

 

 


The Eternal Kingdom of God

 


The real significance and purpose of the Kingdom of God is to put an end to all the madness of this world. In the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of God this universe will be put back to where it was before the rebellion, but in an advanced state with the human structure completed.

 

Previously we have gone into detail about the rebellion of the Host and how a third of them rebelled and destroyed many parts of the universe and destroyed the Earth’s systems, necessitating a re-creation. We have gone through and are at the end of the 6,000 years of the limitation of Satan’s power. The next phase we will go through is the 1,000 years running up to the resurrection of the dead. In the General Resurrection we will then deal with the human element of the creation after we’ve dealt with the spiritual element, and bring that element to an understanding and thence eternal life. See The Second Resurrection and the Great White Throne Judgment (No. 143B).

 

We break every aspect of the power of the demons; every authority and rule that they were established under, and every system of government that was established in the universe. This planet is not the only place where the demons had power. The universe was divided up into great quadrants or sectors and given power under the Council of the Elohim. The demons were confined to Earth so that they could be judged. Under the seventy members of the greater Council they were each given nations so that God could deal with them (Deut. 32:8-9).

 

There were seventy nations and there were seventy members of the Outer Council of the Elohim. They were given responsibility for those nations that they might come into judgment. The Sanhedrin is a mirror of the heavenly Council, and that mirror numbers seventy, and there were seventy nations placed under those people. The Bible has been altered, as has its understanding in the Masoretic Text (MT) to conceal that extent, that power.

 

There is a lot of meaning in every one of the sentences dealing with the powers; for example, in the simple enigmatic comment in 1Corinthians 15:24-28.

1Corinthians 15:24-28  Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

 

This concept is that Jesus Christ has destroyed everything that is in opposition to the will of God and then he hands the Kingdom back to God.

 

25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

So Christ’s reign is a conditional period ordered by God in order to subjugate the earthly and the celestial powers in opposition to God. It is not a period determined in a random way. God, in His omniscience, said we will reign to achieve this end. The millennial structure is a specific period of rest, which is the process of an ongoing work for the priesthood; for the priesthood did more work on the Sabbath rest than at any other time. There were more animals slaughtered, and more work was done by the priesthood on the Sabbath than at any time during the week. The Sabbath rest is not a rest from activity; it is a rest from labour. Sabbath activity is directed to the will of God and to the worship of God. See the paper The Sabbath (No. 031).

 

The Millennium is not a rest in the sense that it is cessation from work. The priesthood then works more. That is their period of labour. The reason the sacrifices were set up that way was to point towards the fact that on the Sabbath we do more work. In the Millennium that’s when our work starts.

 

The Millennium is a process of constant activity by the priesthood in order to prepare the planet for the worship of God, and the subjugation of the spiritual powers in order that everything can be handed back to God.

 

26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

That statement denotes the cessation of all physical life. Death only has meaning in relation to physical existence. There is no such thing as death when we are dead. It is a concept that we do not possess. Somebody else has that concept about us. When we are resurrected and become spirit beings, nobody can physically hold a concept about the cessation of our activity. We are granted eternal life. We are granted immortality from God who grants all life. We are all alive as spirits then. There is an existence that is continuous. Logically, physical activity by necessity must cease to exist in order that death ceases to exist. This tells us there will be no physical existence.

 

27"For God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection under him," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him.

God put all things under Christ. Obviously, if we put everything under somebody we do not put ourself under him. If we delegate our authority to somebody we do not delegate our own authority back under them otherwise there is no concept of delegation. Hence we see the irrationality of the Trinity. Paul is quite clearly saying that God put all things under Christ, but kept Himself out of that system. God did not place Christ over Himself but over all of creation.

 

28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one. (RSV)

It is obvious that the Son is subject to the Father, therefore, co-equality does not exist. Christ here is going to be subjected to God; hence the logical impropriety of the Trinitarian position.

