by Aaron Davis
If I do have a choice in who I am, what I become, and in my relationship with God, then does what I choose play a part in what God has planned for my existence?
If I am here on purpose and God has a plan for my life, are my experiences directly affected by my choices?
GOOD, BETTER, AND BEST?
When I read scriptures like Jeremiah 1:5, I wonder the depth of what God is revealing in this scripture.
Jeremiah 1:5 (AMP)
Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
As I mentioned earlier, I personally wonder if, as spirit beings, perhaps we existed with God before being sent here to earth and maybe even signed on for or volunteered for the very experiences that we have gone through, with the understanding of the impact it may have on eternity. And we won’t even have the recollection again of it until we return back to that dimension.
Does God have a good, better, best plan for our lives? And does what we choose influence what plan we live out? And if this is the case, how many forks in the road exist within this plan? Or, perhaps from a different perspective, is there a beginning plan and an end result where, in His faithfulness, God basically allows us to choose whose kingdom we want to exist within and to what extent? Then, based upon those choices, maybe God brings us to a place where we influence a part of His overall plan to the extent that we have submitted ourselves to it. Or, if we deviate from this plan, do we have the ability to get back on the original track to experience the best end destination that we can base upon our choices? Within that scenario, could our choices mandate a lesser or better but not best ending?
Here’s another big question you may have already considered: Is there one soulmate that God has for us? Or are there hundreds, thousands, or billions that we can choose from and God will help us navigate whatever we choose toward an ending that fits best within the scenario of our choices if we submit to the direction of His kingdom?
I’m scratching the surface and revealing to you a select few of the questions that I have deeply pondered, and I’m sure that many of you have pondered similar questions as well. If you are a thinking individual, that’s what you do—you think! And I’m an analyzer.
CAN WE CHANGE GOD’S MIND?
In Genesis 18 and Exodus 32, both Abraham and Moses seem to change God’s mind as it pertains to the decisions He has made in regard to how He was going to deal with people. So, what do these scriptures imply as they pertain to our ability to influence our surroundings and even the will or actions of God?
Some would debate that God already knew that Abraham and Moses would argue with Him and He went through the motions for the sake of appearances. Others would argue that God actually considered and changed these things because of His covenant with these men and their presentation to or request of Him. I would argue that we don’t really know. It’s kind of like the opening argument about time travel: “What do we want?! TIME TRAVEL! When do we want it?! THAT’S IRRELEVANT!”
The question I ask is, does it really matter who’s right, or are we focusing on the irrelevant at the cost of progress? Certainly, I have my perspectives on these issues and have considered them deeply, but not at the cost of disallowing God’s full disclosure or my throwing in the towel and giving up.
Everybody wants to know these answers, but I think that some of the answers we find ourselves demanding and not getting clarity upon create a catch-22 scenario because we are asking questions irrelevant to where we are, or maybe even our ability to presently comprehend.
WHEN WE ASSUME WE KNOW MORE
In a previous chapter, I referred to the cleansing ritual presented in the Bible concerning the touching of dead things and how God would have known about microorganisms, but there is no way that man could have understood the complexity of the subject at that time in history. Now consider this analogy within the parameters of the subject we are addressing in this chapter:
Hebrew boy: “God, why do I have to go through such a ridiculous cleansing ritual just because I touched Grandpa a couple days after he died?”
God: “Just roll with me here, Benyamin. There are things you don’t have the capacity to understand as it pertains to the big picture right now.”
Hebrew boy: “This is so stupid. I’m not doing it.”
Two weeks later . . .
Benyamin’s mother: “God, I can’t believe you killed my son! He was a good boy and it’s not fair that you took his life just because he didn’t adhere to a silly cleansing ritual!”
God: “There are things you can’t understand. Never mind. You won’t get it either.”
I wonder if perhaps we find ourselves assuming that we know more information than we are privy to and try to comprehend things about God by placing Him within the box of our current understanding, while alienating ourselves from the benefit of what we could experience because of a failure to simply move forward doing what He told us to do.
Matthew 6:33 (AMP)
But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides . . .
I wonder if the Bible says seek first God’s way of doing things and being right with Him because there is actually a reason for it. Is it possible that maybe scriptures like this are not in the Bible for the sake of reminding us of another rule? Is it possible that God has instituted something, laws, if you will, into the building blocks of this physical realm that actually directly connect some of what we perceive to be unsubstantial or irrelevant to an aspect of progress or kingdom power that we do not comprehend?
