Lookahead:  There was always a tangible peace and joy in those Midwest revival meetings, along with emotional/physical healing miracles.  The revivalist and his team seemed to continuously live on a higher plane in a glory-filled existence.  I was totally shocked to hear him in a radio interview, less than a year later, talking about having recently gone through a major anxiety bout during which he had been utterly side-lined by a paralyzing fear of death.  He actually had to seek professional help! 

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…Ephes 2:3-6

According to this scriptural reference, we are seated where Jesus is seated (at the righthand of the Father per Ephes 1:20) in heavenly realms.  I have never fully grasped the meaning of this scripture, but I am presuming that it’s speaking from the spiritual POV.  Could Paul be addressing the spiritual hierarchical structure and where we rank, from a positional perspective?

It is my personal belief that, because we are children of God and co-heirs with Christ, we are now on the same playing field with Him—from a spiritual authority perspective.  That is, by giving us His Name to back us up (John 14:13), Jesus has essentially given us His authority.   That means that if we call upon the Name when we battle against evil, we face the enemy from the same ethereal height as Jesus in the heavenly hierarchy—giving us a resoundingly superior position over the devil et al.  On the other hand, without the Name and His authority, we are puny little humans cruising for a bruising.  But anyone who is dealing with a false sense of importance probably should grab hold of a Voyager photograph of the pale blue dot, and get the aha that we really ain’t all that. In sum, without Jesus, we are nothing—but with Him, all things are possible. Matt 19:26 😊

The Greek word for heavenly places is epouranios—from two words: (1) epi meaning in and (2) ouranos meaning heaven or heavenly.  So Ephesians 2 (and also Ephesians 1:3 and :20, Ephesians 3:10, and Ephesians 6:12) is referring to a heavenly place.  Ephesians 3 and 6 are pretty clear in communicating that this usage of epouranios means heaven itself, where God is and where the angels are (and depending on the level of heaven, the demons may also be present—we discussed this in Kingdom Post #19: that there could be three levels or more in heaven and that the demons may have free reign in the lower level(s)). Also, Ephesians 3:10 further qualifies that epouranios is talking about heaven as contrasted with earth or beneath the earth or under the earth. 

On the other hand, Ephesians 2:3-6 refer to the heavens and heavenly realm and the heavenly places in Christ. So these verses clarify what we have been given access to.  In the phrase, “in Christ,” the Greek word (en) means in; it means like 100 other things in addition to in e.g., on, at, by, with, among, through, etc.;  but it primarily means in (1902 times out of 2800 in NT).  This means that we can’t be in the heavenly places without Jesus Christ—that He is an integral part of the process.  This underscores what I have said before, which is that we need to be children of God and believers—having accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts—to enter the Kingdom of Heaven-on-earth.

So when we are seated next to Jesus positionally, does this give us automatic entrance in the Kingdom of Heaven-on-earth? No, I do not believe so.  I think Ephesians 2 is talking about the organizational structure and the authority that we have in Jesus Christ—over all the power of the enemy Luke 10:19.  It’s nothing we did, and everything He did.  We still have this authority in Jesus whether we are Kingdom Occupiers or not.  We may choose not to exercise the authority; or we may frequently exercise the authority, but still not occupy the Kingdom.  Similarly, we can possess the various spiritual gifts and have a genuine calling from God, but still not occupy the Kingdom. In fact, people can “live” in Glory-filled environments in which the charismata or spiritual gifts are in operation, and still not dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven-on-earth.  However, if one wants to dwell in the Kingdom, these environments are an excellent place to start.  This was, after all, the Acts environment in a nut shell.  And I’m sure that Israel was replete with KO’s in the first century A.D. 

But just because you’re witnessing God’s Glory, does not mean you have occupied the Kingdom.  There was a late 20^th century revivalist who played a pivotal role in a series of revivals that broke out in many areas of the world including Canada, South America, South Africa, Cambodia, Albania, the Philippines, the U.K., and the U.S. (including the Midwest).  There was always a tangible peace and joy in those Midwest revival meetings, along with emotional/physical healing miracles.  The revivalist and his team seemed to continuously live on a higher plane in a glory-filled existence.  I was totally shocked to hear him in a radio interview, less than a year later, talking about having recently gone through a major anxiety bout during which he had been utterly side-lined by a paralyzing fear of death.  He actually had to seek professional help!  I could not reconcile the man I heard on that broadcast with the man I had earlier seen leading the revival meetings!  The LORD got him through it, and when I saw him in future meetings, the Glory was still there. 😊 However, historically he’s not the only revivalist that has been through heavy duty spiritual battles.  Two evangelists (one on TV in the 1960’s, and their heir apparent—on TV in the 1990’s) dealt with chronic fear that the Holy Spirit would be a no show at their healing crusades.  I further believe that several of the healing evangelists who burned out in 1950’s were so afraid of “losing the anointing,” they finally found that it was easier to retreat back into the world.  And a very famous Welsh revivalist actually had a nervous breakdown two years into the early 20^th Century revival. 

In more recent times, I’ve seen people taking 1 Corinthians 12:31 to its extremes and earnestly desiring the best gifts—to the point of worshipping the gifts; yet I have seen some successfully operating in these gifts.  Nevertheless, when you are not secure in God’s love and/or constantly competing for his affections, then you are not living in the Kingdom of Heaven-on-earth. 

Now if it wasn’t the desire of their hearts to become Kingdom Occupiers, then no harm no foul; these people might have been burned out, but the LORD easily revived some so that they continue to be effective in their ministries. I guess you could say that they were not “Kingdom Cravers.”  God probably wired Kingdom Cravers a little differently—they won’t be satisfied until they have occupied the Kingdom.  Personally, I believe that God paid an incomparable price so that we could be KO’s. Therefore, I feel a strong burden to pray for the Kingdom to “come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Back on track, I believe that the authority and the gifts might be KO enablers, in a personal or communal experience; and if we choose to use them, and (more importantly) if we allow God to be the One who uses them in us, then we can easily walk in the Kingdom of heaven-on-earth.

So what are the benefits that we get if we are true KO’s?  Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit – Romans 14:17  The Kingdom of God includes the right standing with God that Jesus bought and paid for, at an incomparable price.  This right standing, and the realization that we have become acceptable in God’s eyes, and eligible for fellowship with Him, becomes an overriding source of Joy and Peace.  In the Kingdom, we enjoy virtually uninterrupted fellowship with God which gives us joy unspeakable and full of Glory 1 Peter 1:8.  To say nothing of the Peace.  The peace word in the Greek might not be as multifaceted as it is in, for example, the Hebrew.  In the Greek it is eiréné which means peace, safety, harmony;  but in Hebrew, we get the Shalom, which is Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 9:6).  Plus in the Hebrew, eiréné is put on steroids linguistically and its meaning blows up by ~100 times.  Every blessing that any Jewish person’s life could have is all wrapped up in Shalom.  It basically means “completion and perfection.”  Furthermore, it is the greeting that Israelis use; and when they’re saying Shalom, I guess what they’re saying is, “multiple, manifold, multifaceted blessings to you.” 😊

So is the Kingdom of Heaven-on-earth just a state of mind?  Probably more like a state of heart, mind, soul, and spirit.  But more on this to follow. (1 Peter 5:7)