 

The term that God may be everything to everybody in the RSV is in fact from panta en pasin meaning all in all. We see in Ephesians 1 that this is done so that God may become all in all through the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that allows God to enter and become one with Christ, as it is so with us. Without the Holy Spirit Christ could not be at one with God, and could not achieve His power and authority. Thus the Holy Spirit is the mechanism by which Christ achieves power and authority.

 

Christ did not create the Holy Spirit. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that empowers Jesus Christ and that is why Jesus Christ and we are co-heirs to the power of God. That again is why the Western Trinity under Roman Catholicism is improper. The Eastern Trinity does not assert that. Trinitarianism has many aspects. Orthodox Trinitarians assert that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only, not from the Son. Western Trinitarians assert that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. That was the reason for the schism in 1054 CE. That schism was quite correct. The Greeks saw that even for the Trinity it was utterly absurd. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only and empowers all of the sons of God.

 

We develop the entire human race into a relationship with God, giving them the Holy Spirit and empowering them to come into correction and judgment in order to come into a process of perfection. Once the power of the demons is broken, and the demons are brought into correction and the Host are reallocated in power under Jesus Christ and under us, the whole thing is back under the will of God.

 

The demons will no longer be external to the will of God. The system no longer operates external to the will of God. We are back under the will of God, therefore, Monotheism is intact. The Holy Spirit is then back within everything. It will then be a complete system under the will of God. There is no Polytheism and the universe is then in a harmonious relationship. When that happens we will be in a position to hand the Kingdom over to God.

 

God will be able to come to the Earth and transfer the administration of the universe here. We can’t administer a universe in harmony when there is discord on the planet. The chaos has to be eliminated before God can transfer His government here. For the present the administration is not run from this planet. The administration of the universe will come to this planet. Then the whole Earth will be full of His glory (Isa. 6:3), and God and the Lamb will be the lights of the system (Rev. 21:23). That process is ongoing through the Millennium and the resurrections, and at the end of that process there will be a new creation.

 

Isaiah 65:17-18  "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. (RSV)

The administrative structure will be from Jerusalem, but it will be a new Heaven and a new Earth. In other words, this Earth, as we know it, will be destroyed. This Earth will be so marred by the end of the Day of the Lord, that there will be no fish alive in the sea; there will be no trees; there will be very few animals left alive and the birds will be gorging on the millions of dead bodies on this planet. That tells us that it has to be reformed. It is to be purified by fire. There is no sea left. In the re-creation under the New Jerusalem the seas will be removed.

 

Isaiah 66:22-23  "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says the LORD; so shall your descendants and your name remain. 23From new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the LORD. (RSV)

The New Moons and Sabbaths are days of worship. This tells us a number of things. The concept of the New Moons and the Sabbaths will remain with the Feasts as mandatory periods of worship throughout the entire structure. It will certainly be so through the Millennium, but this is also talking about a new Heaven and a new Earth. So the periods of worship of the Lord will go onwards in different ways, but the concepts of regulated periods of New Moons and Sabbaths will remain. If anyone says to us: “You don’t have to keep the Sabbath or you don’t have to keep the New Moons”, point them to Isaiah 66 and Zechariah 14. We will quite simply show them that they have to do those things. It is obvious that Messiah will continue. See also the papers The Harvests of God, the New Moon Sacrifices, and the 144,000 (No. 120); The New Moons (No. 125) and The New Moons of Israel (No. 132).

 

Coming down out of Heaven

Revelation 3:12  He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God,

Christ is going to write on the elect the name of his God. So God the Father is the God of Jesus Christ, as we know from Psalm 45:6 and Hebrews 1:8. Christ has written on his thigh, “king of kings and Lord of Lords” and he bears the name of his God. When people see us they will say “elohim” and they will say we carry the name of Yahovah (Jehovah). That seems an extraordinary concept. When they see us they will say: “Yes, elohim” – “Yes God”. We will be judges of the new system (see the paper The Elect as Elohim (No. 001)).

 

Jesus Christ is saying clearly, this period being after his resurrection, that those who are faithful will be made pillars in the Temple of God. So the Temple is a spiritual edifice and not a physical one. God is in every one of us and when we speak they will know that the power of God speaks through us. That’s why they will treat us as elohim. We will be as God, because we speak for God. When we speak for God we don’t make mistakes, if we have the fear of God in us in the way we exercise our authority.