What if the very atoms that make up the physical existence of the universe also directly respond to some principle(s) that are only tapped within man’s submitted will and intent to experience and institute the fullness of the kingdom of God? What if that is part of His best for us? Because so few actually seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, the experience of what His best would be for us seems more like a fairy tale than a possibility of reality.
Remember, Jesus is our example of what it actually looks like when God’s best is lived out through the fulfillment of His kingdom on earth. Could it be that our learning from Him and aspiring to experience authority over the kingdom of darkness in the same capacity is exactly why Jesus exemplified what He did? Perhaps we have only been limited by our lack of intentional pursuit of the greater things that He solemnly tells us in John 14:12:
John 14:12 (AMP)
I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.
I’m not saying I completely understand this to be the case—including what it looks like, what kind of recalibration one would have to undergo, and what we would have to learn or unlearn as it pertains to truth. But I can’t help but wonder if from the creation of the first atom, God intended for man to pursue His kingdom and live in such a way that every other kingdom in existence was subjected to the God-ordained authority of those operating in and under the authority of His kingdom.
AN EXPERIENCE, NOT A PLACE
For years, when I would read the words “Seek first the kingdom of God” in Matthew 6:33, my mind would immediately rationalize this “kingdom” as a physical place in the afterlife. Then I heard teachings that switched my perspectives toward more of an understanding that the “kingdom” was defined as “God’s way of doing things,” which led me to believe that if I didn’t sin, then I would, in essence, be living “in the kingdom.”
Further teaching explained that “the kingdom of God,” when established on the earth, would be a reflection here of principles that are modeled in heaven (no sickness, no lack). But still, the way I processed it in my mind, the “kingdom” was a “place,” se
parate from where I am now, that I was pursuing—like the United States of America. And when I reached that kingdom I would have blessings in the same way that many desiring immigrants might imagine the American Dream. It was something that was separate from what was available to me.
But now I wonder if “seeking first the kingdom” is not more than that. My previous perspectives left me locked into a habit of rules and regulations in the hopes that they would produce an “arrival” in this kingdom through my faithfulness to God.
Luke 17:20–21 (NASB)
Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, ”The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
As I read this scripture again, I realized the kingdom of God is not a place at all, but an experience where we aren’t seeking an end goal in the kingdom, but rather we are seeking a way of life and an experience that alters our reality.
What if when Matthew 6:33 said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and right standing with Him. Then all other things would be added unto you,” this expresses the cause and effect of living that experience? When we “seek first the kingdom,” it refers to seeking to live in a reality where our life experience is simply defined as believers using our authority to do what the Holy Spirit leads us to do, and overcoming the kingdom of darkness and sin with our God-ordained authority.
If this were the case, then I wonder if this wouldn’t look very similar to what Jesus said in Mark 16 would be the evidence of those who believe.
Mark 16:17–18 (NASB)
“These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Furthermore, I wonder if, when the ending of Matthew 6:33 says when we seek first the kingdom of God and right standing with Him, then, “all other things would be added to us” wouldn’t just be the byproduct or “fruit” of the institution and experience of “the kingdom of God.” There’s no lack in heaven, so when we are walking in our authority and instituting God’s kingdom in the earth, a byproduct is provision or healing or peace or whatever else we need that trumps the fruit of the kingdom of sin (sickness, poverty, even circumstances of death) produced in the lives of people.
If this is the case, then believing this is possible to the point of it motivating us to pursue understanding and eventually walking in this experience of the kingdom of God and the power of it would be a necessary prerequisite to living it. Doing so would also subsequently place us in the center of His will for our lives, fulfilling the second part of that scripture of “seeking right standing with Him.”
THE SECOND ADAM
Let’s assume that much of the Old Testament was an example of how limited life is when man chooses to live outside of God’s kingdom and is subjected to the laws within the kingdom of sin. As we established in previous chapters, the revelation of the kingdom of God was Christ’s primary message. Even the sacrifice of His own life was with the intention of completely restoring this kingdom to its original splendor and intent on the earth.
I Corinthians 15:45 (AMP)
Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life].
