In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today I would like to look further into this concept of being born of God because this is as real as any women giving birth to a new child is. Listen to what else the Bible says about this new you. 

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (1)  

That is extraordinary. There are some amazing thoughts in this passage. The first one is that when we are born of God, we really do become a completely new person.  

And we are not only new people, but we also have a whole new purpose for life. God wants us to become Christ’s ambassadors speaking for Him, pleading with people to come back to God.  

When He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, things really changed. We no longer are to live for ourselves. Listen to how God describes this new life.  

“He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” (2) 

You can see why Jesus said we need to radically change the way we think about the kingdom. Not only are we rescued from the domain of darkness but now we are Christ’s ambassadors and God wants to make His appeal through us for people to come back to God.  

What a dichotomy between the domain of darkness and the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. In the domain of darkness people live for themselves making choices from their blindly ignorant freewill according to how they want to live; but those in the kingdom have a much higher calling. We now live as Christ’s ambassadors and are to plead with our fellow humans in the domain of darkness to come back to God.  

The original word for ambassador means to act as a representative. This is another reason why even the most insignificant person in the kingdom is greater than anyone born of a woman. Those under the reign of the Holy Spirit represent Christ in this world. Let me say that again – those in the kingdom are now to represent Christ in the world. 

We must apply believing actions of faith to all this so we can conform to how God wants us to now live.  

The best way this is done is through obedience to the commandment Jesus gave His disciples shortly before He went to the cross. Here is what He said. 

“This good news of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (3) 

 What our new life looks like is pretty obvious, we are to preach the good news of the kingdom throughout the world. Now the big question is, what is the good news of the kingdom that Jesus wants us to tell the world about? If you have listened to these 24 podcasts, you have heard the good news of the kingdom ─ 24 times now. And we have not finished learning about it yet. There is plenty more “good news” to come. That is how rich and full this kingdom treasure is. 

Here is where this new lifestyle gets even more interesting. God wants us poor in spirit, transgression corrupted sinners to represent Christ to this fallen, dark world. At first this seems impossible because how does a sinner represent God?  

When Jesus told His disciples to tell the world about the good news of the kingdom, He said to do it as a testimony. The original word for testimony is often used for someone who was once covered with the disease of leprosy but had been healed by Jesus. (4)  

In the Bible leprosy represented the disease of sin. A person with the disease of leprosy was completely ostracized from society. And there was no hope of fixing this ugly disease. They were shunned by everyone – accept Jesus. He put His hands on them and healed their leprosy, freeing them to once again become regular members of society and live the way they were created to.  

When you consider what Christ did for us poor in spirit, transgression corrupted sinful people – who were separated from God and excluded from the kingdom because of our sin. What Christ did for us is much like what He did when He healed a leper. When we become born of God, we become clean and righteous people with a whole new purpose for our lives. Since we have been rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, that gives each of us an amazing testimony of all God has done for us. 

This new you is really born of God and no longer sins. You have been recreated in the image of God and He considers you perfect forever. You have been forgiven of all the sin you ever committed and will still commit. You are freed from your guilt, free to enjoy an intimate relational partnership with God and Jesus where they will never mention your sin again. And all this is just the beginning of what God wants to do with you. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – if you are born of God, you truly have become a completely new person, and what an amazing life He has for you as His ambassador. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today we will continue looking at the uniqueness of the kingdom. Just to remind you of what we looked at so far, Jesus said even the least person in the kingdom is greater than anyone naturally born of a woman. And we learned that the reason for this is because those in the kingdom are born of God and therefore, they never sin.(1)  

The favored ones of God have the perfectly righteous seed of Christ in them, and with this new seed they begin a new relationship with God. This born of God man, is empowered by the Holy Spirit that lives and reigns inside them and is what the eternal life relationship is built upon.  

Here are a few more reasons why those in the kingdom are considered so great. God says, Christ cancelled out our sin by His sacrifice on the cross. (2) And He also says, to all those who eagerly wait for Him He will never refer to their sin again. (3)  

The greatest people who ever lived before the invisible kingdom came to earth never had these promises. And they couldn’t have them because until Christ died for their sins, sin was always an issue keeping them separated from God. 

Another reason why those in the kingdom are considered so great is because God also says: “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are made holy.” (4) 

Any person not in the kingdom is considered by God a transgression corrupted sinner while everyone in the kingdom is considered perfect for all time. These are God’s words and so we can trust and rely on them whenever our old man sins, no matter how awful the sin is. This is why the Holy Spirits forgiveness and comfort has no limitations. God’s grace is greater than all our sins. (5) And so, He considers us perfect for all time. 

