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Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26-28; Matt. 3:2; 5:3, 10, 48; 6:9-10, 31-33; Rom. 14:17; Rev. 11:15; 2 Tim. 2:12
In the previous chapter we saw that man is God’s expression and His representative with His authority. In His creation God made man in His image and entrusted man with His dominion (Gen. 1:26-28). We have these two words: image and dominion. Image is a matter of life, whereas dominion is a matter of authority. Thus, we have the divine life and the divine authority involved here. Since man was created in the image of God, this means that man was meant to have God’s life. And since God entrusted man with His dominion, this means that man was meant to have the authority of God. To express God we need the divine life. To represent God we need the divine authority.
However, man became fallen. Therefore, God Himself came to be a man named Jesus. Jesus was a wonderful man, and today, even in His resurrection, He is still a man. He is a man in the heavens. When Stephen was being stoned to death in his martyrdom, he saw “the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Thus, today Christ in the heavens is still a man. But we have to realize that this is not all. After Christ was resurrected from the dead and ascended to the heavens, He came down as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) and as the Spirit of power (Acts 1:8).
This Spirit, who is Jesus Himself, is now waiting for all the fallen human beings to receive Him. As soon as a person receives Him, this wonderful One, Jesus, immediately enters into him. This means that this person is saved. To be saved simply means to have Christ coming into us.
We all know that it is not a small thing to have Christ come into us. However, there is something deeper than this. The opening word of the gospel of the kingdom is repent. We need to repent for the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 3:2) because we have fallen from the dominion of God. Therefore, we need to come back. We need to have a real turn from the fallen state to the original state. We have to leave the fallen situation and turn to God’s dominion again. This dominion is simply the kingdom of the heavens.
Christians today talk a lot about gospel preaching, but what do we preach as the gospel? We may say that we preach Christ. This is right, but it is still inadequate. The gospel preached at the beginning of the New Testament was, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” We were made in the image of God, and we were entrusted with God’s dominion, but we became fallen. Now we have to return to God’s dominion; then we will have His image again.
I wish to put these things in a more simple and practical way. Look at the situation of today’s human life and society. People all over the world are materialistic. They are busily working to gain material things for a good living. They want to have better food, a better house, a better car, and better clothing. All the time they are seeking for something better. But eventually what they seek for becomes bitter. America today is a materialistic country. The materialistic people are the first category of people we see in today’s society.
Another category of people is composed of those who are trying to be good, to be moral. When people become materialistic, they do not care much for morality. Therefore, generally speaking, materialistic people are not so moral. But today on this earth there are some people who are highly moral.
Then we have a third category of people — the religious people. In Christianity, to be religious is really wonderful; it is to be formal and scriptural. Hence, in a general sense, the religious people are not only better than the materialistic people but also better than the moral people.
The fourth category of people, the highest category, is the spiritual people. To be spiritual is to be in the spirit. Therefore, compared to the previous three categories of people, the spiritual people are really much better.
Now let us ask what kind of people God wants. Of course, God does not want a group of materialistic people; nor does He want a group of moral or religious people. Furthermore, strictly speaking, God’s intention is not to have a group of so-called spiritual people. God wants a group of people who would return to His dominion.
In Matthew 6:31-33 the Lord said, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? For all these things the Gentiles are anxiously seeking. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” If you are always thinking about the matters of eating, drinking, and clothing, you are materialistic. The Lord told us to forget about these material things, which the Gentiles seek after all the time. Rather, we should seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God.
We have seen that the kingdom of God is the dominion of God, but what is the righteousness of God? To be righteous is to be right with God and to be right according to what God is. God is love, yet you hate others. This is wrong. Since God is love, you also should love others. This is right. God is faithful, yet you are unfaithful. This is wrong. Since God is faithful, you also should be faithful. Then you are right. God is honest, yet you are dishonest. This is not right. To be honest is to be right according to what God is. Therefore, we can see that to be righteous simply means to be right according to God, not according to our concept. To be right according to God is to be completely agreeable with God.
The young people should consider what they are seeking today. They should be seeking to be brought back to God’s dominion, God’s ruling. Day by day you should be brought under God’s ruling. Furthermore, while you are seeking God’s kingdom, you should also seek His righteousness. This simply means that you have to return to God’s dominion and to get yourself completely agreeable with God. If we want to be agreeable with God, we need to be born of God. We need to have His life and become His children.
People talk much about the so-called Sermon on the Mount. But we must see that unless we become the children of God, we cannot practice the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is not for worldly people, the unbelievers, but for the children of the Father. This is indicated in Matthew 5:48, where the Lord said, “You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We are His children, and He is our Father. We have His life. Therefore, we can be perfect as He is. For us to be perfect as the Father is perfect simply means that we have the Father’s image, or in other words, that we express the Father.
However, there is still one crucial thing, and that is whether or not we are in the dominion of God. This is why the Lord Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It is not righteousness first but the kingdom. First, we need to seek the kingdom, and then spontaneously we will have righteousness. As we have seen earlier, righteousness simply means to be right according to God, to be completely agreeable with God. This is to be perfect as God the Father is perfect.
