Today is the beginning of a new cycle of teaching the Torah of Moses (first five books of the Bible) within the Jewish community. The portion of Scripture for the lesson is from Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 and is entitled Bereishit / Beginnings. This is from where we set forth some critical truths again. To begin with, Man’s creation or beginning is realized last, after the other 3 kingdom divisions, that of mineral, of vegetable, and of animal (the animal having a measure of intelligence or light). And then over all of these is Man, who is a superior being filled with the far greater characteristics of reason, reflection, self examination, self-control, and will. He additionally has the unique ability of speech, all of which speaks to man being made in the image of God. Man is the crowning of all that God did before the 7th Day of Rest. The Law of these Kingdom Beginnings is that none of these kingdoms may pass from one to another, save only by the act of the Creator (as when prideful Nebuchadnezzar was relegated to the nature of the animal kingdom, being controlled by that nature of that life force, and being darkened and unaware, (grew his nails and behaved as an animal) seemingly satisfied within that life’s nature. And afterwards, being again enlightened into the kingdom of man, he gratefully recognized God’s sovereignty in praise and worship. “…and excellent majesty was added unto…” him. This sets forth before us an example of loss and gain of different kingdoms’ life (see Daniel 4:30-37). 

ABOVE AND SUPERIOR TO THE KINGDOMS OF MAN’S REALM, THERE IS ANOTHER KINGDOM; THE KINGDOM OF GOD.   

That Kingdom, Christ declares as “spirit” in that God is spirit (John 4:24). There is no article a before the word spirit in the Greek. Now it is understood from Scripture that Adam was not the man in his kingdom life and its nature as he now is, in that before his fall from that higher life and nature, due to sin he was able to see and experience the spirit realm, in that he communed with God in the Garden. But having determined to serve himself instead of his Creator, he disobeyed his Creator and lost the spiritual faculty to see or enter into the Kingdom of God. (Genesis 2:17, 3:6) It is the loss of that higher life in his spirit’s “death” that has naturally barred man from seeing or entering into the Kingdom of God. So now being in the flesh, which is to be only capable of being carnally minded, and now quite satisfied, not acutely aware of his loss, if at all, it is impossible for man to please God in this state. (Romans 8:6-8) No longer is man a heavenly–minded earthly being, he is now fallen from that lofty state of his “beginning” to a spiritless soul man, a life-less man, a cursed and doomed creation of his own making. Now fallen man is bound in the Law of Genesis: that seed produce after its own kind… which restricts entrance into any other kingdom but by birth only. (Genesis 1:11–12, 24) It is in these verses that the necessity for being Born-Again is found. 

The Apostle John’s words of “In the beginning….”  in the Book of John verse 1 are surely reflective of Genesis 1:1 and as such are then the first recorded New Testament commentary on the Torah of Moses as it relates to creative events. It is where he presents to us Christians that the Word of God was essential to Creation, and was manifest incarnate in the flesh. That is in human form, as Jesus Christ, the 2nd Adam, dwelt among us. And in…. That all things were made by Him, in Him was life; and the life was the light of men…” He came unto His own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” [John 1:1-14] The point of verses 11-12 (“He came to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.”) is pressed forward with that meeting at night with a Jewish Pharisee leader; Nicodemus, as recorded by John in the 3rd Chapter, verses 1-21.  

It is here that Christ rebukes the supposed teacher of Israel for his lack of understanding that a man must be “born-again” in that a man who is not “born-again “cannot see the Kingdom of God”.  See verse 3….“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [John 3:3] The Kingdom of Israel, to be established by the Messiah of God, is that which the Jew of Christ’s day was looking most intently for. It was that time of the Kingdom of Israel prophesied by Daniel to be manifested, which presumptuous Nicodemus was seeking enlightenment on, intending to acquiesce Jesus with his words by acknowledging Jesus as a “teacher” who had come from God. Christ, bringing unexpected light upon the religious Jew’s narrow thinking, revealed to him that Kingdom inheritance is first contingent upon a further Birth from above. And that it is not a privileged inheritance merely as a result of being born by the flesh a Jew, but the Kingdom of God was open to any man (Jew or Gentile, for the word World is held forth in verse 17). It would be contingent upon God’s Kingdom nature being birthed within to be able to enter into the kingdom of God. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” [John 3:5] (Here Christ expands the narrow thinking of the religious Jew on the meaning of the Kingdom to come.) 