How should that affect us in our everyday life?  

Everyone has guilt, but few people ever let anyone into their inner “guilt” circle. That place is usually too private, too dark, and far too embarrassing to share.  

But God knows more about our sin and our guilt than we ever will, and this is where faith and believing come into the picture. If God says He has forgiven all your sins and now sees you as perfect, what does your continued guilt say about your faith in His promises and forgiveness?  

What it says is yes, you may be sorry for your sin, but you haven’t let the propitiation of Christ comfort your guilt and sorrow as it should. Remember, it doesn’t matter if you are the greatest person in the kingdom or the least; God still considers you perfect and greater than anyone who is not in the kingdom.  

Guilt is one of humanity’s largest issues to deal with and there is nothing that can alleviate our guilt except the complete forgiveness of God. This is another aspect that makes the kingdom so unique. There is no forgiveness of sin and comfort for our guilt outside of Christ, the King of the kingdom. 

So how do we handle the on-going battle between our transgression corrupted sinful man that continually does things not in harmony with God’s will? Does God not care when we disobey Him? Does He ignore our disobedience and pretend it never happened?  

Here again is why we need to learn a different way of thinking about the kingdom. With God there is a distinct difference between our old man and the new one which then makes a difference between God’s punishment and His discipline.  

We humans do not do well at separating these two things. We think if a parent disciplines their children, they are punishing them. And when the Bible says God disciplines those He loves, (6) we often see this as God punishing us.  But here is what one of the more well-known Bible passages says. Listen to this. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (7) The original word for condemnation refers to punishment, so as you can see, to God there is a difference between His discipline and His punishment, and this difference is something we desperately need to understand.  

Listen to what God tells us about this, “discipline yourselves for the purpose of godliness.” (8) And, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (9) 

If you have ever found yourself confronted with the need to lose weight you can see discipline in its proper usage. You decide to stop eating certain foods, snacks, soft drinks, etc. until you reach your determined goal. That’s discipline for a righteous purpose. You’re not punishing yourself even though it may feel like it at times as you try to establish new habits. You make a choice to “discipline” yourself because if you don’t, you will never stop eating those things that are putting weight on you.  

That is the discipline God is talking about. It always has a righteous objective to it. It is not designed as punishment because there is “no condemnation to those who are in Christ.” (6)  

God will discipline those in His kingdom to help them become more righteous in the way they think and live. This is a much needed and important change to our lives as the result of living in His kingdom.  

Even though God tells us to discipline ourselves, far too often we get lazy about doing this until one day God steps in and helps motivate us through trials – and remember, if you are one of God’s favored ones, it’s all for the purpose of increasing our righteousness. He is not punishing us, instead He is loving us as a good father should. (9) 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there’s just one thing – change the way you think about being born of God, because if you are God says you are perfect forever.  

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today we will look at one of the most unique aspects of the kingdom there is in the Bible. And this will also show why we need to repent and change the way we think about it.  

John the Baptist was a special person in history. The Bible shows that he was specifically born to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus the King. John was so special that Jesus said he was the greatest person naturally born of any woman;” (1a)  

That is a significant thing to say about someone, but it means even more because Jesus is the one who said this, which means it is a fact and not an exaggerated compliment. But what Jesus said right after this is what makes the kingdom so unique. Here is what He said. “Yet he who is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John.” (1b)  

There were some great people who lived before John the Baptist. For example, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and King David to name a few. But according to Jesus, none of them was as great as John the Baptist. Yet, Jesus said the most insignificant person in the kingdom of God is greater than all of them, even John the Baptist. 

You can certainly see why Jesus said we need to radically change the way we think about the kingdom. In fact, if anyone other than Jesus said this, we would have to question it. But all His words are 100% true. He doesn’t exaggerate anything. He only speaks the truth. 

Before I begin to examine this, I want to remind you that we will definitely need to apply faith to this unique concept. 

So how does being in the kingdom make someone turn into such a great person?  

The first thing I want to point out is what we looked at in the first Lesson From The Tent. The kingdom is the whole purpose and plan of God. So, if you miss the kingdom, you miss the reason you are alive. It doesn’t matter how great anyone is in the eyes of those on the earth. True greatness is determined by God and He says the least person in His kingdom is greater than anyone born of a woman. 