 

These pillars of the Temple of God, which are the Philadelphian Church, are the strongest structure of the Temple. The structure is laid on foundations and the foundations keep it stable, while the pillars are the main support columns and hold the Temple up. Even though they are the smallest and represent fewer pillars, the Philadelphians are the most solid part of the Temple. They rule in the same way the Thyatirans rule the nations with a rod of iron. They rule in the Kingdom of God with the promises to the Loadiceans (Rev. 4:20-21) – those who survived, as very few of them take their place. Philadelphians exercise all of the power of all the eras because they are the strongest structures of the Temple. The concept of “no more going out” means that they are placed there and never again will they be removed, as they previously were. See the paper The Pillars of Philadelphia (No. 283).

 

The New Jerusalem is the Holy City, which comes down on and into the creation and which is the new Heavens and new Earth.

 

Revelation 21:1-27

 1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

The creation is not going to remain as it is. It will be destroyed by fire and every trace of human habitation will be removed. God does not necessarily require the seas to remain. As spiritual beings we do not require seas and water for existence, as we will be beyond that physical process.

 

2And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband;

There are two concepts of the bride. One is the Church as the bride; the other is the New Jerusalem as the bride. There is a unification of the heavenly and earthly Hosts. The City of God is coming down from Heaven, and we form the Temple which sits in the City of God. We have spiritual edifices. The whole of the City of God is a spiritual edifice. The angels comprise that City of God. If we look at the dimensions of the City of God they are 12,000 stadia or perhaps 1,500 miles (a stadia is about 200 yards) high and 1,500 miles (2,400 km) wide. In other words, it’s a great big square; however, the dimensions are allegorical. The Temple of God does not stand like blocks one on top of the other. It is a place where God lives in us, and we in the City of God are surrounded by the angels who form the bricks of that City of God (cf. the paper The City of God (No. 180)).

 

We are all living stones, and the dimensions are allegorical to show us the sheer magnitude of the heavenly Host forming the City of God. When we reduce it to physical dimensions, none of these dimensions are understood. They are in physical terms in order that we understand that there are six levels in the nave of the Temple, so that we ascend through the six stages of the Jubilee system to the 42nd year. The last stage, which is the Temple proper, is when we go into the Temple in our last phase and enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, on our 50th or Jubilee year.

 

They build a physical thing to explain to us what is going to happen over the 50 years of our human life, if we are under the system of God. So once we understand the physical things we know what it means. Thus we are not six layers of human beings one on top of the other.

 

The concept relates to our six layers of life, one on top of the other, to get us ready to go into the Holy of Holies in the last phase of our calling. Some are not given 50 years. Some are called late and don’t get the full phase. So we are called at a time when we can enter into judgment somewhere up to that level. We come in so that we have enough time to go out qualified. We might be called in without doing all of that because we’ve got enough qualities that God can work with in the last phase to put us into the Holy of Holies. We might only have a year or so in our calling. We might be baptised and we are in the last phase of the Temple and we go into the Holy of Holies. That is the city of Jerusalem.

 

When we are placed inside the city, the city is coming down from Heaven, and the whole city is made up of living angels. We are placed in the centre of that as the government of God. That is the real understanding of the New Jerusalem and they all integrate together. There is no conflict.

 

The Temple, which is the elect, is placed centrally inside New Jerusalem. God and the Lamb are the light of that Temple and they illuminate the city. The Spirit flows out as a river to the city and the whole city is watered from the Temple, which is God. That Holy Spirit is the water that feeds us and keeps the city together. That process of the City of God coming down then finds that all of the human Host are then built into the City of God.

 

We in the First Resurrection are there as the Temple of God in the city, because the whole city serves as a focal point for the Temple within which God is, and that Temple we are. However, in the City of God, the whole city is the Temple because all are dedicated to God. There is a distinction between the Temple now and the city then. That’s the end product of all that time. So we go beyond that process. We are all prepared to marry Jesus Christ to take us into that system to make us part of the governmental structure. We are all going to be the “bride” of Christ and sons of God. How can we be sons of God and the bride of Christ? We can and will be, because they are allegorical concepts. We are all prepared so that everyone is handed over to God. See the paper Heaven, Hell or the First Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143A).

