Table of Contents
We have been looking at earthly kingdoms. The best kingdoms are ruled by kings who want their subjects to be prosperous. His constitution and laws are in the best interest of his citizens. The more prosperous the people, the wealthier the king. In a perfect world, all kingdoms would have such leaders. If you haven’t noticed, we don’t live in perfect world, yet. However, in the Kingdom of Heaven, God’s kingdom is perfect in every way.
For those who are part of the Kingdom of God, we are not only citizens, we are also heirs. We are royalty. We’ll give that aspect a closer look in a future post.
For now, I want us to understand that our Mighty God, is the King who loves us and He wants the best for us. The Bible is His royal contract with us. This is the Kingdom of Heavens document outlining God’s will for all His creation.
The pride and rebellion of fallen angels and humans are behind the hubris of thinking their way is better than God’s. Satan wants God’s throne and has deluded many to believe that his way is better than God’s. How has that worked out so far?
This is post five in the Kingdom of God series. This post will begin our look into God’s administration of the Kingdom of Heaven.
God is the Sovereign King
Sovereignty means freedom from external control. As sovereign, a king is free to do as he pleases with no accountability to anyone else in the kingdom. Otherwise, a king has no true authority.
We have such a King; Almighty God is the sovereign King of all. God’s sovereignty is absolute. He is completely self-determining. No one has the authority to tell God what to do. God Is:
- Omnipotent – all-powerful
- Omnipresent – present everywhere at the same time
- Omniscient – knowing everything
- Immutable – unchanging, and unable to be changed
- Sovereign – absolute authority
For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. Psalm 47:2
The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from His land. Psalm 10:16
God doesn’t need us to make Him King. We can only acknowledge Him as King.
The Lordship of Almighty God
Earthly kings personally own the physical domain over which they reign, which makes them not only kings but also lords.
Yahweh (God’s Hebrew name), the great I AM, created the supernatural world, where the Most High resides and the “natural” world where we reside. He created all things and therefore, that automatically makes Him Lord of all. By the way, all creation includes you and me.
I did a search on the Blue Letter Bible website of the phrase “I am the LORD “. The results showed 156 occurrences of the exact phrase in the NLT. That seems to declare loud and clear that Yahweh is LORD!
I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. Deu 5:6
For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isa 43:3
I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King. Isa 43:15
No one makes God the King and Lord! Likewise, no one can “unmake” Yahweh as King and Lord. Not one created being can dethrone Him! Not an angelic being, nor a demonic being. Neither mankind, not the antichrist nor Satan the liar and deceiver himself can take God’s place!
I hope you are shouting hallelujah, our God reigns! How comforted I am by this fact! I hope you are also.
The Creative Rights of God
Yahweh is King and Lord by right of creation. Creative rights give Yahweh incontestable ownership rights to the earth and the universe.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were created through Him, and without Him, nothing was created that was created. John 1:1-3
The earth belongs to the Lord, and its fullness, the world, and those who dwell in it. Psalm 24:1
The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all that is in it, You have founded them. Psalm 89:11
Yahweh Himself declares: Every animal of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. Psalm 50:10
Property Rights of the Kingdom of Heaven
Because Yahweh owns everything, it is Yahweh’s prerogative to do whatever He pleases with His property.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Psalm 24:1
As King, Yahweh possesses the authority to distribute His property anytime, anywhere, to anyone. It is His Crown land. He also can switch His property from one person to another. He can take something from one person and give it to you or me, or He can take something from you or me and give it to somebody else. It is His own sovereign choice, and no one can question it or protest it.
As an example, God made a Covenant with Abram, changed his name and promised him a land flowing with milk and honey, the land of Canaan. (Read Genesis 17:1-8)
“I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
Genesis 17:7-8 The Bible
The descendants of Abraham, the nation of Israel, were freed from Egyptian slavery and given the land of Canaan to live in.
He has not changed His mind so we would do well to stop trying to undo that which God has decreed.
What is Crown Land?
Crown land is simply another term for the land or domain of king. As we saw above a king can give portions of his crown land to anyone he chooses. But the land given still remains property of the Crown aka the King. At any time, the king can take it back and give it to someone else.
The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to man. Psalm 115:16
We possess the earth as a trust, as stewards, under the King of Heaven. The King gave us dominion over the earth, not as owners but as vassal-kings to extend His heavenly government to the earthly realm. We are in a sense, a colony of Heaven.
As citizens of Heaven, We personally own nothing but yet we have access to everything in the Kingdom of God, as long as we operate within the parameters of the governing principles He has established for His Kingdom.
The ancient Jewish law handed down by Yahweh through Moses stipulated that no property sales in Israel were permanent because the land belonged to God.
The land shall not be permanently sold, for the land is Mine. For you are foreigners and sojourners with Me. Leviticus 25:23
Israelites were free to occupy their own plot of land, develop it, cultivate it, live off of it, and even pass it on to their heirs. They were not to sell it, however, especially to non-Israelites.
Every 50 years Israel celebrated a Year of Jubilee, during which time any land that had changed hands since the previous jubilee year automatically reverted to the original possessor.
Commonwealth in the Kingdom of Heaven
The wealth in a kingdom is important because a righteous and benevolent King takes care of his citizens. Kings should not amass wealth for themselves but for the welfare of their citizens.
No king is wealthier than the King of Heaven because He owns everything everywhere in both the natural and supernatural realms. In the Kingdom of Heaven is where we truly find commonwealth; that is, wealth common to all citizens.
In other words, no citizens of any government are more prosperous or have greater welfare than do citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven because all the infinite wealth of that Kingdom is their commonwealth.
Anyone who becomes a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven automatically prospers because the King of heaven is the wealthiest of all. And He is also a righteous and benevolent King who is committed to the fullest and greatest welfare of His people.
God’s Royal Contract
We have already learned in a previous post that in a kingdom, a royal contract is a constitution the king has with his citizens. The contract makes its terms and conditions clear to everyone. The citizens have no input concerning the terms or conditions of the contract. Moreover, the constitution cannot be changed by the citizens, only by the king.
The Bible is, in essence, the Royal Contract of the Kingdom of Heaven. His Will has been carefully documented in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible.
It spells out the advantages that come with being a Kingdom citizen as well as everything the citizens can expect from the King. It also includes the laws that His citizens should live by for their prosperity.
Moreover, because He is a righteous and benevolent King, His desires are always for our greatest good and benefit.
For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you. Jeremiah 29:11-14
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11
God is Obligated to Fulfill His Word
The king obligates himself to the tenets of the constitution. A king and his word are the same, and when he speaks, His word becomes the constitution. So when a king’s word is spoken (or written down), the king is obligated to carry it out.
That is why the Bible states that whatever God says, He will do and whatever He promises, He will bring to pass. Once the King of heaven speaks, it is as good as done. God cannot fail to keep His Word, for if He did, He would cease to be God.
Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Psalm 119:89
Long ago I learned from Your statutes that You established them to last forever. Psalm 119:152
But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth Jer 9:24
I hope that you are beginning to understand that to be a Christian is not proclaiming adherence to a religion, but it is claiming allegiance to the King of all creation.
When the followers of Jesus Christ proclaimed Jesus is Lord, they were proclaiming that Caesar was not Lord. That, in the Roman culture, was treason.
Next time we will take a close look at the laws and citizenship of the Kingdom of God,