The second thing I want to point out is that there could be no kingdom of God until Jesus was crucified for the sins of the world. That means no one who lived before Jesus could have experienced the eternal life kingdom relationship. Sin stood as a huge barrier between us humans and the Holy Spirit living and reigning from inside us. 

The third thing we need to understand is the purpose of the invisible kingdom to the whole plan of God. Mankind was meant to rule the world in the image of God. (2) We were to be His hands and feet and heart on this planet. We were meant to think and act as God would if He were living and ruling on earth. Our ability to do that though died the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned. (3)  

But the moment someone inherits the invisible Spirit of God to live and reign from inside of them, this becomes a way of life once again. And that leads us to the reason why someone in the kingdom can be considered so great by Jesus. Listen to what God said about this. 

“No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (4) 

Let me say this in the language of the kingdom – When a poor in spirit sinner inherits the kingdom, they receive the seed of Christ inside of them and are now born of God as a new person. Yes, their old sinful man is still there but this new seed will never sin because it is the seed of Christ. 

You and I both know that sometime today you will violate what this says and sin, because all humans are born sinners and enslaved to doing sin, (5) and you know this by your own personal experience. So how can God say this?  

We are looking at one of the most unique aspects of the kingdom and it is also truly miraculous. Every human begins as a “seed” from their father and mother, and that “seed,” because of the fall is infected with sin before they are even born. Sin is in their genes. And of course, they add a million other sins during their lifetime.  

But God gives His favored ones a new seed – one that is perfect, without sin, because it is the seed of Christ, the perfect Son of God. And when someone is born again the image of God has been reborn in them. All the favored ones can now represent His image in this world just as they were originally created to.  

And yet, co-existing with the seed of Christ inside us is that old sin infected human being. Once you become one of God’s favored ones your sinful man will become your chief nemesis as long as you live on earth. God used one of His “great” ones in the kingdom to say it this way –  

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” (6)  

Every favored one of God is truly born again and now has two natures. One a new righteous and holy nature, re-created in the image of God. (7) And the other the old sin infected nature you were born with. Now the issue that faces us, is which person will respond to life in the moments of each day – the old sinful man or the new one created in the image of God? What a unique opportunity the kingdom gives us fallen, sinful people. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ in the kingdom, even the least person is greater than anyone not in the kingdom. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to Section #3 of Lessons From The Tent. For this section I would like to look at the uniqueness of the kingdom. We have examined a few things about it already but now it’s time to take a deeper look into this beautiful world. 

That flock of baby grouse that walked by the tent several months ago that I mentioned are now full size and very noisy. There is a good chance you may hear them in the background today. 

In the first lesson, I would like to begin just as Jesus did when He started traveling from city to city teaching all about the good news of the kingdom. Here is how He introduced this subject to the world. 

“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (1) 

There could be no better way for Jesus to begin than by starting with the word repent. The majority of people He would spend the next three years living with and talking to were Jews who had grown up learning all about God from the Old Testament. The New Testament had not yet been written. That will take place a few years after He goes back to heaven. But first He must send His Spirit to earth to live and reign inside His favored ones just as He promised, (2) and when He does, the invisible kingdom was born. Now God’s followers could learn about the wonderful things God has done for them through the Spirit’s teaching. (3)  

These Jews were well versed in the Old Testament writings and were eagerly looking for the promised King to come and establish His reign on earth.  

No one knew more about God’s kingdom then these Jews did and yet, Jesus began His ministry by telling them they needed to repent, for the kingdom is at hand. The original word repent means to radically change the way you think about something, and Jesus defines that something as the kingdom.  

I find this very fascinating because, no one on earth knew the Old Testament Bible and what it taught about the kingdom even half as much as those Jews did, and yet Jesus tells them they need to completely change the way they think about it. And by telling them this He essentially revealed that how they thought about the kingdom was not even close to being right. 

This word repent is not a little change in the way you think. It means a significant change, one that is completely different from how they thought.  

I can’t think of any word we need to start with more as we look deeper into the kingdom, for we are in the same place as the Jews were. We have no idea what the kingdom is about.  

If you have listened to these past 21 lessons though you already know more about the kingdom than the Jews did at the time of Christ. But there is a reason for their ignorance and it’s because when God spoke about the kingdom throughout the Old Testament, He taught it as a mystery, (4) so it is understandable that the Jews had no idea what the kingdom was.  