 

Jesus Christ will create new rules and new authority, so that the New Jerusalem, the heavenly Host, are coordinated with us, the elect, as the bride of Christ and a new structure of government will be formed. There will be new orders of government in the heavens. There will be a new Council of the Elohim formed. There will be a new Outer Council of the 70 (in fact, the seventy plus two; cf. Lk. 10:1 Interlinear). A new Outer Council of the 120, 300 and the 500 will be formed and there will be extended orders right through to the 144,000.

 

Kings and priests will be nominated and given authorities and spiritual creation and areas and responsibilities. Every number of ordinations done by Jesus Christ from the 12 Apostles through to the 3,000 and on down to the 144,000 has significance and relationship to the government of God. Nothing is accidental. They all relate to the sacrifices in the centuries, making up the period between Christ’s Advents.

 

The elect are brought into the Temple as its sacrifices. Those elements then make up the governmental structure and the power of God. The new 1,000 are comprised of the 70, 120, 300, and 500 with the ten candlesticks making up the total (see Job 33:22-23).

 

The elect exercise administration in the same way that the empires of the world try to exercise power. For instance, the Babylonian system tried to exercise power through 120 satraps. They called it 127, but there were in fact seven regional commanders and 120 satraps. They tried to emulate the Kingdom of God, because the fact of 120 is the next stage down from the seventy. That was Satan trying to emulate the physical form on the planet of the Kingdom and the government of God. In the end it will be 144,000 and they will be administrators. Under them will be the Great Multitude and they will in turn administer their key elements, i.e. those who will be kings and priests on the Earth. See The Government of God (No. 174).

 

Then we have the entire human race under that system. The human race is joined with the angels and they become the city, which is then administered by these kings and priests – billions of them!

 

We will take part in all of these things and will be allocated our direct responsibilities, and we will be given roles as kings and priests in that system. We will be given multitudes to look after and at different places in the structure of the administration. Not only in the Millennium, and not only the human Host, but we will also be integrated with the loyal Host of the celestial forces of the angels; they are our brothers. We will see Michael and Gabriel and Raphael and all the other angels. We will deal with them and be on an equal basis with them. We will have access to human history and human understanding, and the Mysteries of God, which we will understand.

 

The heavenly Host are learning the mysteries of God through us right now, and they long to look towards the future that we are given to understand (1Pet. 1:12). God has not revealed all of it yet to them or to us. As He reveals it to us, it is revealed to them. He shows them through us what His mysteries are so that they will see God’s wisdom, because only in that way do they also exercise faith. We have to exercise faith because we do not see. But they also have to exercise faith in that they see far more than we do. We see through a glass darkly as Paul says. But they do not know what the end result is and they are engaged in a war. They look to God for some of the Mysteries as they are revealed to us in the Holy Spirit and issued in the Church. See the paper The Mysteries of God (No. 151).

 

In the Last Days the Plan and the Mysteries of God are made apparent and the churches and the eras will come to fruition, and the Mysteries will be made clear then. As Jeremiah says, in the Last Days we will fully comprehend this. It will be unfolded so that the priests also understand where they went wrong. But the angels exercise faith in waiting for the Mysteries to be expounded, not by them, but by us. That requires humility and Satan couldn’t exercise that humility. Michael and Christ could and Gabriel could. They had to wait and listen to base and weak humans issue a Mystery of God, so that they then understood the next stage of the development. That is humility. Satan couldn’t do that.

