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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Heavenly Jerusalem, #50
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (II Corinthians 3:18)
Christ is the One who, coming into our heart, transforms us from within. The old passes away. The new creation is brought into being.
When the angel beholds Christ in us, he will allow us to pass into the new Jerusalem. He will not question our doctrine, just as the Lord Jesus does not, in the Gospel accounts, ever present Himself as questioning peoples' doctrine when He returns.
When the angel sees Christ in us he will allow us to enter the city because in Christ there is no fear, but courage; no unbelief, but faith; no abomination, but righteousness; no murder, but love; no immorality, but purity; no sorcery, but obedience to God; no idolatry, but the worship of the one true God; no lie, but transparent truth.
The Kingdom of God does not come by observation, at least not now. It is in us if Christ is being formed in us. The Kingdom of God is not primarily a place, it is a state of being. If a Christ-filled saint is in Heaven, the Kingdom of God is in Heaven. If a Christ-filled saint is on the earth, the Kingdom of God is on the earth.
When Christ returns to earth He will bring the Kingdom with Him. The Kingdom He will bring will be revealed from within the saints whom He brings with Him; for the Kingdom has been created in their personalities. It is the revealing of the sons of God that will release the creation into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
Today, the Kingdom of God must be entered by the determined efforts of the saint. Determined effort is required because Satan, the world, the believer's lusts and self-will, and sometimes his fellow believers—all conspire against the individual as he seeks to be filled with Christ in every area of his personality.
We have to strive to enter through the narrow gate. We have to labor to enter the rest of God. Anyone who believes our pilgrimage, our race, our battle, consists in the main of a statement of belief has never set out to follow the Master.
Rewards of eternal life, authority, power, status, abilities, and opportunities for service will be granted to the hardy few who put forth the effort that is necessary if one is to enter the Kingdom of God in the present hour.
Let us make the distinction once more.
To be "saved" is to receive by faith the atoning blood and personal Lordship of Christ, and to be baptized in water as a sign of leaving the spirit of the present age and entering the realm of God's dear Son.
Being saved makes us eligible to move forward into the life, authority, and power of the Kingdom of God, including the first resurrection from the dead. The first resurrection from the dead is the resurrection of God's judges, kings, and priests. It is this resurrection that Paul was striving to attain (Philippians 3:11; Revelation 20:4-6).
To be continued.