One of the essential components of this mystery was that the promised King, who would reign over the kingdom, would do it from inside His people. (5)  

And if that wasn’t enough of a mystery, God also said this King ─ “is the image of the invisible God.” (6) And, “in this King all the fullness of God dwells.” (7) 

Who could have known this about the kingdom, so you can see why Jesus said it was so necessary for the Jews to radically change the way they thought about the kingdom. It’s been two-thousand years since He said this, but things haven’t changed much. We still need a radical change in the way we think because God’s kingdom is that different from any kingdom there has ever been on earth. 

After saying repent, Jesus then said, “for the kingdom is at hand.” To the Jews who had been looking for the kingdom for several hundred years, He could not have said anything more exciting, yet at the same time more confusing. The original word “at hand” means will soon come to pass or, is so close you can touch it.  

As Jesus revealed through His teachings, about the good news of the kingdom, both definitions are true. Jesus is the kingdom reign of God – in a human body, that could be touched, and soon He will send that very kingdom reign of God to earth to live inside all His followers when He sends the Holy Spirit. 

 Since the kingdom is the most important subject in the Bible and the reason, we humans are alive, it is absolutely necessary that we learn everything we can about it. Living the life God wants for us can only be done through understanding the uniqueness that this kingdom is. 

So, we too have a tremendous need to adjust our thinking because there is nothing normal about God’s kingdom. 

For today the most important truth I would like us to take away from this lesson is our need to repent and change the way we think concerning the kingdom.  

About thirty years after Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live and reign within His followers, God told His followers this. 

“And do not be conformed to how the world thinks but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  (6) 

This is virtually the same thing Jesus told all those at the beginning of His ministry. (1) The original word for renewing means a complete change for the better, and what God wants us to change is how we think. This is exactly why God gave the Holy Spirit to His favored ones. (3) He wants us to know and understand what He has freely given us, because everything God wants to do with us and our world is dependent on the reign of God’s beloved Son. And that is what we will concentrate on for this next section.  

Well, that’s it for today and once again there’s just one thing ─ we need to radically change the way we think about this unique kingdom God gets such great pleasure from giving to us.  

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

The key point we should take away from section 2 is that whenever we learn something about God, we must apply the assurance and conviction of faith to these truths because they are things we cannot see. Then we must also apply believing actions that correspond to what we learn. And this speaks volumes about God. He desires appropriate actions from us that are based on faith so our relationship with Him can produce all that was lost due to sin and restore us back to be what He created us to be. The possibilities that come from a relationship with God and Jesus Christ are virtually endless and certainly worth learning about and pursuing. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today we will revisit lesson #9, titled, What Makes God Happy. This is the last lesson in Section 2 and is a perfect way to close this section out.  

Happiness is something we are all familiar with but rarely is it ever thought of in connection to God. One day in the future though there will be a special moment when we see happiness in God the Father and His Son Jesus unlike, we ever thought of it through the eyes of faith while living here. But God gives us a glimpse of that future moment now through the Bible. 

At that time all God’s favored ones will be in heaven and Jesus will take all those who make up His kingdom and give them as a gift to His Father. (1) Remember, in lesson # 9 we learned that it gives the Father great joy to give us the kingdom. (2) As we talked about before, the measure of any gift is determined by what it costs to give that gift.  

Can you imagine what God the Father will be feeling when this great moment of joy takes place, for He knows better than anyone what it cost His Son to purchase the gift of His kingdom.  

And there is another very significant moment that follows this. After receiving the kingdom from His Son, God then anoints Jesus as the eternal King over the kingdom. And listen to what God says at that moment, 

“But to the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice. You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than anyone else.’ He also says to the Son, ‘In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But You are always the same; You will live forever.’” (3) 

What a remarkable moment in time this will be and if you are one of God’s favored ones you will be there as Jesus is anointed with the oil of joy and declared King over the kingdom. 

In the Bible God had several people anointed with oil and whenever someone was, they were set apart to be in that position forever. Anointing with God was always something meant to be forever. And here we see Jesus is anointed to be King eternally over the kingdom.  

Another aspect of this eternal anointing of Jesus is it will be done with the oil of joy, which means, that moment of joy will never diminish or go away. It is an eternally happy moment. 

We see in these two events that both God the Father and Jesus the Son will forever be in a state of joy and it’s all the result of the fulfilment of the kingdom, because inheriting the kingdom has always been the purpose God has for all humans.  