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” [John 3:6] Flesh begets flesh life nature and man becomes comfortable and satisfied to man’s fallen kingdom state, being naturally cold and apathetic to God’s Kingdom. And Spirit begets spirit life. Thus the mysterious law of the seed is revealed in Jesus Christ “…he that came down from heaven.…” (John 3:13 with Philippians 2:7–8) In that first it takes a higher Being birthed out of a higher Kingdom to procreate a being out from this fallen kingdom of man, into the life energy of that nature inherent in the Kingdom of God. We are by the power of the Holy Spirit Born-again in our “spirit.” As we have glanced up on the staked “Serpent”; Jesus Christ, the heavenly–spirited Man, bearing the weight of fallen man’s nature, having carried the curse of the Law in His death, any man may now but glance up upon that crucified One in expectant deliverance and immediately be thereby translated out of the kingdom of satan. (Through the beguiling of Eve and Adam’s willingness, the “Serpent” gained authority in this realm.) Translated out of satan’s kingdom and into the kingdom, free from the condemned state of darkness in the fallen kingdom of man, into the Kingdom of His dear Son (Colossians 1:13). And that through the conveyance of the life nature of God. We are constituted by God to be born again out of the water, eternally saved (OC Scriptures). We are born again from above, we are then forevermore a child of God. We are now able to enter into the Kingdom of God. 

We are a “new man” by virtue of the enlivened spirit; now set in opposition to our flesh nature (the old man) yet alive, and henceforth will by God’s design struggle with it. It is an additional work of the spirit beyond birth into eternal life that is represented in Christ’s  Words of “Truly, truly, I say unto the, Except a man be born of water and spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” [John 3:5] 

That first chapter of John brings light upon Christ’s Words…. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  Those Words “…power to become the sons of God” were Christ’s Words to Nicodemus and they have Acts 1:8 in view: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This is to say the further work of the life energy of the higher realm unto perceiving divine things, divine teachings, bringing his will in loving fruitful works into man’s fallen kingdom as a witness to Christ’s Atoning for fallen man. 

What can be seen from Christ’s Words is that there is a Kingdom into which a man may by new birth see and enter into. That realm being beyond man’s realm and kingdom; attainable by no other means. Man, as the overcoming Bride of Christ, has the incredible one time opportunity to rise in the First resurrection, not only out of but above the then redeemed natural kingdom of man on earth, that is up into that heavenly spirit Kingdom of God. That which is held out in the Mystery inheritance of the Kingdom of heavens is the elevation of man, out of his own kingdom, into that unimaginable higher Kingdom of God. This being held out as a reward; the first–fruits offering of God, and the first–born inheritance. It is not the only possibility in resurrection. For Scripture reveals that some men shall be resurrected back into the kingdom of man, as this is the lesser blessing for those  who had not the further work in them through yielding to the Spirit of God. 

Christ’s Atonement holds forth Resurrections into the two different realms: 1) The first being of man back into his own unique kingdom, but redeemed, being without the fallen spirits’ influences which had been prevalent since Adam’s fall. This being realized in the earthly Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ and then after the Millennium, as an appointed subject in the realm of the new earthly kingdom where he may then see and enter into, after the order of the first Adam restored. 2) The second being that higher realm, it being exclusive to a higher life and nature where the heavenly Kingdom Bride now inhabits with its Kingdom-nature of Glory. 

What the mystery of the Kingdom of God holds forth is a resurrection into the “nature” of God, that higher reality in consciousness, that place that the Scripture alludes to….“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” [1st Corinthians 2:9-16] 

This is the New Birth where a child is set forth on a path to value his heavenly inheritance, to be congratulated upon meeting the requirements of the doubly blessed first–born heavenly kingdom state, no longer to be considered just a child of God, but a New Creation of overcomers, first–born sons of God after the image of the “…quickening spirit…(now in the)…bearing the image of the heavenly.” (1st Corinthians 15:45,49) It is the salvation of the soul that is in view of God. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Now being in this state and kingdom of Man, I am limited in my understanding of that higher state of the Kingdom of God. Like an animal is limited in its state of understanding, a Man is limited to his own kingdom state. But then a worthy man developed in the Spirit/spirit in Love shall no longer be a mere man limited to this kingdom but a knowing spirit–man of that higher Kingdom state. (2nd Corinthians 3:18) 

After being Born-Again with spirit’s gift of eternal life, what is now in view is “inheritance” This unique word “inherit” used by Christ at least 3 times and Paul at least 7 times means: to receive as one’s own, to receive the portion assigned to one, to be a partaker of; to obtain. In the Old Testament, to “inherit” was taken by the Jews to mean the inheritance of the Land of Canaan, and that especially in the Messiah’s Millennial Kingdom. In the New Testament, the New Man’s Birth “inheritance” is in the First Resurrection (Revelation 20:6). The revealed Mysterious Heavenly Kingdom of Christ is held forth on 3 conditions:  

