As It Is In Heaven

“After this manner, therefore pray you: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”  (Matthew 6:9-10)  The Lord’s prayer requires a book of its own to dig out all the riches contained therein, but for the purpose of this website we will focus on the kingdom of God coming and His will being done in this earth.  The garden of Eden was a foreshadowing of the kingdom of God as it was meant to be.  When Adam fell, curses were pronounced upon mankind.  But “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree”.  (Galatians 3:13)  He has redeemed us from the curses pronounced in the garden.

“In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust you shall return.”  (Genesis 3:19)  Prior to the fall, Adam did not labor to produce food or to meet any other need; all was provided for him.  He did not labor for shelter because there was no need.  The weather was always perfect; there was never a storm or any type of foul weather because a mist came up from the ground to water all the plants and trees.  He needed no clothes since there was no extreme heat or bitter cold; and no lustful thoughts or actions, just innocence.  Food and water were always plentiful and he had a perfect diet which required no preparation.  He required no weapons or tools, he just lived life in contentment in the presence of God.  There was no sickness or death, only eternal life. 

After the fall, all of this changed.  Where there were no needs, now there were needs which man had to try to find a way to provide.  He now had to labor for food, clothing, and shelter.  Where there was innocence, now there was carnal, selfish thinking with all the chaos and turmoil that sin brings, including war.  Where there was eternal life, now man’s days were limited, and he had to contend with all manner of sickness and disease, and all manner of death.  Where there was continual abundance, now there existed all manner of things that could cause poverty and lack.  And where there was a continual presence of God, now the presence of God could only be found by those that labored to seek Him.  And this remains the same to this day, although we have been given the revelation that the presence of God is available to all those who desire to be with Him and that we can enjoy the fruits of abundance similar to what Adam enjoyed if we will labor to enter into His rest.

In heaven there is no sickness or disease, no poverty or lack, no stress or anxiety, no hatred or discord, and no suffering of any kind.  There is perfect peace and the continual presence of God in all His glory and majesty.  Heaven is a place where the perfect will of God is manifest.  Jesus told us to pray that His will be done in earth as it is in heaven.  He was praying that the Father’s kingdom come; the kingdom of God.  Jesus explained the kingdom of God and its coming in Luke 17:20-21: “And when he (Jesus) was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God comes not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! Or lo, there!  For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”  We are commanded by the Lord to pray for the coming of the kingdom of God, which is the revelation that each of us who have been born again contain the kingdom of God - it is within each of us.  The kingdom of God is waiting to be released  into the earth through believers that wholly follow the Lord and are so sensitive to the Holy Spirit that they allow the presence of God to be released wherever they go.  The kingdom of God is the presence of God.  His presence changes the atmosphere and affects all who come in contact with Him.  Jesus is yearning for His church to come into a place of intimacy with Him that, as a body, this would occur on a mass scale.  This is the great outpouring of His spirit that will launch the church into a place of dominion in this earth.

The kingdom of God has been here on this earth since Jesus came in the flesh.  But we have yet to see the will of the Father be done in the earth - as it is in heaven.  For this to happen, the church must fulfill the Edenic commandment, to be fruitful, and multiply, to subdue the earth, and have dominion in it.  This will be accomplished as the kingdom of God comes in its fullness, through the gates of a glorious church that is the image of their Lord.  And this will occur as we, as a body, come into the unity of the faith, and usher this move of God into the earth through praying in one accord - Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

We should also pray for the Lord to change our hearts; individually as well as corporately.  For if our hearts are clean, then that which we speak will be pure, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”.  (Matthew 12:35)  Our words carry authority, for God has given man authority in this earth, therefore, our words will produce fruit - whether good or bad.  James say that “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.  For every kind of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  Therewith we bless God, even the Father; and therewith we curse men, which are made after the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:6-10).  We must realize that we are members of the same body.  It is foolishness to speak blessings over one part of our body and curses over other parts of our body.  “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof”  (Proverbs 18:21).  We have been eating of the fruit of death long enough, it is time for us to come together in one accord and speak life into the body of Christ, and enjoy the fruit of life.  It is time for division to cease, and envying and strife to come to an end - for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. (James 3:16)  And God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Revelation 1:6 says that Jesus has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.  As priests, let us minister worship and praise to our God who is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise; and let us minister to one another in love.  “Fulfill you my joy, that you be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 2:2-5)  Let us now begin to honor one another as brethren, not seeking to be honored, but humbling ourselves before our Lord and seeking to be used of Him to encourage, exhort, lift up, and love one another.  Let us now, as a body, seek to glorify our Lord and be known as His disciples by our love for one another.  We certainly cannot do this of ourselves, but these things can certainly be accomplished if we who hear what the Spirit is saying will intercede on behalf of the body of Christ.