God knows everything that will what take place at the end of time and He knew it from the very beginning of time. And there are no mistakes or accident in God’s plan. It takes place exactly how He designed it to and that is why the purpose of our lives is to become favored so we can become this special gift that Jesus gives His Father who will then anoint His Son with the oil of joy as the eternal King over this kingdom of priests. (4)  

Yes, you heard me correctly. Those in the kingdom of God’s beloved Son are considered priests as soon as they are transferred into the kingdom. In the early days of the church a priest was defined as someone who has been rescued from the domain of darkness by the blood of Jesus and is devoted to serving God and Jesus. (5) That is what priests in the kingdom were meant to be and it applies to all the favored ones, not just a select few of them. 

I want to share with you another aspect of this that shows how significant this joy is that both God the Father and Jesus will have in the future. The Bible says that Jesus endured the cross, while despising its shame all because of the joy He knew He would one day have when He gives the gift of the kingdom to His Father who then anoints Him with the oil of joy, forever as King over the kingdom. (3) 

What kind of joy could make someone go through all Jesus went through to get the kingdom? It is the joy that comes from fulfilling the plan of God that was set in motion at the foundation of the world.  

Now it’s time to apply faith and believing to this great concept. But let me ask you some questions first. Were you there when God created the universe? No, of course you weren’t. Were you there when God was born into this world and was called Jesus? No, you certainly were not. Were you there when Jesus walked from town to town healing every kind of sickness while proclaiming the good news of the kingdom? You absolutely were not. Were you there when Jesus was crucified so He could rescue those entrapped in the domain of darkness? That is another firm no. But now for the most important question that you need to think about and answer ─ will you be there to see God and Jesus overflow with joy as the kingdom finally comes to its fullness in the future?  

Remember, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. (6) And without faith it is impossible to please God. (7) All these true stories that I just asked about can become essential parts of your life now if you apply faith and believing to them. 

Well, that is it for now and once again there is just one thing – It gives God eternal pleasure when you become poor in spirit so He can give you the kingdom.  

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. This is part 3 of applying faith and believing to the eternal life relationship that we looked at in lesson #8. For today’s lesson I would like to focus on one word. Yes, you heard me correctly. We will be focusing only on one word as we talk about the eternal life relationship.  

The reason I will be focusing on just one word is because this word is what a relationship with God is built upon and it’s the only reason, we fallen sin producing people can actively participate in a partnership with God. I hope I have piqued your interest in this word because everything we have learned so far in these Lessons From The Tent cannot take place without what this one word means to us. 

I guess it’s time to reveal this five-letter word. It may only be five letters long, but its truth starts in the first sentence of the Bible and stretches all the way to the last one in the book of Revelation. This word is grace. The basic definition of grace applies to the whole purpose of life, which is to become favored by God so we can inherit the kingdom. The simplest definition of grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve.  

The only way we fallen, poor in spirit sinners can become favored is because of this special word. There isn’t any good work that we can do that will make us righteous enough to inherit the kingdom and the beautiful eternal life relationship that comes as the result. Here is what God says about this. 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works.” (1) 

The only way we fallen sinful people can be saved is for God to graciously “favor” us, because there is nothing we can do to “merit” His favor.  

We are so fortunate that grace is foundational to the character of God, or humanity would have been wiped out the moment Adam and Eve broke God’s covenant and ate the forbidden fruit. 

The first sentence in the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.” (2) Everything God did when creating the world stood upon this word grace because He already knew how unrighteous we humans would become. Knowing full well how bad we fallen humans would be, He built this entire world upon His gracious favor.  

We also see this in the last sentence of the book of the Bible which says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.” (3) God knows if the grace of the Lord Jesus was not with us; there would be no “us.” 

We cannot just talk about grace though. We must be fully immersed in this word, for everything about eternal life is based on His unmerited favor. And so, we must apply faith and believing to this concept or we will never be able to actively participate in a relational partnership with God and His Son Jesus the way they want us to. We would live with far too much guilt to be able to enjoy God and He would be flooded with intense desire to do away with us if it weren’t for the magnitude of His grace.  

So, how do we apply faith and believing to this eternal life relationship? It begins with how you think about the character of God because without His grace we would be so immersed in guilt and fear we could never have boldness to come into His presence as He asks us to do. Listen to what He said about this.  

