Restoration of Original Intent: Part 1

Are you experiencing the impact in your life that you want? Is your church? If not, how do we accomplish greater impact and influence?

We don’t have to figure it out. It’s been in God’s Word all along. We just need to go back to God’s original intent for humanity and for His Church.

When God first created humanity, He gave us our assignment. This is found in Genesis 1:26-28. This passage is often referred to as the Dominion Mandate because it informs us God’s commission to humanity to “fill the earth and subdue it” and to “have dominion over every … thing … on the earth.”

To have dominion simply means to rule. We were created to rule the Earth for God as His representatives. He rules Heaven and we are to rule the Earth.

But sin came and the Law followed to deal with the breakdown.

Fear and Religion: God and Israel at Mount Sinai During the Exodus out of Egypt

God meets Israel, His covenant people in the wilderness at Mount Sinai. But when God show up it can become very intense.

Exodus 20:18-19 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

The people wanted a mediator or representative. Being in God’s presence was too intense for them. The priesthood was ultimately established via the Law to accommodate their fear and reluctance for intimacy with God. But this was NOT God’s plan or His idea. He wanted His people to all know Him in a close and personal relationship.

God designed us to walk in intimate relationship with Him. Many are comfortable knowing about God and speaking about God. But God created us for more than that. He created us to know Him.

We can go to church services our whole life and yet never have a close personal relationship with the Lord. I refer to this as “religion”. The Bible speaks of it as having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5).

We can be very religious and remain far from God, just as Israel did throughout the pages of Scripture. Fear kept them from walking into the amazing destiny God had for them.

Fear creates religion. And religion continues to create more fear. Today, fear and religion continue to partner together. There’s a better way. And Jesus showed us The Way.

Fast Forward to the New Testament. In the fullness of time, Jesus showed up, and right out of the gate He’s preaching about a Kingdom:

Matthew 4.17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”

He didn’t come with a religion, but with a government. (Isaiah 9:6-7 “… and the government shall be upon His shoulders.”) And that government takes the form of a Kingdom.

He came to RESTORE what had been lost. Luke 19:10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (not those who were lost, but that which was lost)

So, what had been lost? The Kingdom of God working through His representatives ruling the Earth on His behalf. Jesus restored God’s original intent through His life, ministry, and creation of the Church.

God’s Design for His Church

Jesus said that He would build His Church. Matthew 16:18 … “and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

It is very important to realize that Jesus designed and built His Church to be able to fully accomplish it’s purpose. What is that purpose? To rule the Earth as His representatives.

In Matthew 6:9-13, we see The Lord’s Prayer. When Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray, He said in part that we should pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

A Kingdom can be defined as the realm or domain that a King rules over — the King’s Domain. God’s plan has always been that the Kingdom of Heaven (the rule and reign of God) would be extended from Heaven and experienced on the Earth. And we have a huge part to play in that.

How does God rule and reign in the Earth? In large part, He’s chosen to accomplish this through His covenant people. We rule as His representatives (or ambassadors – see 2 Cor 5:18-20).

Our Identity and Assignment

How are we to rule the earth as His representatives? Just as He rules Heaven. How do we do that? The same way Jesus did when He walked the earth as a Man. Jesus never said anything unless He first heard the Father say it, and never did anything unless He first saw the Father do it (see John 12:49 and 5:18-20).

Our assignment is to see what God is doing and hear what He is saying from Heaven. Then we do and say those very things here on the earth. This is how His will is done in the earth as it is in Heaven.

Most Christians today don’t see themselves this way. However, the Scriptures are very clear regarding our identity and purpose.

Many think that God’s will is brought from Heaven to Earth through the sovereign work of God, without our involvement.

God is sovereign. In His sovereignty, however, He commissioned us to do His work in the Earth. This is the great mystery of God hidden from the beginning of time until the time that He unveiled His Church (Christ in you the hope of glory).

Consider this: if it were all up to God, and Him alone, everything would already be completely fixed and restored. The fact that it is far from fully restored speaks volumes and reveals that it is we who have not yet accomplished our purpose in the Earth: to reconcile the world back to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

Part 2 of this blog post will be published next week. Blessings!

Steve Ragon