This blog has gone
through a few ideological changes and each time that change reflected a new
outlook in how I view the faith. I have changed the outlook of this blog to a
“Kingdom of the Son of God” motif. While this doesn’t seem like a big change
because it still reflects the belief in our Lord, there are a couple reasons
for it. First, I prefer to go back to the primitive form of Christianity,
however I realize that someone coming across the blog may not be familiar with
that nomenclature. I believe the ideological change to “Kingdom of the Son of
God” motif is more closely how the early Christians looked at what we call ecclesiology
(the doctrine of the Church).
The phrase “Kingdom
of the Son of God” actually has a very important meaning in terms of prophecy,
the identity of the new covenant church as well as that of the Messiah and His
current function on the right hand of God the Father. Just two days after
Jehoshua was baptized by John the Baptist, these words were uttered by
Nathaniel to our Lord:
“Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art
the King of Israel.”
This very statement by Nathaniel was
revolutionary and has gone over the head of most of Christendom. Jehoshua
referred to Nathaniel as an Israelite without guile and responded to his
confession with these words:
“Jehoshua answered and said unto him,
Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou
shalt see greater things than these.”
Jehoshua credited Nathaniel with believing
i.e. having faith and this faith was rooted in Nathaniel’s confession of
Jehoshua’s Sonship and Kingship. Those two titles “Son of God” and “King of
Israel” are rooted in the royal seed of David and the Davidic covenant (2nd
Samuel 7:80-16). This is why I say that
most of Christendom has missed or ignored the significance of those titles and
replaced them with a pagan understanding of what it means for Jehoshsua to be
the Son of God. Peter makes a similar declaration in Matthew 16:
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye
that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou
art the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
The title Messiah is
equated to being the King of Israel as is ”Son of God”. Peter basically made
the same profession of faith that Nathaniel did. Like Nathaniel’s, Jehoshua
affirmed Peter’s declaration of who He (Jehoshua) is by saying that the Father
revealed it to Peter.
These titles are
rooted in the Davidic covenant as stated above. It’s important to realize that
we don’t just serve a cosmic Lord in heaven but we serve an actual descendant
of David who fulfilled the promises made to David by Jehovah God. The promise
was that there would be an immortal King that would spring from the loins of
the Davidic lineage. Our Lord doesn’t just sit on some nameless throne in
heaven but the actual throne of David which in the old testament was also
called the throne of Jehovah God. Basically, the Kingdom of the Son of God is
also the Kingdom of David. For too long, the promises that have been made to
those in Messiah have been robbed by those who call themselves
dispensationalists and applied to a non-believing political entity that calls
itself “Israel”. The Hebrew roots and Messianic Jews have done the same.
Rabbinic Judaism has claimed these promises for themselves in the future as the
aforementioned groups have gladly handed those promises of the Kingdom to them.
The aforementioned groups have voluntarily made themselves second class
citizens in the Kingdom to unbelievers who happen to claim that they are Jews
of the flesh. In fact, the dispensationalists deny that Gentile Christians have
any part in the Davidic Kingdom. Yet the bible contradicts their assertions,
let’s read what James, the brother of our Lord says in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem
council:
14 Simeon hath declared how God at the
first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
15 And to this agree the words of the
prophets; as it is written,
16 After this I will return, and will
build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build
again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
17 That the residue of men might seek
after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the
Lord, who doeth all these things.
18 Known unto God are all his works from
the beginning of the world.
James is quoting Amos
9:9-11 which was a prophecy about the re-establishment of the Davidic Kingdom
and he is stating that the proof of this prophecy being fulfilled is that the
Gentiles were being brought into the faith. The chronology is that Jehovah
would return to Israel and this He did through His Son’s ministry and then He
would rebuild the Davidic dynasty which also was promised to Mary by the angel
Gabriel (Luke 1:26-36). The baptism of Jehoshua was the start of the setting up
of the new covenant Davidic Kingdom as the anointing of the Messiah was similar
to David’s anointing as king (1 Sam 16;13) in that they both received the
Spirit of Jehovah powerfully. Both David and Jehoshua had to go through trials
before actually sitting on the throne but during their tribulation time they
were both acknowledged as the rightful King of Israel.
Once the
establishment up of the new covenant Davidic Kingdom took place, then the
Gentiles would seek after Jehovah being called by Him through the preaching of
the Kingdom gospel. The Gentiles are not being called into some separate church
or Kingdom but clearly from James words they are being called into the very
thing that was being set up i.e. the Davidic Kingdom.
Ephesians 2:5-6
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Messiah, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Messiah Jehoshua:
These words are often
overlooked by Christians but they are very powerful in terms of our identity in
Messiah. We must ask the question, what is Messiah’s function in the heavenly
places? Obviously, He is a King and a High Priest. Paul says that we are raised
up (present tense) speaking of our begotten from above experience. After we are
raised up then we sit with Messiah in the holy of holies in the heavenly
sanctuary where the Messiah operates His Davidic Kingship and Melchizdek
priesthood.
This shows that we
share in the kingship experience of our Lord Jehoshua as well as His priesthood.
1 Peter 2:9; Rev 1:5-6 and Rev 5:9-10 all state that we are made kings, queens
and priests by virtue of what the Son of God did on the cross. We cannot be
these things if we have no actual Kingdom nor an actual King. John the apostle
states that the Kingdom of Jehoshua Messiah was already a reality in the 1st
century and that he along with the other brethren were a part of it:
Revelation 1:
“I John, who also am your
brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of
Jehoshua Messiah, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God,
and for the testimony of Jehoshua Messiah.”
Clearly John identifies the Kingdom of
Jehoshua as already being in existence and that going through tribulations was
a mark that one was part of that Kingdom. While the dispensationalist and
Hebrew Rooters mock the idea of Christians reigning now John the apostle says
otherwise and indicates that reigning in this Kingdom means you suffer. The
dispensationalists and Hebrew Rooters have ignored the very words of our King Jehoshua
who said that those in His Kingdom who desire to be the greatest will be the
servant of others. Jehoshua set the example that even though He was a King He
washed the feet of theirs. Service is what makes one a king or queen in the
Messiah’s Kingdom not ruling over others. In fact, Jehoshua said it was the
Gentiles who lorded their authority over others. Paul said the same thing as
John that the Kingdom of Jehoshua was already a reality in the 1st
century:
Colossians 1:12-13
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which
hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Paul knows nothing of
a Kingdom that starts in some future millennium but rather says that upon
conversion we are translated (transferred) into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. My
brethren, know your identity in the Son of God, you are a king, queen and
priest.
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