“Therefore let us draw near with bold confidence and cheerful courage to the throne of grace, so that we may receive grace to help in time of need.” (4)  

This is God’s encouragement for His “favored” ones to draw near to Him; to actively participate in eternal life, because God sits on a throne of grace. Everything about our relational partnership with Him stands on God giving us what we don’t deserve.  

Here is another amazing truth from the Bible about this. It says ─ “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.” (5)  

With that said I would really like to concentrate on God wanting us to come boldly into His presence with cheerful courage. What an astounding privilege this is for us poor in spirit, sin producing people. God asks us to actively participate in a relational partnership with Him with an attitude of boldness and cheerful courage. That is astounding, but absolutely true. 

If we do not have full assurance and a strong confidence that God wants us to have a relationship like this, we will never participate in this way. And His grace is so magnificent there is no sin that He cannot forgive and remove from judgment. 

Now, what are the believing actions you need to have based on your faith in God’s grace? They are bold attitudes with cheerful courage that pursues this relationship; that longs for His involvement in your life; that owns up to your sinful thoughts and actions because you know God will not condemn you due to the kindness of His grace that He lavishes on you because of the propitiation of Christ. 

Faith in God’s grace must convince you that God wants this bold and cheerful relationship. And the believing actions of your faith must drive you to actively participate in this eternal life relationship knowing the sacrifice of Christ frees you from any condemnation from God. (6) This is how you apply believing actions of faith to eternal life. It is absolutely remarkable when you understand what God’s grace does for you. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing – the greatest thing you can ever do with your life is to actively participate boldly in a relationship with God and do it with cheerful courage.   

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. I am glad you are joining us for the second part of how we apply faith and believing to eternal life. And remember, Jesus defined eternal life as a relational partnership with Himself and His Father.(1)  

I have personally found that this relationship with God is by far the most challenging relationship I have ever experienced, but at the same time, it is absolutely the most precious and rewarding one.  

The reason why this relationship is so challenging is because we are all broken, sinful people who have been far more influenced by the domain of darkness then we have been influenced by God and His ways. What should have been natural now involves a significant amount of work. And without the sacrificial death of Christ and His powerful Spirit living inside of us, a relationship with Him would be impossible no matter how hard anyone tried.  

That is the wonder and beauty of eternal life and the invisible kingdom. Most people think of eternal life only as something that takes place in the future after we die, but I hope you have seen that eternal life is a relationship with God that we get to actively participate in every day, even while living on earth.  

This is where faith and believing are so important because, if a person is not convinced, they can have a deep relationship with God, they will never put in the effort this partnership requires.  

The thing that inspires me to pursue it all the time, is the realization of how much God desires to have this partnership with me. When you consider what He did so we fallen people can experience this, then it should easily drive us to respond to Him with intense desire. 

Think about this – God birthed Himself into our corrupt world as the person of Jesus for the purpose of making this relationship possible with everyone who would love to experience it. The more a person understands what it cost God to make this possible, the more they should naturally pursue this relationship. 

But like any relationship, this partnership with God requires active participation from both sides, or it will never grow to become what it is designed to be. Be sure you understand that this means God also actively participates with us and He does so every moment of every day. 

So, here we go again exploring the need for faith and believing so we can understand ours and God’s role in this. Let me quote a few lines where God talks about this in the Bible that illustrate this point.  

“It is I who taught my people how to walk. I took them in my arms and healed them. I led them with bonds of love. I lifted the yoke from their jaws. I bent down and fed them.” (2) 

And here is another. 

“I will betroth you to Me forever…. I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, compassion and faithfulness, so you can know Me.” (3) 

These are just a few of the things He says throughout the Bible concerning His involvement in our lives. What is important to grasp though is God actively participates with us in this relational partnership in many ways. 

Let me read you one of my favorite things God says about His desire for us to get to know Him. 

“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who maintains unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (4) 

This speaks volumes about God wanting a deep relationship with us and specifically His desire for us to know Him. 

But how do we apply faith to an invisible relationship? The first thing we need to do is what the Apostle Paul did for the people in the church in Ephesus. Listen to what he told them. “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all truth, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” (5)  

What we learn from this prayer is how dependent we are on God revealing Himself to us if we ever want to get to know Him. And that just makes sense, because God is the most complex being in the universe.  

The best way for anyone to get to know Him is through the words of the Bible. God reveals truth about Himself through every page of this book. Therefore, the first thing we need to do when reading the Bible is to ask God to reveal something about Himself through whatever part of the Bible you are reading at that moment.  

