And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Revelation 20:3)

In Christ we already have been raised to the highest throne in the universe. We can go no higher. We shall never go higher. We now are fighting our way downward toward possession of the earth. The rule of Satan will be broken first in the heavenlies. Then the rule of wickedness will be destroyed out of the earth.

We already are in possession of resurrection life in the Presence of God. Now we are moving toward resurrection life in the earth. This will require the destroying of sin out of the earth because eternal life and sin cannot dwell together.

The Christian's task is to close the gap between his experience and his position in Christ. The gap is the distance between our body on the earth and our reborn inward nature, which is at the right hand of God in Christ. To possess the Kingdom of God we must bring our throne life down into the earth to the point that we can live righteously in the earth: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

The saints, under the Spirit of Christ, are moving toward dominion over the earth.

For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. (Psalms 37:9)

The earth and its peoples belong to Christ. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Psalms 24:1).

Heaven is an actual area and we hope to go there when death brings down our mortal body to defeat. But it is the earth and earth's peoples that are the destiny of Christ and His saints.

The heart of Christ is in the earth. The earth is the possession of Christ. The nations are His inheritance. We may not be overly concerned about the nations but Jesus bears the nations on His heart as a mighty longing.

The Father has given Jesus the nations of the earth as His inheritance. Jesus desires this gift. When Christ is created in our heart our desires are directed toward the earth, toward delivering and teaching the peoples of the earth; especially the Jews for they are particularly close to the heart of Christ.

We are coheirs with Christ of the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth.

The rest of God is not Heaven. The land of promise is not Heaven. The land of promise is the earth and the nations of the earth. The rest of God is the place of abiding in the bosom of the Father until all our enemies have been made our footstool by means of the sovereign working of Christ in us.

Reader, grasp God's rest for yourself. Do not come short of it. "Sell all" and give yourself wholly to the things of Christ. Such is the exhortation of the Book of Hebrews. Some of the believers will press through to God's goal for them. Why shouldn't you be included in the group of victorious saints?

If you should die before the consummation of the promises, make certain you die in faith. Do not stagger in unbelief at God's majestic promises. Be strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what He has promised He is able to fulfill to the uttermost—for you!

To be continued.