If we do all the Lord has commanded us through His Apostles the Lord will complete the work of delivering us from sin. It is true also of service in the Kingdom. We cannot save souls or teach the saints by our own strength and wisdom. Huge amounts of money will not accomplish the work of restoration. It is only as God leads and works with us that we are able to bring the completed vision into material existence.

The burden must remain on Christ. If we attempt to carry the burden of the needs of people we certainly will collapse under the weight. Only God can carry the weight of the burden of the restoration.

The work will be done in Heaven. Here is one of the principal errors of our Christian thinking. The Scriptures do not suggest that the work of restoration will take place after we die and go to Heaven.

Some of us believe even though we have not been faithful here, after we die everything will take care of itself. We will be in Christ's image. We will be spiritual giants ruling over the nations of the earth. We will not sin or be self-centered. We live in defeat here, but there we will live in victory. We follow Christ afar off here but in Heaven we will sit at Christ's table in His Kingdom.

On what Scripture do we base this concept? Given that sin originated in Heaven, it is not reasonable to assume we will be cleansed from our sins by the fact of dying and passing into the realm of spirits.

The concept that our restoration will take place in Heaven, in the spirit realm, has had a profound effect on the quality of Christianity. The churches are not reflecting the Divine Life and Light that result from the Divine restoration. The reason is, the believers view their faith in Christ as being a "ticket" that will admit them to Heaven. Heaven, they suppose, is where the lost inheritance will be regained.

It is true that many aspects of our land of promise are reserved for the future, particularly for the Day of the Lord. But this has nothing to do with residence in Paradise in Heaven.

We can fulfill the vision by manipulating the supernatural realm by "faith." There are at least three aspects of this approach to fulfilling the vision of restoration:

Stepping out in faith.

Speaking the word of faith.

Imaging.

"Stepping out in faith" has been popular throughout the years of the writer's experience as a Christian. The idea is to do rashly what one feels to be desirable in the Kingdom (like Jesus leaping from the pinnacle), and God will come to the rescue—particularly in the area of finance.

To be continued.