Excerpt C from Chap. 2 in FOR HIS GLORY
The Kingdom of God
In the original sin event, the dominion over the earth that God had entrusted to man was forfeited to Satan.
He became prince, ruler and god of this world.* Such is the spirit environment we are born into, and as long as we are earthlings our soul and body are in his sphere and subject to his influence.
When we are born again, we find ourselves “in the world but not of the world” (John 17:13-19). We no longer “fit” here, so The Father has a new place for us called “the Kingdom of God.” The culture of His kingdom portrays our new nature in Christ.
Before we were born again, we tried to satisfy our soul-hunger from Satan’s world. We developed attitudes and habits that are contrary to righteousness, and we must now actively replace them with the ways of the Kingdom of God. That involves the II Cor. 3:18 transformational process of becoming more like Christ.
We can learn more about this transformation, which includes a renewed mind, in Rom. 12:2. “Transformed” comes from the Greek word that we translate as metamorphosis – the process and degree of change that happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
“Renewed” comes from the Greek word that we translate as renovate – tearing out the old and replacing it with the new. It is a life-long process of restoration into wholeness as our love for Jesus increasingly replaces our love for the world, and the Fruit of the Spirit replaces the works of the flesh. Praise God!
This transforming and renewing process requires active confession and repentance. We release more and more control of our lives to Him and He moves deeper and deeper into our hearts. Abandoning the altars in our churches is not a good sign for us.
*II Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:2, I John 5:19
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, Ohio USA
March 26, 2022
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