2.1 About the Present Historical Era

For those who have an understanding of the Plan of God, the present era of history is a most interesting time in which to be alive.

The Reign of the Christ. The essence of the Gospel may be expressed in the short declaration, “Jesus Reigns!” The everlasting Reign of the Christ commenced shortly after the ascension of Christ Jesus into Heaven, two thousand years ago. It was then that the resurrected Christ was seated by God the Father upon the revived Throne of David. With the Session of the Christ, the prophesied Kingdom of God became a reality. According to the Scripture, the first objective of the reign of the Christ is to subordinate all the nations of the Earth unto the rule of the Son.¹

The Influence of the Kingdom. Leaven is an agent of transformation or influence. Jesus prophesied that influence of the Kingdom of Heaven would spread,² even as a small amount of leaven introduced into a lump of flour eventually permeates and transforms the whole.³ Though the result of the transformation is observable, the process is gradual and subtle. The slow and generally unperceived process is portrayed also in the parable of the farmer.⁴ When he ascended into Heaven, Jesus had about hundred and twenty followers, all in Jerusalem.⁵ In the present day, the followers of Jesus are innumerable, and the influence of the Reign of the Christ is seen throughout the Earth, in almost every aspect of life.

Why Sin? Why Evil? Many ask, in sincerity, how it is, if Jesus has been reigning for two millennia, that there should be found today in the World evils such as warfare, disease, poverty, starvation, and crime. But the question, though sincere, is defective, for it ignores the fact that, from the very beginning and without lapse, the Lord God has governed his Creation.⁶

Sin a Matter of Instinct. The population of the Earth, over which the Kingdom rules, is mortal, and mortals of the Natural Realm are necessarily sinful. Contrary to the teaching of the Protestant Pulpit, sinful behaviour on the part of man is not the result of a “Sin Nature” inherited from Adam; after all, Adam had no Sin Nature, and yet he sinned. Rather, sin is a consequence of unbridled survival instincts; instincts which the Creator designed and placed within creatures of the flesh. The purpose of the Way of Life is to teach the Justified control over his fleshly instincts. However, it is not until he is transformed from flesh to spirit by the Resurrection that the Justified is set free from the power of fleshly instincts. This is the reason Paul asks the rhetorical question, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”⁷ And though the Justified shall be delivered by the Resurrection, the general populace of the Earth shall remain mortal fleshly creatures.

Sons of God. Heretofore, the Lord has governed through human rulers, such as Nebuchadnezzar, whom he appointed.⁸ The Kingdom of Heaven being implemented by the Lord God differs both in concept and in degree; the Kingdom governs directly.⁹ The officers of the Kingdom are Sons of God; they are the Justified, born by the Resurrection into the family of God. And the government imposed by the Kingdom is comprehensive; the Kingdom has many offices, staffed by the Justified, in number sufficient to provide proper governance of the entire populace of the Earth.

The Devil. The Protestant Pulpit attributes to angelic creatures much of the evil men face in life. Indeed, fantastic tales of angelic rebellion and evil machinations of a “fallen” angel called “the Devil” play a central role in the Protestant Faith. Most of these tales are found only in the the Book of Revelation, with support from the Book of IIPeter and the Book of Jude. But all three of the books are spurious; none of them has a rightful place in the Canon of Scripture. Though legitimate Scripture does use the term “Devil” (Greek diabolos, meaning adversary), it never uses the term in reference to an angelic creature. Notions of everlasting torture in Hell and of conflict between angelic hosts have their source in the myth of the Talmudic Jew.

