26.1 The Kingdom
We now have three definitions of “the Kingdom,” all three of which are related together. The first definition of the Kingdom is Father God now free to be Himself as He wishes, otherwise known as “Father-glorified.” The second definition of the Kingdom is as an ecosystem, a vast arrangement of living things all together in a place, a system in which each finds a home and in which each relates with each.
And now, our third definition of the Kingdom is that which emanates forth, unfolds every moment, our every step, our every next circumstance, out from Father and us sharing life together. What emanates forth is Father and us building our home together as a place for all that lives within our sphere.
House and Home. In John 14:23, the word “with” in Father makes a home with me, is the Greek “para,” which means “in intimate participation with.” The outflow of Father sharing my life with me is a “HOME,” a dwelling place we construct together in which both of us live together as every present moment.
The word root “eco” comes directly from the Greek word “oikos,” translated the “house” of God in Ephesians 2. The outflow of Father sharing that same life with each local Church through their reciprocity is a dwelling place in which many can live as every present moment.
The Kingdom of God is every next moment of life shared with God, individually and together as the Church.
Covenant and Kingdom. The Covenant operates at two levels, first as Father sharing life with each one through Jesus, and second as Father sharing life with each gathering together through Jesus. This is the union of Word.
The Kingdom is the same, first as the moment by moment outflow of the life God shares with each one, and second as the moment by moment outflow of the life God shares with each local gathering together. This is being led of Spirit.
The very nature of God and man together creates a vast habitation in which all created things find refuge and safety, comfort and provision, a HOME in which all can dwell.
Creating a Home. The next Symmorphy text, Symmorphy VII: Completion, is about the Kingdom of God, the completion of all Salvation as God intends. This chapter will consider how God designed us as humans for that very completion and the outflow of life that is a Home with God for all created things forever.
My wife and I both grew up in godly families and in a wholesomeness that prevailed regardless of any lacks. Then, in turn, in spite of my lacks and failures, I know the goodness of being a father together with a woman who was a wonderful mother. It was our nature to create a home for our children to dwell together in safety and comfort, in the knowledge of God and in the enjoyment of all good things out from Him.
Constant Watchcare. Our children are now grown and no longer with us on a daily basis. Although we miss them deeply, my wife and I both are glad in that season being finished in our lives. Yet for thirty years, the thoughts of our hearts were constantly extended out over our children, that they would be safe and happy and that they would know the Lord inside themselves.
At the same time, both of us know the meaning of godly community under the watchcare of elders who genuinely cared for all the people of the community, that each would be safe and happy, and that all would know the Lord. Yes, there were lacks and failures. Nonetheless, we both knew only the love of God in our midst. We have both seen much godly sacrifice for the sake of others. What I am describing IS the Kingdom of God forever.
Our Job. Yet through all of that, we did not know God as He truly is, nor did we know our precious union with Jesus as it really means. My task now is to take my present knowledge of God sharing life with me, making our home in every moment with intimate participation together, and connect that knowledge with my intimate experience of family and community life over the course of 65 years. The truth is that God was sharing life with all of us through all those years, though we did not know it.
It’s not the glory of the Lord that must fill the earth, for that’s already the only thing true. It’s that the knowledge of His glory must come to all things. That’s our job; that’s the Kingdom.
Defining “Kingdom.” The Kingdom of God is a HOME inside of which all created things dwell in safety and comfort and in the knowledge of God. A home is an environment created by a father and mother together. If we were to define a “father” and a “mother” and if we were to set out the meaning of their building a home together for their children, we would have the first part of a definition of the Kingdom.
Then, if we were to take those definitions and weave them into the meaning of life together as a Community of Christ, we would have the second part of that definition. The third part of the definition of the Kingdom is how all created things find a place of safety and comfort inside that HOME.
Father and Mother. God as Word is the expression of fathering. God as Spirit is the expression of mothering. We are made just like God. “Go out into the bitter cold, son, and bring in more firewood,” is the command of a father. “Be sure you’re bundled up and warm,” is the comfort and insistence of a mother. The Word of the Father takes in the needs of the larger picture, the Spirit of the mother ensures the personal needs of each. God designed us as humans to grow up in such an environment, and He designed us as humans to create such an environment in turn for our children.
The Kingdom of God, then, is this same personal father-mother care over each created thing, that all would be at home.
Restoring Fathers. Jesus said that age-unfolding LIFE, that is, the outflow of Kingdom in every moment, is KNOWING the Father. The curse of death, then, is ignorance of God as Father.
The absence of true fathering in our world, in the year of our Lord 2022, is the presence of curse upon all creation. The ministry of Elijah, arising even now (Completion), restores true fathering into the lives of all, thus removing curse. Mothers are as important as fathers, but mothers more easily take their place in the presence of true fathers. In the same way, families are as important as Communities, but families more easily take their place inside the true Community of the Church.
Qualities of Both. In defining “fathering” and “mothering” inside of Christ Community, however, we are not looking at any wall between genders, for in Christ there is neither male nor female. In other words, there is a fluidity of the qualities of father and mother coming through all to all.
Nonetheless, elderships in community that contain only men or only women are both very out of balance. A healthy community has strong women and strong men moving together as shepherds over the community. God’s metaphors then mean that when a woman is preaching, that is Father speaking Word into us. And when a man is listening, he is as the Bride of Christ, receiving that word.
