Unconditional Surrender

In any given situation of life, we can pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." This will mean that we are inviting God into the situation – to bring in HIS RULE and HIS WILL. By definition, it therefore means that we are opening ourselves up to the dismantling of OUR rule and OUR will in the matter, and putting aside us having any say so over it from that point forward. That is unconditional surrender, and as it involves God, is the only kind of surrender there is!

Now, perhaps most of this sounds scary. It may sound morbid. But that is only because we haven’t a clue as to how far off the track our thinking and living are with regards to the rule and will of God. Coming to see and experience the will of God in our lives – in any situation – is the most wonderful thing imaginable. But while we are in the period of adjustment, it is going to seem as if we are losing everything. No. We are only losing CONTROL – we are losing our kingdom over the thing. And for a human being, that is really counter to how we are constituted in Adam. Thus, it’s scary.

Are we prepared to relinquish completely our say so over our lives – over even our internal makeup? Are we prepared to open ourselves up to God so that He can usher in HIS KINGDOM over us in that way? If we do relinquish this to God, I can promise TWO THINGS for certain. Number one: You will go through hell. I promise you that. Number two: You will get through hell and be set free into a relationship with Jesus Christ which comes in no other way.

The fact is, only God is qualified to rule your life. If you and I want to stay on the throne, God will let us – and we will get everything that comes with the package. The trouble is, in the end, all of the kingdoms of this earth – including the personal ones – are going to become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. Thus, if we expect to be able to live with God forever in that arrangement – which is the only one there is going to be for the saved – we had better get started now. Indeed, this is WHY God begins now. He is preparing us for the eternal ages.

Truth vs. Error

There are many today who teach the gospel of prosperity, the gospel of health, or the gospel of God making you a better person. Many speak of how Jesus wants you to be successful, to become a whole person, and how Jesus wants to build you into something for His glory. There are also those who teach spiritual growth and character development. But despite the fact that all of these things have Truth to them, and do speak of the ultimate goal of the Holy Spirit, teaching such things can become misleading if we do not preach the whole counsel of God on the matter.

And what IS the whole counsel of God on this matter? Just this: Before God can build us up, He must tear us down. The old must be dismantled before the new can be built. Our kingdom, and our will, must be set aside – in a way that WORKS IN LIFE – so that He can reign and rule in our lives. Or, to put it another way, there is no real, functional, power of resurrection life unless there is a work of the Cross.

Paul the apostle was not talking about his desire to get saved when he spoke of the need to, "be made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." (Phil 3:11) Paul WAS saved. He was talking about being made conformable to everything carried in that salvation. Thus, if you want to manifest the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, there is only one way – be carved into the shape of His death. Then you will fit into His kingdom through His resurrection.

Failure to see this leads us into error. Christians by the thousands try to function in resurrection power and end up functioning in soul power, personality power, and religious flesh. They think that what they have is IT – but it isn’t it unless they got it through the Cross. It is highly probable that this is the real reason why so many today are deceived. When is the last time you have heard the message you are reading in this article preached on Christian television, or from the pulpit. Yet read the Bible. It is there everywhere.

I say again: You cannot have resurrection life unless you are in the process of being made conformable to Jesus’ death – through the on-going work of the Cross. You cannot truly live under the rule of God, and in His will – unless there the Cross is put to your rule and your will. There are not shortcuts around this, or bypasses under it.

Note Paul’s words on this subject in only one of the places he writes about it:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death works in us, but life in you. (2 Cor. 4:7-12)

God cannot do much through people with His resurrection power until He deals with them through the Cross. I’m not talking here about dealing with SIN. I’m talking about dealing with SELF. I’m talking about the fact that you and I, without even knowing it, will take the things of God and use them for our own religious agenda, unless God dismantles our kingdom. I’m talking about the fact that without the humility that is brought by the Cross, we would eventually take credit – all the while denying it, of course – for all of the wonderful things God would do by His Spirit.

It is little wonder that the Cross is the greatest target of the Devil. You hear less and less of it among Christians today. It is, at best, a doctrine. Not a dynamic. This is deception, and accounts for much that is amiss in the church.

God’s Will

To be able to pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done," is not only a great responsibility, but a wonderful privilege. Do we realize that it means that we can, at any time, and regardless of any sins or mistakes we have made, always pray that prayer, and ask God to come in and take over – right where we are? God takes us right where we ARE, not were we AREN’T. And he simply beckons us to ask Him to bring in His kingdom.

God wants to come into a situation and take over. But He won’t barge in – at least not anywhere near to fully – unless we ask Him to come in. We can be sure of this, otherwise why would Jesus tell us to ask Him? The key here, I believe, is that we usually aren’t ready for Him to come in UNTIL we actually ask. By definition, asking means we have reached the place where we really want God’s will – although we probably have little idea of what that means.