The Bible refers to Jesus as the Second Adam in I Corinthians 15:45 because He came to restore what was forfeited by the first Adam when he surrendered his authority to the kingdom of sin. As Dallas Willard said, “Jesus came among us to show and teach the life for which we were made . . . Indeed, by taking the title Son of Man, he staked his claim to be all that the human being was originally supposed to be . . . ”69
Authority is an interesting subject. I’m not convinced that all authority of man on the earth was lost in the fall of Adam. But I do wonder about his ability to exercise that authority in the power if its original intent through the kingdom of God became significantly affected.
When Adam chose the kingdom of sin, I wonder if his authority became limited by the associative rule of that kingdom now in his life, and as a result, his power and authority was also subjected to the fruits of that alternate kingdom and its master. If this is the case, then it wouldn’t necessarily be that all of his authority was lost, as much as it was limited by his inability to access the benefits established through the kingdom of God when his authority was untainted by sin.
In this case, the kingdom of sin wouldn’t necessarily need to have authority over this realm if it had authority over the one who was in authority in this realm. To put it another way, if you gave me your key and I had access to your car any time I wanted it, I wouldn’t necessarily have to have my name on the title to exercise all of the benefits of owning it. If we are the vehicle for establishing authority on the earth and we choose to use that authority toward sinful ends, then sin would not necessarily have to be “in charge” in the earth if it is “in charge” of the ones who are.
GOD’S PLAN WAS ALWAYS REDEMPTION
Because of God’s love for mankind and His desire to have a relationship with we who were created in His image and likeness, God integrated a sin-contingency plan into our existence that would restore our relationship and authority back to a place where we could directly communicate with Him and live in the authority that He created for us to live in, free from the dominion of sin in our lives. In essence, giving us the opportunity to choose for ourselves what kingdom we would want to participate in establishing and ultimately be ruled by and freeing us from the default bondage that would otherwise be our reality. According to the Bible, this sin-contingency plan for redeeming man was established in the very beginning of creation. Revelation 3:18 refers to Jesus as “the Lamb (the intended sacrifice for sin) slain from the foundation of the world.”
Going back to some of the thinking from the beginning of this chapter, I find it interesting that the Bible points out that Jesus and His sacrifice to reestablish connection to the kingdom of God in the earth was actually decided before man was even created. I don’t know if this means that God knew that man through Adam would so quickly choose the kingdom of sin over the kingdom of God, or if God knew that because of his ability to choose, man at some point would choose to surrender to and establish the kingdom of sin in the world. But it seems, from a biblical perspective, that redemption for man’s sin was always a part of God’s plan.
WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO BE A MAN AND WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE?
A substantial human benefit of the kingdom of God was eternal life and an intimate relationship with Him. The cost of his submission to the kingdom of sin was death and distance from God.
Genesis 2:17 (AMP)
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Jesus had to be a man in order to restore what was lost because it was man who was given the authority by God, and man who submitted his authority to the kingdom of sin.
In the Old Testament, blood was a sealing component of covenant. It was also an essential part of the equation in the covering of sin. If we study Hebrew culture and the law surrounding the remission of sin, it was in the sacrifice of animals and the spilling of their blood that sin was covered and atoned for.
Hebrews 9:22 (AMP)
[In fact] under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the due and merited punishment for sins.
If you read all of Hebrews 9 and 10, you will see that Jesus ultimately became the final sacrifice to seal the covenant between man and God, His blood being the final covering for sin restoring direct access to God and His kingdom in the earth. Th
is placed man back in a position of his divinely inspired authority, exercised fully in the environment in which it was created to be administered—the kingdom of God.
PERSUASION OF SIN
From the beginning, the devil has attempted to dissuade man from believing in the benefits of the kingdom of God or the consequences of living outside of it.
Genesis 3:1–5 (AMP)
Now the serpent was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden?
And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden, Except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
But the serpent said to the woman, You shall 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 the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity.
This is the first mention of the devil’s modus operandi in the Bible, I wonder if he continues to characteristically hold true to the nature of his first biblical mention and is still having conversations with us that cause us to doubt what the benefits and consequences are in the arena of our kingdom choices. And if so, at what cost has man bought in to dual citizenship between kingdoms? What does that reveal about what the devil knows, in comparison to what we understand, if he is still attempting to deceive us into living beneath the benefits of the kingdom of God?