What is important for you to understand is it is not the amount you read that is the key – it is what you learn and retain about God that is the most important thing.  

Make sure you catch what I am about to say. Whenever you learn something about God, keep thinking about it long after you stop reading. And here is the key to growing your relationship with God ─ apply believing actions of faith to what you learned by incorporating this new truth into how you then live. For example, in the passage we looked at where God says He taught us how to walk, (2) the original word for walk refers to how a person lives. We need to realize we are never alone at any moment of a day. God is always with us to instruct us and help us apply the things we are learning, to how we live. And that is what believing does. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – Faith in eternal life will lead you to a much different way of living. 

Hope you join us next week for part 3. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

Good morning and welcome to another lesson From The Tent. Today we’re looking back at lesson #8 and applying faith and believing to the astounding truth concerning eternal life that Jesus revealed right before He went to the cross.    

In His prayer we see the heart and soul of Himself and His Father while showing us the reason why He would soon be sacrificed. Here is what Jesus’ prayed. “This is eternal life, that my followers may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”(1) 

The day after Jesus prayed this, He went to the cross and made it possible for the eternal life relationship with God and Himself to finally become a living reality for every poor in spirit person. I would like to remind us once again of the significance of what Jesus said about eternal life — 

Eternal life is a relational partnership between God, Jesus, and His favored ones. And this is the whole reason Jesus died on the cross because without His sacrifice for our sins no one would ever be able to experience this. And here is where it really gets beautiful - every moment of your life, and every decision you make that is focused on participating in this relational partnership with God fulfills the reason you were born. Now let that sink in for a moment. 

During last week’s lesson we talked about the kingdom being the greatest treasure anyone can ever discover while living on earth. (2) This is the truth that your faith must be absolutely convinced of, and here is a question that reveals where your faith stands concerning this. Are you willing to give up anything that hinders you from participating in this astounding partnership between yourself, God, and Jesus?  

As Jesus walked from city to city teaching about the kingdom, He addressed several things that can hinder our relationship with Him. For example, He said material wealth is one that can easily keep a person from pursuing and following Him because He doesn’t just want followers; His desire is for them to willingly participate in a relationship with Him which wealth can easily get in the way of. (3)  

Jesus said material possessions are another thing that can hinder a person from actively participating in a relationship with Him.(4)  He also said our own self-interests can do the same thing.(5) And getting too wrapped up in the affairs of this world, can also keep us from putting our whole heart and soul into a relationship with Him.(6) The Bible speaks of numerous other things, but I think you get the picture. Anything can get in the way of our actively participating in an eternal life relationship with God and Jesus and this partnership is far too important to let anything get in the way.  

So how do we apply faith and believing directly to this eternal life relationship? Let me explain it this way. My wife and I have been married for many years and one thing I have learned is, the more I get to know her the more I enjoy her; and the more I enjoy her, the more I want to spend time with her.  

Unfortunately, though that does not always take place between Joan and I because we both are fallen, sin infested people. But this is not how it is with God and Jesus – they have no faults, they have no shortcomings, they are never selfish, and they never do anything wrong. Everything they do is 100% perfectly right. And so, the more you get to know them, and the more time you spend with them, the greater your desire will be to grow your relationship with them.  

We humans will always be passionate about the things we love. So, if you want to be passionate about your eternal life relationship with God then all you need to do is to increase your participation with Him. And that is another beautiful result of the invisible kingdom reigning inside of you.  

I mentioned before that the Spirit of God does not just sit around and do nothing inside of you. He is very purposeful and wants to partner with you to produce a rich harvest of fruit that grows from His Spirit into your life. Listen to what God says is the fruit that the Spirit wants to produce: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”(7) Now that is some fine fruit. 

Let me contrast that with how God defines what we poor in spirit fallen people naturally produce without Him.  

“The desires of your sinful nature are – sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, drugs, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.” (8) 

This is one of the great benefits of eternal life and the kingdom reign inside of us – God’s Spirit is always working to produce righteous fruit in your life. And this is what the kingdom is – God working to restore you to become the person you were meant to be as He reigns inside you.  

In every circumstance of your life – whether good or bad, God’s Spirit is working within you to produce more of His righteous fruit. 

