Today God is preparing the nobility of His Kingdom, His "mighty men of valor." The requirements are strict for such a high calling. The constant challenges and battles of our Christian pilgrimage are not for the purpose of earning salvation (although if we grow careless we might lose a major part of our inheritance—Hebrews 2:3; 3:6).

Rather, the challenges and battles are for the purpose of preparing us to rule with Christ. We must walk worthy of our calling. Kings and priests of God must be trained with far more rigor than is true of the subjects of the Kingdom who bear less responsibility. To whom much has been given, of him will much be required.

We have been saved from wrath. Now we are to "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ." That high calling is to attain the fullness of eternal life as a king and priest of God, thereby becoming eligible and competent to participate in the resurrection from among the dead.

The birth of Christ in the manger, His crucifixion, and His resurrection, were the most significant events of all time—perhaps of all eternity. They were the birth of the Kingdom of God, the beginning of the new creation of God. They reveal the purpose of God, the merging of Heaven and earth, the eternal uniting of the Divine and the human.

Christ, the Logos, the eternal Life who was with the Father, entered the material realm. The invisible God was pleased to give form to Himself in this manner.

The Kingdom of God existed alone in Christ until Christ rose from the dead and poured the Spirit of God on human flesh. Then the Kingdom of God (Christ in us) began to multiply. God in Christ entered eternal union with members of mankind. Life-giving spirits began to be formed (I Corinthians 15:45).

The people of Israel knew the Scriptures. They were waiting for their King to come and for the glory of the Kingdom of God to descend from Heaven.

John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Apostles of the Lamb proclaimed the Kingdom of God. The confusion and rejection arose in part because the Israelites understood only the earthly aspects of the Kingdom. They were not nearly as aware of the spiritual aspects of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom announced by their own Prophets.

It appears that just the opposite is true today. The Christian people understand, to a certain extent, the spiritual aspects of the Kingdom of God. But they are not nearly as well acquainted with the earthly aspects of the Kingdom, supposing that their destiny is to live forever in Heaven, in the spirit realm while the destiny of the Jews is to participate in the Kingdom of God on the earth.

It is impossible to understand the preaching of Christ or His Apostles to any appreciable extent until one's participation in the earthly aspect of the Kingdom of God is grasped. To this day a great many of God's people misunderstand the purpose of the coming of the Lord. The purpose of the coming of Christ is not to take us to Heaven, it is to set up the Kingdom of God on the earth; it is to bring justice to the nations..

To be continued.