1) that a Born again man may not go back under the Law–keeping of Moses as a means by which he might obtain THE KINGDOM INHERITANCE. That which the Book of Galatians holds forth so vehemently and where Paul aptly describes a “travailing again for them, that Christ might be formed in them.” (Galatians 4:19) “Having begun in the Spirit/spirit (unto the obtaining of the conditional promise of inheritance by the miraculous new birth) are you now made perfect (matured in the development of Christlikeness) by the flesh?” (Galatians 13:23, 10,13,14,18) Now a Born-again Man in the Spirit of Christ is by that Birth declared a member in that Kingdom, and that by the right of receiving (the glancing up at the staked serpent) Christ’s righteousness. But as there are different levels of existence in this material world, so in the spirit realm. A man born-again and thereby made capable to enter into that higher Kingdom may yet fall short of the higher form of life and existence within that Kingdom. That calling of God in Christ is the bringing into existence sons, that which is accomplished by a born again man having accepted Christ, who now overcomes the flesh in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is the full intent of the salvation inheritance that God has in view of Christ’s offering; the means to satisfy justly and wholly God’s desire to have those who would worship Him in spirit and in truth. Obtainable by those resurrected into the spirit kingdom in the nature of God as His many first born sons. (Hebrews 1&2) This is the calling of Paul and what he has in view in the urging of those in the Book of Galatians to go on to obtain their inheritance, not falling short of the Divine influence upon their hearts. That being which Paul fearfully warns Christians 5 times in the Book of Hebrews about losing this Kingdom inheritance.  

2) CARNAL CHRISTIANS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM. 

If Christians insist on letting the lower nature of the flesh continue to rule over them after having received the earnest of the Spirit/spirit (the higher enabling nature of the Spirit/spirit) they will eliminate themselves from the eternal realm to be realized in the New Heavens and the New Earth a 1000 years plus from now. To attain to this quality of life in the eternal realm, one must be a part of the soon coming first resurrection wherein the new birth of eternal life of the spirit nature is then and only then, advanced in the promise of glory. His higher nature to be manifest in that higher and far greater realm; and that life to the Nature of God in the spirit Kingdom realm which is exclusive to Him. So it is that the carnal Christian is not only eliminated from the inheritance found only in the First Resurrection, (that of its nature) and eliminated from their part in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ (being found unworthy), but they will be in the 2nd resurrection, wherein the Kingdom of God may be realized, but only in the lower forms of that realm. Saved as through the fire, but where now the loss of the glory of the “soul” is forever lost. (1st Corinthians 3) In 3 Epistles Paul warns that if they will continue to indulge themselves in the flesh, they would in no wise inherit in the Kingdom. (1st Corinthians 6:9, Galatians 5:13,16-21 & Ephesians 5) 

3) ONE MUST BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ORDER TO INHERIT IN THE KINGDOM. It is by “fruit” that our works are gauged, it is by these fruitful works that we may inherit in the Kingdom, and it is by the Spirit/spirit that fruit is produced. (Matthew 5:2-22, Ephesians 5:9, Galatians 5:22, 2nd Peter 1:3-11) “Hearing the word” is the seed falling into the ground, “faith” is the soil receiving and nurturing the seed, that is, the heart welcoming and obeying the message of God. Not by diligence in external matters, but by humbly attending to the Word of God does His life find entrance to the heart, and brings forth His own nature within us, for His Words are spirit and are life. (John 6:63) “To be congratulated are the …(the overcomers of the flesh in the power of the Spirit/spirit)…. for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”  The Lord Jesus was speaking to His own disciples. He was not congratulating them because they had entered into His Kingdom, nor even telling them how to enter it, but rather He was challenging these, being saved, that had entered His dynamic eternal Kingdom as His disciples, to meet the requirements set forth for inheriting the Heavenly Kingdom and its privileges. For if those requirements are not met within you (His disciples), you shall not inherit that Kingdom. First they must become beggars in spirit. That is, they must see themselves in the true light of the Word, that they were nothing, they had nothing, and they could never be anything, apart from the Divine influence of the Holy Spirit upon their souls. Secondly, they must become meek, that is to say serenely humble and obedient. They must let the power of the Spirit/spirit so abide in them that they are persecuted for righteousness sake. Abiding and walking in the Spirit/spirit is to allow the out–workings of all nine characteristics of the fruits of the Spirit to be evident in our lives. Then the Kingdom belongs to them. Even though the inheritance of it has not yet manifest, the fruit of a witness for Christ on the earth has been realized. Thus there is the present application and realization awaiting a future realization and fulfillment, which Jesus is emphasizing throughout chapters 5-7. This can be seen in the last Beatitude: “To be congratulated are you, when men will revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake, Rejoice, and jump up and down for joy: for great is your reward in the heavens (at the First Resurrection glory), for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (the literal Greek of Matthew 5:11–12)