XI.
Purified Identity: Bringing the Kingdom to Earth
In
light of the last section, purified identity solves the meaning
of "Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." Purified
identity is the root reality in bringing the Kingdom of God to
manifest in the earth.
Refer
again to the words of the elders in Rev 5:9-10:
-
"For
Thou … hast redeemed us to God ... out of every tribe ,-
language ,- people ,- nation.
-
And
hast made us unto our
God kings and priests
-
And
we shall reign on the
earth."
Notice
the three steps presented by these words:
-
loss
of earth-based identity
-
purified
new identity
-
creationary
fulfilment
First
the elders declare their loss of earth identity. Then they
declare their new identity. Then they declare their open
manifestation on
earth according to that mew identity. That is the fulfilment
of Jesus' prayer “in
earth as it is in heaven."
Purified
identity is the key to bringing heaven to earth. The kingdom
begins with purified identity. Purified identity precedes all
manifest rulership and creationary
fulfilment.
(This is the broad corporate application of everything we said
in the last section.)
If
you want to rule with Jesus you must first enter into His
identity at the expense of all your old ones. The degree of
entrance into His identity determines the degree of rulership
over creation.
Today
there is a lot of talk about "bringing in the kingdom." There
are different ideas around about the kingdom, what it means, how
it appears. Some think of it in political terms. Others think of
it more in terms of miraculous works and ministry.
Surrounding
these ideas is lots of involvement -- lots of visions being seen
and prophesied for great things-- corporate visions, personal
visions, lots of teaching, lots of prayer over governments and
situations, lots of issues being hammered and discussed leading
to prayerful social action and mass ministry -- a veritable
network of spiritual energy being released around the world
around the clock all in the name of bringing in the kingdom of
God to earth.
Yet
in much (most?) of this, our ideas about the kingdom begin with
the manifestations of
creationary fulfilments, not purified identity!
For
example, many of us focus on bringing to pass the works of
Jesus. But you can't separate His works from Who He Was. His works
resulted from who He was. It was Jesus' identity as king that
made His works significant.
In
reality, the kingdom was here as long as Jesus was around, even
when there were no "works" going on. The kingdom was always
being manifested through His identity even when
it was not appearing through His works on a given day.
So
it must be for us. If we want to talk about bringing in the
kingdom of God, we've got to start where it did with Jesus: pure
identity. (As He Himself said, "The kingdom of God is within
you.")
Otherwise
we are only serving to use our prayer, activity, ministry, and
miracles to reinforce our original earth identity.
(People
with spiritual anointings and people who are experiencing
creationary fulfilments and manifestations in their ministries
have to be especially careful. God sometimes blesses people with
such anointings who have not first purified their identity in
Jesus. While purified identity will always eventually result in
creationary fulfilments, creationary manifestations are not
final proof that people having them have purified their
identity! In my
estimation, most people manifesting present fulfilments through
their ministry do not have sufficiently purified identity to
back it and therefore are reinforcing old identities in their
followers through their works. Please be careful!)
Again,
then. If we want to talk about bringing in the kingdom, we have
to begin with purified identity. When Jesus finally sets up shop
here, there will be no Americans, or Republicans, or Andersons,
or charismatics or "kingdom teachers," or "anti-abortionists,"
or any such like reigning with Him -- only followers of the
Lamb.
However,
there will be plenty
of Americans, Republicans, Andersons, charismatics, kingdom
teachers, and anti-abortionists in the outer court, where it is
darkness away from the throne, where there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
*******************
We
say we are a "kingdom people." Do we know what this means now?
Do we know what the "Church" is?
Can
you answer these questions:
-
Do
you know who you really are?
-
Do
you know who you are becoming?
-
How
well do you know?
Final
Summary:
God
is looking for a people who are identified only by His Son, and
who are willing to find their restored creationary fulfilment
over the process of the purification of that identity.