This morning, we start to wind down our series, “The Miracles of Jesus.” This series started on January 2nd, and we are finally wrapping it up this week.
Before we get into the wind-down, let’s take a look at this scripture.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
On December 31, when the Lord told me to start the year with a series on the miracles of Jesus, I was excited, but I had no idea that the series would take this long. I took my time through the series, as I usually do. I tried to glean several nuggets from every miracle, and I trust that you enjoyed it. I know I did.
This series has been a tremendous blessing to me and my family, and it has also served as a faith refresher of sorts (because going through the miracles of Jesus helps you to grow your faith). The more you remind yourself of God’s supernatural and miracle-working power, the more your faith is built up to experience the same in your life. Also, the more you meditate on what God can do, the more the circumstances and situations you’re facing in your daily routine seem minuscule in comparison to the power and glory of God.
So, as I’ve finished going through all of the miracles, this week I will provide you with a recap, and we will close out the series. I will give you several messages this week to attempt to “put a bow” on everything we’ve learned in the last five and a half months.
The message today is about the Kingdom of God. While Jesus was on the planet, He only preached one message everywhere he went. His message was simple: the Kingdom of God is at hand. As a matter of fact, when He sent his disciples out to preach, He told them what to preach, and that was the same message that he preached – the Kingdom of God is at hand. The message was: “God’s Kingdom is NOW!“
I know that people today, especially in the United States or the Western Hemisphere, are familiar with the church, but many are unfamiliar with the Kingdom. Many are not even familiar with the concept of the Kingdom. So today, I will take a few minutes to help you get a brief understanding (at a high level) of God’s desire to extend his Kingdom to this planet.
The Bible likens God to a King and His sphere of influence to His Kingdom. When the Lord sent Adam to this planet, He did so for Adam to be his representative in this world. The Father was supposed to rule from the heavens as He does, and Adam was supposed to rule this planet as an extension of God and God’s Kingdom.
I think it is very difficult for many of us in the Western Hemisphere to understand the concept of a king, Kingdom, or monarchy because we were raised in an environment with presidents and prime ministers who must submit to a system of checks and balances. A king has no checks and balances. A king is a sovereign and supreme ruler. A king is an owner and a lord. A king makes decisions, and his decisions are final without the ability to be checked or reevaluated by anyone. There is no supervision over or revision of the decisions of a king. A king is a king, and their power is ultimate; their authority is supreme.
God sent Adam to this planet, for lack of a better term, to colonize it. The earth was supposed to be a colony of the Kingdom of heaven. When you understand that concept, you can better understand Jesus’s ministry. We just spent five months going through miracle after miracle, where Jesus extended heaven to the earth. The miracle-working power of Jesus was simply a manifestation of heaven on earth.
Jesus was clear about where He came from and what He was here to do. Let’s look at some scriptures:
(John 5:19 ERV)
But Jesus answered, “I assure you that the Son can do nothing alone. He does only what he sees his Father doing. The Son does the same things that the Father does.”
(John 5:30 ERV)
“I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told. And my judgment is right, because I am not trying to please myself. I want only to please the one who sent me.”
(John 6:38 ERV)
“I came down from heaven to do what God wants, not what I want.”
(John 8:23 ERV)
But Jesus said to them, “You people are from here below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don’t belong to this world.”
Jesus made it clear that He was not from here, He was not here to do what He wanted, and He got His orders from headquarters (heaven) daily. Jesus was only on this planet to do what the Father wanted, in other words, to fulfill the desires of the King, extending His Kingdom.
The best example or analogy that I could use that most Westerners can understand is that of an ambassador. Let’s say you were assigned as the ambassador of the United States to Nicaragua. If that was your post, then that means that the United States has sent you to Nicaragua to be a representative and an extension of the United States in that environment.
While you’re operating as an ambassador of the United States in a foreign country, your resources come from the homeland. Your food is provided (and it is USDA approved), your protection is provided, your housing is provided, etc. The message that you’re supposed to carry is also provided. As an ambassador, you actually receive instructions from the Secretary of State, who’s getting guidance from the President. So, in other words, you get your orders from headquarters. As an ambassador, you don’t get to come up with whatever you want to say. You actually have to carry the message that is given to you from the homeland.