Now for the essential question – is your faith absolutely convinced that this is true? If it is, then you have a new way of looking at the difficult challenges of life. Difficulties just present you with a chance to partner with God as He helps you grow deeper in your relational partnership with Him, because it is during these challenging trials that we are most likely to turn to God for His help. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – Faith in the eternal life relationship should move us to actively participate with God in His fruit growing partnership within us. 

I hope you will join us next week for part 2 of applying faith and believing to the eternal life relationship.  

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today we are revisiting lesson #7 and applying faith and believing to God’s will being done on earth when the kingdom comes. (1)   

I would like to begin with something I said from that lesson, which is, God did something entirely different when He created us humans. He gave us a soul filled with emotions, desires and the freedom to express them. And sometimes we express them right while other times we express them wrong.   

Not only did God create us physically different from everything else, but we were created with freewill to live through faith. The angels had freewill like we have but they lived in the very presence of God, so faith doesn’t apply to them. Everything else God created like elephants, rocks, trees and birds do not have the ability to choose to do something different than what they were created for as we humans can.  

This is why faith and believing is so vitally important to our relationship with God. Remember, God told us that, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” (2)  

This is what makes our relational partnership with God different from everything else He created. Our relationship with Him is based on faith. 

So, what does faith and the actions of believing look like when someone inherits the kingdom? Jesus taught what this looks like when He said, “Seek first His kingdom reign over your life and the righteousness that comes from this relationship with Him.” (3)  

To understand what this looks like we must first examine what Jesus meant when He said to seek first. The original word seek means you do everything you can to learn. And in this context that would mean to learn about His kingdom and His righteousness. And you do this is by thinking about His Spirit’s reign and His righteousness as often as you can, with an attitude that demands you continually keep learning. This is what the definition of the original word seek means. And Jesus said we are to do this first; even more than what we eat, what we drink, and what we wear. 

I hope you realize that when Jesus said to seek this first that He knows even more than we do that it will not be easy. But He also knows that the things we cherish most are the things we work the hardest to attain.  

Since His kingdom reign over us is invisible, faiths assurance and conviction must drive our desire to understand His kingdom reign and His righteousness or we will never carry-out the believing actions of faith as much as Jesus wants us to.  

To illustrate how important these believing actions are in seeking His reign over us, Jesus gave us two short parables that teach this. The first one is called the parable of the hidden treasure (4) and the second is called the parable of the costly pearl. (5) Remember, Jesus said both parables teach about His kingdom.  

In one parable a person stumbles upon a treasure and in the other, a person is working very hard to find that treasure. And what I find interesting is that both people, when they find it, sell everything they have, so they can buy that treasure.  

The thing about these two parables is neither person was told to sell everything they have so they can obtain this treasure, but that is exactly what they both did. And the reason they did this is because of how valuable they thought this treasure was and don’t forget, this treasure was a picture of the kingdom.  

This is absolutely the key to applying faith and believing to Jesus’ commandment to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. 

But don’t make the mistake of thinking Jesus is teaching that the kingdom can be bought. That is not what He is saying at all. The purpose of these two parables is to point out that the kingdom relationship that comes when God reigns inside us is more valuable than anything else we can ever have therefore, do everything you can to obtain it.  

This is how faith and believing enter the picture. No human can see God reigning inside them and therefore it is only through faith that this can be viewed as a valuable treasure. And the only way you will seek the kingdom first is if you are convinced that having the Spirit of God living and reigning inside of you is the greatest treasure you can ever have.  

The proof that your faith is convinced of this will be seen when you willingly surrender in obedience to God’s Spirit so He can rule your life.  

This is how you apply faith and believing to His will being done in your life, just as it is done in heaven. 

Please do not think His kingdom ruling inside of you is a forced surrender of obedience. It is nothing like that at all. God wants a willing surrender that loves to participate in an intimate partnership with Him. There can be nothing forced in this partnership because this is the purest of all relationships you can ever experience on earth and this is God’s will.  

Everything God desires from you is to love Him with your whole heart, soul, mind, and actions. As God’s Spirit reigns inside of you, He works to grow you into someone who reflects His image to the domain of darkness world you live in. And the only way this is possible is if you surrender to His will because you love to.  

The Spirit wants to produce as much righteous behavior as possible in us fallen, poor in spirit people. And that is not religion. This is what life looks like when the kingdom of God comes, and His will is done on earth in you. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Is your faith convinced that the greatest treasure on earth is the Spirit of God living and reigning inside of you? 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]