And as kings, let us declare and decree righteousness into this earth.  It is we that have the power and authority, in the name of Jesus, to speak to strongholds and command them to go.  It is we who have been commissioned, as was Jeremiah, to be set over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.  It is we, the disciples of Christ, that know the truth - and it is the knowledge of the truth that makes us free (John 8:32).  Therefore, let us pray that the Lord would make truth manifest in all the earth according to Luke 12:2: “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known”.  And that whatsoever is spoken in darkness will be heard in the light, and that which is spoken in the closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.  (Luke 12:3)  The enemy has been successful so far, only because he hides in shadows and weaves his deception in darkness so that it remains hidden from the scrutiny of the light.  It is time that we, as lights of this world, proclaim the truth and expose wickedness wherever it hides.  “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Ephesians 3:9-12).

Jesus has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).  “Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord: in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit”.  (Ephesians 3:19-22)  We are in this world, but we are not of it.  “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, for in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.”  (2 Corinthians 5:1-2)  This world in which we live is no longer natural for us, for we have become spiritual beings.  The natural order of things for us is that which conforms to heaven, not of this world.  We have a yearning to see the world changed from darkness to light, from wickedness to righteousness, and from self centeredness to brotherly love.  This is because of He who dwells in us, for these things are His desire, His will, being revealed to us and working in us to manifest these things in the earth.  We possess the ability to usher these things into this world, it is simply a matter of pressing in harder to the things of God and His presence to receive wisdom, revelation, and understanding of how He wants to accomplish His will in this earth.

His will was revealed in the coming of Jesus in this earth.  Jesus not only revealed the Father, “he that has seen me has seen the Father” - John14:9,  but He also revealed who we are to be, His very image.  “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”  (Roman 8:29-30)  We are called to walk as He walked on this earth; in the same humility, the same compassion, the same zeal and passion for the building of the kingdom of God and all that pertains to it, and the same power and glory that He manifest wherever He went.  We are to be of the same focus; for Jesus only desired to be about the Father’s business and to do His will.  Jesus was the perfect example of being led of the Holy Spirit, walking in perfect communion with Him; as we are called to do.  But, please do not think that these things will happen of themselves.  We must each choose to lay down our lives and let go of our attachment to this world in order for God to raise us up as manifested sons of God.  In the above scripture, it says that we were predestined, but that only pertains to God’s perspective - in that He knows who are His and who will make the right choices.  Nothing is predetermined from our standpoint, for we are the product of daily decisions; to either be obedient or to rebel - each choice will be one or the other.  The above scripture says, “whom he did predestinate, them he also called”.  Bear in mind that “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).  Becoming the image of Jesus is available to all who believe in Him, but only to those that seek Him with their whole heart.

“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it”.  (Hebrews 4:1)  We have a promise of God of “entering into His rest”, which is founded upon becoming the image of Jesus, or a “son of God”.  “There remains therefore a rest to the people of God.  For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his.  Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief”.  (Hebrew 4:9-11)  This “rest” refers to ceasing from our own labors, or in other words, doing only that which the Holy Spirit prompts us to do.  In so doing, the Holy Spirit is free to carry out the perfect will of the Father in and through us.  Jesus was a perfect example of this.  He said in John 5:19: “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for whatsoever things he does, these also the Son does likewise”.  Jesus saw what the Father was doing through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, just as we are called to do.  Our labor is to do His will, which we cannot know unless we are led of the spirit.  And we cannot be led of the spirit until we submit ourselves to His discipline and correction in our lives to make us humble, obedient, steadfast, and loving; taking on the character and nature of our Lord.

Entering into His rest is entering behind the veil, which was torn in half from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross.  God was saying that the way was now made to enter into His presence.  We can now abide with Him and enjoy all that He has to offer and desires to give us.  He wants the world to know Him.  He wants the world to experience His goodness, grace, and mercy.  He wants the world to know the power of His love and the deliverance from the bondage in which they walk.  But He first must bring His people into the fullness of this knowledge and experience of Him, so that He may manifest this these things in the world through  us. 

He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20), but we have hindered Him from doing so.  We have hindered Him through unbelief.  We have been as the brother of the prodigal son (Luke 11-32).  The brother was offended when the Father blessed the son by covering him with the best robe, putting a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet, and killing the fatted calf in celebration of his return from squandering his inheritance on riotous living.  The brother was blind to joy the Father felt from his son being found again after being lost.  He was jealous that his brother could “be rewarded” for his rebelliousness when he had never been given such a celebration - and he was the “faithful” one.  But in answer to his complaint, the Father gave Him a revelation that we, the church, need to receive.  The Father said, “Son, you are ever with me, and all that I have is yours” (verse 31).  The Father is saying the same thing to each of us right now - all that He has is ours - it is given to us.  It is up to us to receive it.  It is time that we cast out unbelief from our midst and put it down wherever it rears its vile head.  It is time for us to come together and to love one another; and to lay down accusation and contention between ourselves.  It is time for us to show forth the love of God in our lives, individually and corporately, demonstrating this love to an unbelieving world, that they, too, may believe.  It is time for us to exhort one another and honor each other so that we may be built up in Christ and fulfill our destinies and callings.  It is time for us fully submit ourselves and consecrate ourselves to doing the will of the Father, and stop being a hindrance to His plan by trying to perform our own plans.  And it is time for us to move as one body, led of the Holy Spirit, to release the presence of God into the earth, in a magnitude that has never even been dreamt possible; so that it may be on earth as it is in heaven.