Ours is a new day, a step forward in the Kingdom of God. A nation, the Body of Christ, is being born at once. Because the Body of Christ must be righteous as the Head is righteous, the Spirit of God is making clear to us why and how we must move from imputed righteousness to actual righteousness of behavior.

It is time for a giant step forward in the Kingdom of God. It is not a new day in terms of a new revelation not found in the Scriptures. We do not have to cut and paste remote passages in order to support some weird doctrine. All we hope to describe in this brief essay is found clearly in the Scriptures. But there is a new emphasis today on the things of the end time.

We know from Matthew that in the last days the Lord will remove the things that offend, and also the people who offend, from His Kingdom. We have not been sure when and how the purging of the Kingdom will take place but we know it indeed shall take place, and must take place if the Lamb is to have a Bride without spot, wrinkle, or any other blemish.

Well, the day is here, apparently, and the Scriptures are opening to us.

The travail. The Scriptures speak of a travail that is to take place, a travail in which the Ruler of the nations is to be born.

In Micah:

Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. (Micah 5:3—NIV)

In Isaiah:

Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. (Isaiah 66:8—NIV)

In Revelation:

A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. (Revelation 12:1,2—NIV)

We think the Spirit of God is telling us that today as never before the ministries and gifts of the Body of Christ are to enter a travail to bring forth Christ, the Ruler of the nations, in the Church, which is His Body, His Fullness.

Paradise and the Body of Christ. In traditional thinking, the goal of the Christian salvation is to go to Heaven when we die. This is what it means to be "saved."

All of us hope to go to Heaven when we die. We believe that if we put our trust in the Lord Jesus and hold our confidence to the end we will go to Paradise when we pass from this earth. The Lord Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "This day you will be with Me in Paradise."

So far so good.

But then we have the Apostle Paul speaking of having not attained Christ as yet, although the third chapter of Philippians was written after Paul was saved, filled with the Spirit, had wrought miracles, had established churches, and had written many of his famous Epistles.

To be continued.