Misconceptions. Contrary to common notion:

• The Creator, the Lord God, owes none of his creatures everlasting life. Nonetheless, the Lord does extend to some of his creatures the offer of resurrection to Life Everlasting.
• Within the Natural Realm, creatures are born and creatures die. Death of creatures of the Natural Realm is in accordance with the design of the Creator; death is inherent to the Natural Realm.
• The wages of sin is death; the creature who sins forfeits the lifespan he normally would enjoy. But, because the Lord is merciful and patient, the penalty of sin is not always exacted immediately.
• The Lord God is merciful and does not torture his creatures. The allegation that the Lord engages in torture is blasphemy.
• The Scripture teaches repeatedly and unequivocally that the end of the Wicked is annihilation.
• Man does not have an “Immortal Soul.” Man is a chemical organism, animated at birth by a animating spirit imparted by the Creator. Upon death, the animating spirit returns to the Lord God, and the creature decomposes into the “dust” from which he was formed. The only possibility of life after death is the Resurrection.
• The Scriptural concept of Salvation has nothing to do with saving men from everlasting torture in a place called Hell.
• There is no such thing as a angel which is rebellious or which has “fallen” in sin.

Creation Groans. As he orchestrates the events of history, Christ Jesus is bringing the entire populace of the Earth face to face with the reality that the governments of man are incompetent and corrupt, if not criminal. And along with government, institutions once venerated as noble and worthy of respect, including the military, the press, medicine, and education, are seen to have been compromised. It is lack of proper governance which dooms mankind to the fate of warfare, disease, poverty, starvation, and crime.

Perfect Environment. In an attempt to justify their refusal to bow the knee to Jesus as King, many Protestants claim that the Session of the Christ instantaneously brings about “perfect environment.” But that is not what the Scripture teaches. Consider:

• Human history is a demonstration of the folly of government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Man is incapable of governing man. When Adam partook of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, his motive was sinister. Adam sought the understanding which the fruit provided, because Adam intended to seize from the hands of the Lord God the reins of government. The desire of Adam for self-government was nothing other than rebellion against the governance of the Lord.
• The Lord God is not a magician who, with a simple wave of his magic wand, brings about a mystical, instantaneous transformation. A realm which is free of warfare, disease, starvation, and crime is the fruit of proper governance. And proper governance is comprehensive; there is a myriad of detail to manage. Moreover, for the populace of the Earth, currently numbering nearly eight billion souls, the provision of comprehensive governance requires a sizable staff.
• A primary purpose of the Lord in the present day is completion of the process of calling out and sanctifying a people for himself. The process began with Adam and the Woman in the Garden; and individuals have been called in every age of history. This great body of Justified mankind is being called to populate the many offices of the Kingdom of Heaven.¹⁰ The large number of offices reflect the comprehensive nature of the global government to be provided. Once the required number of officers has been reached, Jesus shall return to resurrect the Justified. The Resurrection is the occasion on which the Sons of God are manifest, and thus is the event for which the Creation groans;¹¹ for not until the Resurrection shall the offices of the government be staffed, and begin the work of bringing to an end the oppression of the governments of man.
• The Lord could have utilized angels as officers in this government. But the Lord desired his government to be a family affair, in which all of the offices of the government are filled by Sons. That is the reason for the mechanism commonly termed “Salvation.” By his offer of Salvation, the Lord is extending to men the opportunity to be born into the family of God. The Resurrection is the process of birth. Upon birth as a Son of God, the Justified is transformed from a mortal creature of the Natural Realm into an immortal being of the Spirit Realm. These Sons of God are citizens of the Kingdom of God, and thus, officers in the government of God. Of course, the Resurrection lies yet in the future; at the present time, most of the Justified lie in the grave, “asleep in Jesus,” awaiting the Resurrection.
• The mockers, who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus until they see “perfect environment” seem not to realize the fact that, once the Resurrection takes place, the opportunity for Salvation is closed.

A New World Order. From time to time, contemporary politicians speak of their desire to create a “New World Order.” But such a desire is nothing more than a pipe dream. The Prophecy of Daniel interprets the vision of a great image seen by Nebuchadnezzar. The image represents a sequence of five world empires, which are contiguous. The first empire is that of Nebuchadnezzar; the penultimate world empire is that of Rome. The Prophecy declares, “in the days of those kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom which …shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.” On this basis alone, the present reality of the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be disputed; after all, the Roman Empire fell circa A. D. 476.

The Kingdom of Heaven is the last world order; it is everlasting. Never shall the Kingdom of God be overthrown; never shall the Reign of the Christ come to an end.