 

What we look at from there is that God places all of the individuals in different places in the Kingdom. He who is first will be last. There are a lot of people who think they are righteous and have thought that they are important in the Kingdom of God. They thought that they were high-fliers, but they are not going to be high-fliers in the Kingdom. That thought keeps all of us on our toes. That position says we know spiritually that we have something to hang on to. The people who think they are red hot, in fact, invariably are in trouble because they develop self-righteousness. They start to look down on the brethren and they start to develop the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. God hates that doctrine because it seeks to separate the ministry from the laity and it establishes a concept of a ministry superior to the laity, which is totally anti-biblical. Thus, “he that is first, will later be last”, reminds us that we have a responsibility and to take care lest we fall. See the paper The Nicolaitans (No. 202)).

 

Women will assume great roles in power and responsibility and authority. Some will rule over (former) men in large numbers. A lot of men will be mortified and humiliated to realise how they treated women. When it happens, they will have to repent and they will be shown why they are in the Kingdom. It will be obvious why these women are in power over them. It is because they are spiritually stronger and it is no accident that a lot of the women understand that fact. There are a lot of spiritually strong women in the Church in the Last Days. On a proportionate basis, we might find that there are more women stronger amongst the elect than men, precisely because they’ve had to endure more and they have been inured to hardship more. They have a lesser view of their own importance. When we go into the Last Days and the tribulation, this will be an asset and not a liability.

 

There are all sorts of things that will happen in the Kingdom. Our responsibility is to prepare all who are given to this Church in order that we take our responsibility in the eternal Kingdom of God in the New Jerusalem. That applies to both male and female. That is why the women will have to study and play a part in the transmission of the authority of the Church. We cannot be empowered by being made in subjection to mindlessness. That is why the system had to be destroyed this century and why a new system has to be created. We have to empower each other to grow stronger in the Faith in order to be used in the Faith.

 

Everyone has a way they can contribute, no matter how simple, poor or untalented we may think we are. Everyone can see a need in the Church and can fulfil some aspect of our requirements to get this message out. The more we get it out, the more people are empowered and understand the vision of the Kingdom. It is a powerful vision and a vision of hope. The mindlessness that limits that is of Satan. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans is the key factor in that process of holding people back and limiting their capacity. We have no capacity at all if we go into a church and sit behind an altar rail and mumble a meaningless repetition of prayers as the heathen do. That is not power, and we are not equipped to do anything. We have to be equipped to do something to fulfil our task.

 

As spirits we will go to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb with the spiritual Host. All are prepared for marriage under Jesus Christ, so that all are handed over to God.

 

3and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; 4he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."

So the dwelling of God is with men. It is not just Messiah here bringing the authority of God; it is God with men, in men. He simply takes away all anguish and pain. All of the problems that have beset humanity and the whole concept of death and frailty and of weakness are simply removed. They will be a thing of the past. These things we will not bring to mind in anguish. God will empower everyone so that there is no mental distress. Everybody will be rehabilitated, mentally and physically. They will become spirit beings, but their spiritual memories and their spiritual entities will be intact. There will be no impaired thought processes from the memories of the past.

 

All of these things are done when God comes here. When Jesus Christ comes here, God is still not here except through the power of the Holy Spirit. God cannot come here until all is subjected, as God is Holy and will not be contaminated with evil – and rebellion is evil. God would make this planet cease to exist if it is not successful in overcoming. It is not God’s Plan that this planet be destroyed, but if necessary the alternative is that if we are not successful, and it’s not done, then God would have no choice but to destroy this planet. But that will not happen.

 

5And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true. 6And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. 7He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son.

We are talking about God being the Alpha and Omega here. There was no El extant. No God was before Him and no God is after Him. There was no El with Him before the beginning of creation. He alone is the One True God, from John 17:3 (see the paper Arche of the Creation of God as Alpha and Omega (No. 229)).

 

We will all become sons of God in power after our resurrection from the dead, as Jesus Christ became a son of God in power following his resurrection from the dead (as we understand from Rom. 1:4). It is God talking through Jesus Christ. He is the beginning and the end and He made Jesus Christ as the beginning of the creation and the end result of it (Col. 1:16). However, God is the beginning in the sense that He created Christ, and He created the elohim and the Host and everything else. By His will all things exist and were created (Rev. 4:11).