I would like to stress again that what God wants is not moral people, religious people, or even so-called spiritual people. What God wants are people who remain under His dominion. As long as you are under God’s dominion, God’s authority, all things will be under your dominion, your authority. If you are going to represent God, you need to be in God’s dominion.
In human society there are many deceiving things. The material things are deceptions. Thus, people are constantly anxious, saying, “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? With what shall we be clothed?” All these whats are deceptions. The Lord Jesus told us that these are things sought after by the Gentiles. We have to forget about these things and seek God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness.
But how about our living? In Matthew 6:32 the Lord Jesus told us that our heavenly Father knows that we need all these things, and then in verse 33 He spoke a word as a promise: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Do you really believe that the heavenly Father will take care of your living? I have been believing in the heavenly Father’s care for many years. We have to believe in the Lord’s word. If we seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God, He will give us His kingdom and His righteousness. In addition, He will give us all the things that we need.
I realize that it is not so easy for the young people to believe that the Father will take care of all their needs. Many of you are worried about your future. I am afraid that many of you are also anxious about your marriage. A sister may wonder, “What kind of husband should I have?” A brother may consider, “What kind of wife is good for me?” Let me tell you honestly that without God, you can never have a good husband or a good wife. This is why today there are so many divorces. Learn to leave everything to God.
When I was young in the Lord’s ministry, the young people considered me as a teacher of the Word of God and also as one who was experienced in the matter of marriage, since I was already married. Therefore, they used to come to me for advice concerning their marriage. I gave them the best instructions that I had collected, and they tried to apply them. But eventually, I found out that these good instructions did not work.
Now when the young people ask me about whom they should marry, I answer, “I don’t know. Only the Lord knows.” I can only tell them that if they feel led of the Lord to marry that sister or that brother, then they should just go ahead and do it. I cannot say whether that brother or that sister is good or not. I do not know. Only the Lord knows. Young brothers and sisters, you have to trust in the heavenly Father for your future, including your marriage. Only He knows. Your destiny is not in your hand; it is in His hand. Leave all things to Him. Just learn to say, “Hallelujah! I have a heavenly Father taking care of me in all ways.”
Therefore, do not be deceived any longer by material things. Surely you need to study to get an education or learn a trade. But you should not be deceived by these things. We should not be preoccupied by these things. We do not seek these things first. We first seek the kingdom, the dominion, of God. We also seek to have His righteousness, to be right with Him, to be agreeable with Him. We desire to be perfect as He is perfect. We desire to bear His image and be under His authority all the time. We are not here to be moral, religious, or spiritual. We care only for one thing, that is, to be under His authority and to be agreeable with Him all the time.
We care only to be under God’s authority. If God gives you the command to shout in the meeting, you should shout. If you say, “Oh, maybe it’s not good to shout so loudly. I should take care of others,” this is to be religious. I care only to be under the Lord’s dominion. I care only to be right and agreeable with the Lord. We should not be deceived by religious things, which are even more deceiving than material and moral things.
Even the desire to be spiritual can be a kind of deceiving. This is why I feel compelled by the Lord to tell you these things. The Lord has no intention to gain a group of people who are “spiritual.” Rather, His intention is to have a group of people who are under His authority, who are always right according to the Lord and completely agreeable with the Lord.
You can be like this only by taking Him as your person. Take Him not only as your life but also as your person. Then day by day you can declare to the whole universe, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20a). Then you have the real righteousness. You are right and agreeable with the Lord because you are Christ Himself. It is no more you, but it is Christ, so you have the righteousness under God’s authority.
I have no intention to advise you to do this or not to do that. My burden is to help you realize that today the Lord is going to get a people, mainly of the young generation, who do not care for anything material, anything moral, anything religious, or anything spiritual. Of course, they also do not care for anything immoral, unreligious, or unspiritual. They care only for God’s dominion and God’s image. Brothers and sisters, the Lord is going to gain a people of the young generation who truly seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. Eventually, God will give them the material things that they need, and they will be the most moral and spiritual people. But if you are just seeking after spirituality, you might be wrong. Today what you should seek after is not religion or spirituality. You need to seek the kingdom of God as well as His righteousness. We all need to be under His dominion and bear His image continually.
Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” Then verse 10 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” First, you need to be poor in your spirit. Do not consider that you know something or have something. You have to prostrate yourself, bow down, before the Lord, saying, “Lord, I have nothing, and I know nothing. I don’t like to retain or hold on to anything old in my spirit. I like to be poor in my spirit.” If so, yours is the kingdom of the heavens.
You also have to be ready to suffer, to be persecuted, for the sake of righteousness, that is, for the sake of being right according to God, agreeable with God. If you want to be right according to God, you will be persecuted, because the whole world, which lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19) and is filled with unrighteousness, will rise up against you. In a sense, if you are seeking to be religious, many people will admire and welcome you. Also, in a sense, if you are seeking to be spiritual, many people will appreciate and speak well of you. But if you are seeking to be right with the Lord, to be right according to God, be prepared to be opposed and persecuted. But praise the Lord, the kingdom of the heavens is yours. You are in the kingdom of the heavens and are under God’s dominion where you have the righteousness of God.
Today what the Lord is doing is gaining such a people as a preparation for His coming back to take over the earth. Then Revelation 11:15 will be fully fulfilled: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” We will also reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12).