It is not possible for us to want God’s will more than He wants it. After all, it is HIS will, isn’t it? And if He did not want to do it, then, well, it wouldn’t BE His will, would it? See what I mean? Thus, even if we don’t know what God’s will is in a situation, we can ask Him do bring it – and in doing so take our wills out of the picture. If we do, we will find out that God knows better than we do, and that by the time He is finished, our wills shall have been adjusted over to HIS.

Herein we see why this process of God bringing in His kingdom may seem to take forever. It is because this isn’t a matter of God just doing a THING called, "His will." No. It is a matter of God bringing US into conformity with His will and kingdom. God is in the process of shaping us spiritually FOR His will. Then He will do it. Until then, He cannot do it.

The kingdom of God is first to be setup in the hearts of people. That requires INWARD adjustment. This will then make us fit to be compatible with any outward will of God that He wants to bring.

Spiritual Growth

When you and I hear the term, "spiritual growth," we often think of US becoming better people – with Christ-like traits. We read the list of the fruits of the Spirit, and think that we will grow to practice them. We add terms like, "building righteous character," and, "becoming conformed to Christ," which are Biblical terms, and we think we know what they mean: God wants to do things to us and in us, and in the end, we will be like Jesus.

Well, let’s not quibble about terms. But the trouble here is that this whole concept, the one I just described, really isn’t what God is doing. It isn’t how God works, and it isn’t what spiritual growth is at all.

Spiritual growth is NOT me growing to possess Christ-like traits. No. It is me coming under the power of the Cross so that Jesus might shine through me. Righteous character is NOT me becoming more righteous. No. It is me coming under the power of the Cross so that the righteousness of Jesus might shine through me. "Building character," is actually nothing more than ME BEING TORN DOWN, so that Jesus might be built up in, and through me. Go back to II Corinthians 4, quoted above. This is the Truth that is there.

Now, of course, this doesn’t mean we are passive. We have to live and believe and obey. The Holy Spirit doesn’t sort of, "take us over," and live through us. No. All of this must happen as controlled under the power of our free will – but as subject to the Holy Spirit; the kingdom of God. But again – this is OTHER THAN what we imagine. It is the product of having my kingdom dismantled, and HIM exalted.

Let’s look at a couple of more passages which state this Truth:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Cor. 1:30-31)

Christ in you, the hope of glory: (Col 1:27)

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Col 3:3)

Jesus Christ is actually living in every converted person. Indeed, the life of Christ in us is really the kingdom of God – His life is that rule and kingdom. Not only that, but because His life is in us, everything we call, "Christian character," is HIM – we merely manifest HIM. Thus, we see that it isn’t that we develop a THING called, "righteous character," or a THING called, "holiness." No. We are set aside by the Cross, and then JESUS CHRIST – not a THING, but a PERSON – shines through. This is a Truth and a reality which can be stated through a teaching, but which must be experienced.

Now ask: In order for Jesus Christ, the personification of the rule of God, to shine through me, does that not infer that everything about me which is contrary to Him must be set aside? Does this not infer that MY kingdom, MY will, and MY rule, and MY character, and MY religiosity, and MY thinking, and MY ways, and MY patterns, must be dealt with? Sure. That is the only way Jesus can be free to move through me. And it is really the only way I can be free.
Through the dismantling of our kingdom, and the invasion of His, God is bringing us back to the original design of relationship He built into human beings. Man was never made to be on the throne. God alone belongs there; when He is there, then man benefits.

May God bring His kingdom and His will into each one of our lives – both internally and externally. And may He do whatever is necessary to make that more than a theological concept, but rather a reality. We will never regret it. It spells freedom and everything the Bible talks about when it describes true Christianity. *

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Entering the Kingdom of God does not happen after Rev.20 and some physical battle that takes place between the armies of the world. It does take place in each person’s life when they totally and completely surrender their life to Christ. It takes place inside of one’s self, as the battle for the throne, in the throne room of our hearts. It is a bloody battle that results in our death and the casting away of the ruler-ship of our flesh over our lives. The spirit of the flesh is the spirit of antichrist, until we are born again, and then it must be thrown into the lake of fire and burnt up in order for Christ to come live inside of us.

This battle is fought inside each believer while they live in this world. Until we die physically, that old man will continue to try and climb those steps back into the throne room and retake the throne. We must continue to die to self, daily, and keep picking up our cross to follow Jesus and keep giving our hearts to Him. I am not saying there will not be a “worldly battle” that plays out at the end of the Age, but it is this personal battle that matters much more and is the only way into the Kingdom of God.

There will come a day that we will be with the Lord physically as well as spiritually. We will be bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh; we will be just like He was after His resurrection, flesh and bone. The Kingdom is not some future kingdom where we will all be spirits, it is the Kingdom we live in now as born again believers with the assurance we will be with Christ and like Christ on the New Earth and in the New Heaven.

JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!

Patti C.

BUMP