 

Also, He is the Omega in the sense that through the Holy Spirit He will become all in all, and all of us will become elohim like the Angel of Yahovah (Jehovah) at our head (Zech. 12:8). The Angel is Jesus Christ at our head, who is elohim of our people (see The Angel of YHVH (No. 024)). We will achieve the power of God through the Holy Spirit. We will all exist as one solid construction, as the Holy Spirit is that aspect of God that holds us together as mortar binds bricks, and binds us together, brick upon brick. That is how we can be one edifice.

 

To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment (v. 6) is the concept of the Holy Spirit (refer to the paper The Holy Spirit (No. 117)). This fountain comes to all of the people who are in the Kingdom of God.

 

The term my son (v. 7) indicates that we will be like the Host. Job chapters 1 and 38 show that God has multiple sons already but we will be included in the generic group of sons of God like the angels and the archangels. Jesus Christ is not the only Son of God – there are many. We will be sons of God as the heavenly Host are sons of God. See the paper How God Became a Family (No. 187).

 

8But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."

This applies if we don’t overcome these things in the First and Second Resurrections. The Church is full of such people who God calls out of these situations. All of us are called in order that we overcome so that we are an example to the other people who are judged by those standards. God does not deal with things in a way that is unfair. He calls people and empowers them to overcome to demonstrate that things can be overcome. See the paper The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

 

9Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; 13on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (RSV)

So the twelve gates are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the Judges of the twelve tribes are the foundations of the city. Twelve levels, twelve foundations are for each of the twelve Apostles. Whilst they are judges, we notice that they are not put above them, but below them so that they can stand on them. Israel stands on the twelve Apostles as foundations, one upon the other of the City of God. Hence, these Apostles are not like the Gentiles where the lords rule over them, but in fact are like Christ who serves. That is a function of leadership of the Holy Spirit. It is an inverse pyramid, not a pyramid. It is not a hierarchy. It is a base so that each one by his service can become the basis and the foundation for those whom he serves. That is our leadership. That is the way we are to perform; laying down our lives for each other.

 

The twelve Apostles achieve rulership in the Inner Council of the Elohim in the restoration of the New Jerusalem and the heavenly Host.

 

The integrated ranks are such that the replacement of the fallen Host is effected from humans. They are integrated and the new orders of government take up these positions in the city. This city is a spiritual edifice. We form part of that city and the heavenly Host form the rest of it. As we are the Temple of God, so these humans too are the city of the New Jerusalem. We are the inner Holy of Holies, but all form this city. Some do not understand the dimensions, suggesting it would be physically 1,500 miles high.

 

Most people reduce these powerful concepts back into physical terms so that they can confine God into something they can dismiss. That’s what Trinitarians seek to do, and thus they make God irrelevant. They place Christ as the new co-equal, co-eternal Being so that the Laws of God can be dismissed. When we talk about the Holy Spirit dealing with this and say God is everything to everybody, instead of all in all and we are looking at the physical dimensions, we lose sight of the Kingdom. We can’t get those concepts within Trinitarianism. That is why Trinitarianism confines everything we are and do. It is a demonic concept aimed at reducing our final capacities. See the paper Binitarianism and Trinitarianism (No. 076).

 

15And he who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its breadth; and he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length and breadth and height are equal. 17He also measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits by a man's measure, that is, an angel's.

 

A man and angel here are synonymous. It is an angelic measurement being talked about; it is a spiritual measurement.

18The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. 19The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. (RSV)

 

The concepts of the twelve jewels have spiritual significance.

 

22And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it,

We saw no Temple, because we formed the Temple as a spiritual edifice. The city has no need of sun or moon because the light of the Lamb is its light. We then cease to be the Inner Temple, but become the city of New Jerusalem. It becomes all of the Sons of God; however, we formed the basis. The Temple ceases to be evident and becomes part of the city, because the administration of the elect as leaders of the whole city ceases to be separate from the city itself. It has become widened and God and Christ become the hub, centre or nucleus of it. The Holy Spirit operates in everybody throughout the city.