Home at Three Levels. Our purpose is not to distinguish men versus women. Our purpose, rather, is to show how a father and mother creating a home for their children becomes fathering and mothering in community, creating a home for each member of the Church, and then becomes the outflow of the knowledge of God sharing life with us as a HOME for all created things.
This is the Kingdom of God.
And the Kingdom begins with my full knowledge of Father sharing life with me. (“My” and “me” being defined as you who are reading this line and the next.) Yet the Kingdom unfolds out from me only as my commitment to Christ Community, that is, the Church.
Horror Proves the Rule. For thirty years my watchcare over my children was constant. One time, when James was an infant, I forgot that he was in the back seat in his car seat and went into an office without him. I was back in just a few minutes, but the horror I felt when I realized that I had forgotten my son, is an exception that proves the rule.
I remember the horror as strongly today as I did years ago, when I, as a father with my children’s hands in mine, was leaving a movie theater, and I witnessed a mother far in front of her son, yacking on her phone, oblivious to the fact that he was crying in terror all alone in the darkness at the top of the stairs. I can neither understand nor bear such lack of care.
Five Aspects of Covering. Parental covering, then, provides five things for a home in which to dwell together. Those five things are protection, provision, enjoyment, affection, and respect. An apostolic and prophetic covering, that is, Word and Spirit together, also provides those same five things, protection, provision, enjoyment, affection, and respect, to the overall life of the Community of Christ and for each member in it. Then, the firstfruits of Christ as manifest sons of God provide those same five things to all creation, that all created things might find their place inside of HOME, inside of Jerusalem.
And at each level it is always person to person, utterly personal. At each level it is Father sharing life with us.
Five Aspects of Heart. I did not think about the five aspects of the human heart when I delineated these five things. In fact, I drew the words out from the Webster’s 1926 dictionary, part of their definition of “father.” Yet the moment the list appeared on the page, I saw that these five aspects of parental watchcare line up in order with the prior five aspects of “heart.”
Ambition serves as protection. Word is bread, that is, to provide. Joy is the center of person. Affection provides personal belonging. And respect is the place of fellowship. As we go through the five aspects of covering, let’s think in terms of the Kingdom as it arises now, in swallowing up this age of madness and establishing Tabernacles upon the earth.
Protection. Think of all the hurt taking place on this planet. Sorrow or hurt coming to my children is more than I can bear, yet Father carries to full measure the hurt of all, of each one.
The weapons of our warfare are not [physical or violent], but they are mighty, and by them we bring an end to hurt. Protection is our rule, the purpose of our authority; we keep “the King’s Peace.” Our weapon is simple – the Spirit gifts of knowledge and discernment. We will know when malevolent abuse is being prepared and will be able to stand in-between.
Yet at the present time, we are taking that authority in our prayers – the arm of protection over our Christian brethren.
Provision. God is abundance; yet a gift unearned is not highly valued. God’s grace is free and has always been my life, yet my knowing of that grace has come to me bit by bit through years of difficulty, making God-with-me of inestimable value to me.
The word “Lord” comes from the Danish “loaf-giver.” A “Lord” was one who ensured provision for all his people. But we don’t just “give” to people, rather, we ensure that their work is productive and a blessing to many.
Two Spirit gifts enable us to ensure productivity and blessing in every direction – words of wisdom and power energeia. Our exercise of these gifts begins now, in providing for God’s people sustenance during their hour of greatest need.
Enjoyment. The center of God’s Person, the center of Jesus’ Person, the center of our persons is JOY. Joy is the normal state of being human. Joy is the elimination of all “boredom.” Beauty and art, music and dance, all these things are part of joy. Joy comes out from the simple Spirit gift of faith.
The decoration of our home is a wonderful mix of Maureen and me. That décor is what makes it our home, our enjoyment. Yet the décor of each of our children’s rooms said “This is me.” I am describing the center of the rule of Christ forever. These are the things that seem less consequential, but that also make life worth living. Our watchcare ensures a “place of one’s own” for each.
Affection. Affection is the first part of love, that simple touch that says, “I care about you.” It is affection that creates a place of belonging for every human. In fact, it is affection that places each person into my personal joy, that makes each one a part of the beauty of my own life.
Jesus’ action of healing people was not to “display Himself,” but rather, the normal response of His affection for one who was hurting. – And something inside each one told them of His affection for them. That’s why they followed Him. Healing is a normal Spirit gift. People don’t heal overnight. Drawing people into this place of affection is a process that is the meaning of our rule.
Respect. The other side of love is respect. Respect is the necessary ground of fellowship. Respect always begins with those in authority, respect out from them to each little one. Learning respect is only a response to respect already given. My son Kyle shared that he knew early on that his dad treated him as a person worthy of respect. Later he learned that this quality was not common, even in Christian families. Our present fellowship of friendship comes out from that early respect.
The Spirit gifts of speaking, of having the right word for each one and of hearing what each is meaning by what they say, this is how we bring God our Father into our everyday fellowship.
Sharing Hheart with God. The Kingdom of God forever is the continuous outflow from the lives of those who share Hheart with God. It is the watchcare of Father God over all, shared entirely with and coming through us. It is HOME for all created things; it is Jerusalem. It is defined by the words GOOD and TRUE, with no shadow at all, and it is personal to every one.
It is thrilling to me, then, to see the normal and everyday gifts of the Rivers of Spirit become the very power of our rule.
This is our definition as humans, you and me together, containing in our togetherness all the fullness of God as Love, and then turning and revealing that same watch-care through the Spirit that is God to all created things. Man is God-Revealed, sharing Hheart with God.