The Lord Jesus taught His disciples and those who followed Him to pray in this manner: For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your Kingdom come. Your Will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:8b-10
Keep in mind, with those words, He was calling on His Father to once again restore His Kingdom laws and culture on this Earth, as it has always been in Heaven. The question is what was the Lord God’s Kingdom on this Earth like? What was life like in His Kingdom colony here on Earth? Can you imagine? The Garden of Eden was a direct reflection of this supernatural realm. For one thing, it had land and territory. Every Kingdom must have territory, for without territory, there is nothing for the king to rule over. Keep in mind, although invisible, the supernatural realm of Heaven is very large and infinite. It is much larger than the visible natural realm. Eden was a physical realm with physical territory. Genesis 1
Eden shared a common language with Heaven. Any Kingdom or nation needs a common language or it will lose its ability to hold itself together. There must be communication and a “meeting of our minds”. Adam and Eve shared a common language with the Lord God, who was their Creator. They communicated openly with Him in a completely transparent relationship, always knowing what He expected. All of that changed when the evil one took over. He was a pretender…a master manipulator, as are many today. They became under his influence. All he wants to do is to get you to believe a lie.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:1-6
Mankind spoke a common language with one another for many centuries, until the Lord God confused their language at the tower of Babel. At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” He said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way He scattered them all over the world. Genesis 11:1-9 NLT
So then, when Adam and Eve listened to the evil one, they lost their ability to understand and speak the Lord God’s language, the language of the Kingdom of Heaven. See what allowing sin and disobedience in our lives can do! That is why, when you are outside the Kingdom, you do not understand what the Lord God says and no longer know what to expect. Sin separates us from the Lord God, His Kingdom and His Kingdom Governor—the Holy Spirit. One characteristic of Kingdom life is that you can speak and understand the language of the Kingdom in a way that those outside the Kingdom cannot. And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Matthew 13:10-17
Keep in mind that the Garden of Eden shared the laws and Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven. It was to be a colony of Heaven. Their laws weren’t written down, but the Lord God had them inscribed in the hearts and minds of both Adam and Eve—the people He created—His first Kingdom citizens. They knew what He had declared and expected of them. They knew their responsibilities. He stated to them “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and cultivate it”.
He placed only one restriction on their activities. It was for their protection: Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17
At first, Adam and Eve had no consciousness of a moral code. They lived in perfect harmony with the Lord God. Keep in mind, there was no lying, or stealing, or murder, or sexual immorality or any other corrupt behavior that characterizes life in a fallen world. There was no sin against God. Eden and Heaven shared common values. In the Kingdom of Heaven the most important value is obedience to the will of the Lord God, who is the King. The disobedience of Adam and Eve violated not only the God’s Kingdom moral code, but also its customs and social norms. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Genesis 3:7-11
The next verses show us that from the very first sins of disobedience to God, mankind blamed someone else for their disobedience! Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:12-13
This set a pattern that remains even today. But to be forgiven, we must repent. Repentance never blames anyone else for our sin. We must see our wrong, repent for what we have done and turn away from it. This is vital to know and understand, as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts. 1 John 1:5-10 NLT
When we sin, we are actually saying that our will is greater than His Will. We think we know better what we want and need. That is a lie and deception from the devil.
From this we learn that we must:
Remember, your greatest asset is your faith in the Lord God’s Word.
All scriptures are NKJV unless noted
W.R. Luchie
www.kingdomcitizens.org
This article may only be reproduced, in print or on the internet, if the author's name and website address are included at the end of the article as originally placed. Thank you.
Keep in mind, with those words, He was calling on His Father to once again restore His Kingdom laws and culture on this Earth, as it has always been in Heaven. The question is what was the Lord God’s Kingdom on this Earth like? What was life like in His Kingdom colony here on Earth? Can you imagine? The Garden of Eden was a direct reflection of this supernatural realm. For one thing, it had land and territory. Every Kingdom must have territory, for without territory, there is nothing for the king to rule over. Keep in mind, although invisible, the supernatural realm of Heaven is very large and infinite. It is much larger than the visible natural realm. Eden was a physical realm with physical territory. Genesis 1
Eden shared a common language with Heaven. Any Kingdom or nation needs a common language or it will lose its ability to hold itself together. There must be communication and a “meeting of our minds”. Adam and Eve shared a common language with the Lord God, who was their Creator. They communicated openly with Him in a completely transparent relationship, always knowing what He expected. All of that changed when the evil one took over. He was a pretender…a master manipulator, as are many today. They became under his influence. All he wants to do is to get you to believe a lie.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:1-6
Mankind spoke a common language with one another for many centuries, until the Lord God confused their language at the tower of Babel. At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” He said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way He scattered them all over the world. Genesis 11:1-9 NLT
So then, when Adam and Eve listened to the evil one, they lost their ability to understand and speak the Lord God’s language, the language of the Kingdom of Heaven. See what allowing sin and disobedience in our lives can do! That is why, when you are outside the Kingdom, you do not understand what the Lord God says and no longer know what to expect. Sin separates us from the Lord God, His Kingdom and His Kingdom Governor—the Holy Spirit. One characteristic of Kingdom life is that you can speak and understand the language of the Kingdom in a way that those outside the Kingdom cannot. And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Matthew 13:10-17
Keep in mind that the Garden of Eden shared the laws and Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven. It was to be a colony of Heaven. Their laws weren’t written down, but the Lord God had them inscribed in the hearts and minds of both Adam and Eve—the people He created—His first Kingdom citizens. They knew what He had declared and expected of them. They knew their responsibilities. He stated to them “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and cultivate it”.
He placed only one restriction on their activities. It was for their protection: Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17
At first, Adam and Eve had no consciousness of a moral code. They lived in perfect harmony with the Lord God. Keep in mind, there was no lying, or stealing, or murder, or sexual immorality or any other corrupt behavior that characterizes life in a fallen world. There was no sin against God. Eden and Heaven shared common values. In the Kingdom of Heaven the most important value is obedience to the will of the Lord God, who is the King. The disobedience of Adam and Eve violated not only the God’s Kingdom moral code, but also its customs and social norms. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Genesis 3:7-11
The next verses show us that from the very first sins of disobedience to God, mankind blamed someone else for their disobedience! Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:12-13
This set a pattern that remains even today. But to be forgiven, we must repent. Repentance never blames anyone else for our sin. We must see our wrong, repent for what we have done and turn away from it. This is vital to know and understand, as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts. 1 John 1:5-10 NLT
When we sin, we are actually saying that our will is greater than His Will. We think we know better what we want and need. That is a lie and deception from the devil.
From this we learn that we must:
- Take responsibility when we sin against the Lord God. We must never blame anyone else for our sin. That isn't repentance.
- Humbly repent and change what we are doing. We must see our wrong, repent for what we have done and turn away from it. This is vital to know and understand, as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
- Ask for His mercy to cover us, and
- Pray “Your Kingdom come and Your Will be done…” That is the greatest prayer you can pray in every situation. You are inviting God’s Heavenly Kingdom culture and laws into your situation. When that is your prayer, you are submitting your will to His. His way is always for our best, whether it turns out the way we planned or not! A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. Romans 8:27-28 NLT
Remember, your greatest asset is your faith in the Lord God’s Word.
All scriptures are NKJV unless noted
W.R. Luchie
www.kingdomcitizens.org
This article may only be reproduced, in print or on the internet, if the author's name and website address are included at the end of the article as originally placed. Thank you.