 

The Temple is extended. Instead of being a separate building in the city, the leaders of the whole city are actually the repository for the Spirit of God. Thus the Temple, being the repository of the Spirit, is then extended so that the whole city becomes the repository of the Spirit. The central administration, being part of the city, is still the Sons of God, or the central key element through which God runs His creation. It is not the same way as the Gentiles run their nations. It is not a hierarchical system where we need one group telling another what to do. We are geared in families, all of which are governed directly by God. It is a difficult concept because we think in terms of hierarchies. It is a one-on-one relationship with Christ and God. The head of every man is Christ and the head of Christ is God (1Cor. 11:3).

 

A jump has occurred in the process of the way people relate to God. Instead of the Temple, we now have an extension of the Temple where the spirit extends throughout the city.

 

We go from being the Temple to being the city and are integrated into a bigger structure. God fills the vacuum and takes up and becomes all in all. Hence, we end up with a process of an inner hub tying the whole city together. God is the city because He is in us through the Holy Spirit.

 

for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it, 25and its gates shall never be shut by day -- and there shall be no night there; 26they shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. (RSV)

We are dealing with the process of the nations being brought into the spiritual capacity, being saved and then brought into the city. There is no question but that the Gentiles inherit the Kingdom of God through New Jerusalem. The gates of the city are the pearls of the wisdom of the gospel of the Kingdom of God as administered through the twelve Apostles. They are not physical pearls. The symbolism is entirely spiritual.

 

The Administration

Revelation 22:1-5 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; 4they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. 5And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. (RSV)

 

God is reconciled to us and the elect share the administration. Christ is seated in the Throne room and we share in that throne. We share that responsibility and that authority. The promise to the Laodicean Church, for those who overcome in that Church, is from Revelation 3.

 

Revelation 3:21 He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. (RSV)

We are sitting on Jesus Christ’s throne as Jesus Christ is sitting on God’s Throne. So God becomes all and we all share that one administrative responsibility. It’s a very powerful system. That position of handing it over to God does not diminish our power but rather increases it, as the administration is centred on the Earth with the entire heavenly Host coming here. We are actually elevated in power by the removal of the administration and integration with the angelic systems. The archangels will be integrated with the Apostles who themselves will become archangels.

 

We have the concept of the 3 and the 30. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ with Moses and Elijah either side of him produces an inner core to the Council of the Elohim. That is why in Exodus 7 and 4 God told Moses, “I will make you an Elohim. He made him a God to Aaron and a God to Pharaoh. He did not say, “I will make you a judge”. He said: “I will make you a God” – the same word that is used of Himself and of the Council of the Elohim. These people become administratively powerful beings. That is why there are two Cherubim either side of the mercy seat in the Temple. They represent the two supports to the central governing body. Moses and Elijah are the two supports to the central governing body and then it drops down to twelve through the Apostles, twelve through the Judges and it goes on to the seventy etc.

 

They are real powers not just descriptive terms. They are there to give us an idea of the destiny of our people. On the resurrection of the dead they are given their power and authority, but they achieve their full power and authority when this Kingdom is handed over to God. As we go through we get a millennial responsibility and we discharge that. Then we are given a responsibility in the resurrection and we discharge that. Then we are given a responsibility when we are finally reconciled in the Host. There are three levels as spiritual beings. That then goes on into the universe.

 

The administration goes on because our purpose in life and creation is not the Millennium. The Millennium is not the aim and objective of our calling. It is merely the vehicle by which we correct humanity and judge the fallen Host. It is a period of the Day of the Lord and that “Day” lasts for a thousand years. That is why Peter said a day is but a thousand years unto the Lord (2Pet. 3:8). The Day of the Lord is one thousand years in its purpose and its intent and it ends in the resurrection of the dead, which lasts one hundred years. See the paper The Golden Jubilee and the Millennium (No. 300).

