In order to enter the Kingdom of God we must be willing to set aside our own wishes now and live each day in the joyful hope that one day the Lord will come and give to us our heart's desire.

If we demand our own satisfaction now we will forfeit the Kingdom of Heaven.

The goal of the Christian redemption is to inherit the earth, not to inherit Heaven. Nowhere in the Scriptures is the teaching found that we inherit Heaven or that we make Heaven our home. This is not a scriptural concept.

Rather, we inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. We inherit the rule of Heaven. The place we inherit is the earth. The government of our kingdom comes from Heaven. It is the Kingdom that is coming from Heaven. It is coming to the earth. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

The parables spoken by Jesus were parables of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. Not one of them has to do with making our residence in Heaven. Some of them, such as the parable of the sower, illustrate the growth of the Word of the Kingdom in us. Others portray judgment on the wicked and the entrance of the righteous into eternal life. But none has to do with making our home in Heaven.

Since there is an abundance of scriptural passages, both Old Testament and New Testament, that teach the coming of God's Kingdom to the earth, and no passage that teaches that our eternal Kingdom will be located in Heaven, it is difficult to understand how the current concept, we are saved to "go to Heaven," ever gained the ground that it has. Perhaps the Scriptures are becoming more clear because the time for the Kingdom to enter the earth in the fullness of power is close at hand.

The Old Testament contains many descriptions of the coming of the Kingdom of God into the earth but no description of the saints going to Heaven to make their eternal home there.

So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. (Psalms 102:15,16)

When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. (Psalms 102:22)

O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. (Psalms 67:4)

God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. (Psalms 67:7)

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. (Psalms 100:1,2)

O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. (Psalms 96:1)

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. (Psalms 96:11-13)

The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. (Psalms 97:1)

To be continued.