In the ultimate case, if you were to take the ambassador analogy and extend it further to a real kingdom, it would go from influence (which is what an ambassador does), to actual colonization (which is what a king would want).
So, the Father sent us to this planet to, in one sense, be ambassadors or representatives of heaven on the earth. But, in another sense, to be little “k” kings submitted to the big “K” King and actually be colonizers. We’re supposed to represent like an ambassador would, but we are also supposed to take territory, take possession, and extend the Kingdom, like an occupying force.
You may be thinking, Rick, what does this have to do with the miracles of Jesus? Actually, it has a lot to do with it. When you look at Jesus causing the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, and the dead to rise, what you actually see is manifestation after manifestation of heaven on earth. Why is that? I will explain.
Heaven (our homeland) is a place with no sickness, no disease, no lack, no depression, no mental health challenges, no suicide, none of these things. There are no blind people in heaven. There are no crippled people in heaven. There are no deaf people in heaven. There are no dead people in heaven. So, the miracles were actually a manifestation of heaven on this planet. Jesus was showing people what heaven is like. If you are Born-again, you are literally from a place where none of these things will ever take place again. When we go to heaven, we will have no pain, no crying, no fear, no tears, no sickness, no death, no disease.
Why is this important today? It is important because I believe that many Christians do not understand what I’m sharing with you. As a result, they think that they are supposed to suffer in this world and get to heaven someday to experience what I’m saying. While it is true that they will experience what I’m saying when they get to heaven, it is not true that it is God’s intent for us to just suffer now. Jesus made an entire ministry of extending heaven to the planet. So, as believers today, we can open up our hearts to the reality of receiving heaven now. We can literally experience days of Heaven on Earth.
So what does this mean for you today? I’ve already given you a great deal, but I will give you a few quick points as I close.
1. Heaven, our true home, is a realm free from sickness, disease, lack, mental health challenges, and every form of pain and suffering.
2. While Jesus came to pay the penalty for what Adam did, He also came to manifest the reality of heaven (bringing healing, wholeness, and supernatural provision) on the earth because that was actually Adam’s assignment, and he failed.
3. Just as Jesus extended heaven’s blessings on this planet, we are called to like Him. We are supposed to be human conduits of God’s power and love, bringing transformation to every aspect of life.
4. Jesus taught us to pray for things to be “on earth, as it is in heaven.” Therefore, since there is no sickness, disease, or lack in heaven, we are to pray for what is in heaven to manifest on the earth.
5. Lack and poverty have no place in heaven’s economy. In heaven, the streets are literally paved with gold. But up there, God owns everything because He is a King. When you understand that and yield everything you have to God, as your King, He will lead you to perform His will on this planet, and lack will no longer be an issue for you; because God lacks nothing.
6. Since there are no mental health challenges in heaven, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can bring freedom, peace, and soundness of mind to those struggling.
7. Jesus’ ministry was a demonstration that the Kingdom of God is not just a future hope but a present reality that we can access and bring to others.
8. As carriers of heaven’s atmosphere, we are called to release hope, joy, peace, and supernatural breakthroughs to overcome the challenges of life.
9. Let us be intentional in dismantling the barriers that prevent heaven’s realities from manifesting on earth, believing that God’s Kingdom has come, that His will shall be done (on earth, as it is in heaven), and that His Kingdom shall advance through us.
10. By walking in the authority and power given to us by Jesus, we can extend heaven’s realm and bring about divine transformation in people, communities, and nations. This is how God thinks and how we must also learn to think.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
I thank You for teaching me about Your desires through the life of Jesus.
In Jesus, I see a picture of how I am supposed to live.
In Jesus, I realize that heaven is my home, and I am on this planet, not just waiting to go from earth to heaven someday, but focused on bringing heaven to the earth every day.
Your Kingdom has come. You will shall be done, on earth, as it is in heaven, through me, for Your glory!
I enter this week ready to experience days of heaven on the earth! I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