 

The Day of the Lord encompasses the establishment of the Kingdom, the rule of the Millennium, the resurrection of the dead and then the reconciliation. It is an extended period of one thousand years of Just Rule. The process is not only that period in itself. The thousand years is only a teaching tool. The full purpose of the human species in line with the angelic Host has not even been stated. It is to rule the stars. There are sections in the Bible that deal with the concept of where we go to our destiny. But our destiny is to rule the stars and recreate the administrative structure and deal with the universe in a new order. We will be given the power of creation in the same way the elohim had the power of creation, so will we create. There is a well-concealed passage in the Pentateuch not written down here, and also Psalm 8 and Daniel 2.

Psalm 8:1-9  To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth! Thou whose glory above the heavens is chanted  2by the mouth of babes and infants, thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. 3When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; 4what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? 5Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor.

See the paper Psalm 8 (No. 014).

 

We are given power in the elohim family as Sons of God, sharing the power of God. That is a little less than the angels (KJV). However, the Hebrew says: a little less than God (see RSV), which is elohim. The LXX translates this as the angels. Thus they see we are dealing with the angels as elohim. The Hebrew seems to say the son of man lacks a little from elohim (see Green’s Interlinear Bible).

 

6Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet, 7all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea. 9O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth! (RSV)

This concept is one of the Earth – all the work of God’s hands – being placed under mankind.

 

Daniel 2:11  The thing that the king asks is difficult, and none can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."

It appears that this work produces a concept that we are to take over a system that transcends the physical creation. The point needs to be studied further to develop that concept.

 

Daniel 2:44-45 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; 45just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. (RSV)

Apparently the concept of the breaking of all kingdoms includes the administrative structure of the heavenly Host and the reorganisation of that structure. Of necessity, that means it has to be a newly ordered system. It has to include the stars. By the creation of new Heavens and a new Earth, it has to mean that there will to be some means of regulation of that system. We have not been told fully how we will do that. The Bible is unclear on what we are going to do in the Millennium save that we are set up in rulership and authority, given that these things are going to happen (references relating to the universe are in Dan. 7:27 and 12:3)

Daniel 7:27  And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them. (RSV)

 

All dominions under the whole Heaven show us that it transcends the Earth. It doesn’t talk about all dominions on the Earth; it talks about all dominions under the whole Heaven. The process of reordering the administration gives us, by default and by the fact of the matter, the power of creation. The things that were done by the elohim here are seen by us in order that we can justly execute proper creative ability. The reason we are allowed to go through all this on the Earth is to prepare us for a function in the future so that we will not destroy it.

 

There is no reason why we should have to go through this now unless we are being prepared for the future. One reason for doing this could be said to be that we will look back on this period and not have another rebellion. This creation is brought to mind no more. The things that were here are brought to mind no more. But it is not just so that we won’t have another rebellion, as we will no longer look back. We won’t bring it to mind. So there must have been a reason why we were put through this process of perfection. It must be to exercise power over the ordered universe in the future. There appears to be no other reason why we would produce this sequence of living and correction; of allowing this sort of evil to take place, except that we were being perfected for some other job in the future. This is a training school. We are being trained for something. We can only see through a glass darkly. When we see God face to face we will begin to comprehend what we are to do. The whole function is encapsulated in Revelation 22.

 

Revelation 22:6-15 And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.

There is an angel who delivers to us in the Last Days – immediately before the coming of the Messiah – a message of what must take place. That inspiration is given to us in the Last Days and Christ is coming soon.

 

7And behold, I am coming soon." Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. 8I John am he who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; 9but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

Worship God. He is the object of worship. The end process is in the worship of God (see the paper The God We Worship (No. 002)).

 

10And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy."

The words were not sealed up in this book as the time was near. It was not a closed book. We were meant to understand it.

 

12"Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood. (RSV)

The concept is of God as the Alpha and the Omega, delegating His responsibility, His titles and His authority to Christ and to the Host. Falsehood is placed as a sin along with the worst of the crimes. We cannot pervert the truth and inherit the Kingdom of God. That is why God punishes the priests and prophets who lie, because they are in positions where they should not do that. It is fundamental. Truth is central to the priesthood and prophecy.

 

Revelation 22:16-20  "I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." 17The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.

This is Jesus Christ, who is identifying himself as the Angel who brought the message.

 

18I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 20He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (RSV)

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