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Building the Kingdom: The Territory part 1

In the beginning, God gave Adam dominion over the earth and called him to build the Kingdom of God. Apparently, there had been a previous civilization which had “become” (haya) formless and void. The term haya means “was, became, came to pass,” and the term was used later in Genesis 2:7 (KJV) in the phrase, “man became a living soul.”

God did not choose to tell us details of any prior civilizations, but there is ample historical and archeological evidence to show that they existed. Adam, I believe, was a special creation, called to “subdue” (Genesis 1:28) all things under the feet (authority) of Christ. Of course, we find that he failed through sin and essentially became part of the problem, and so Christ Himself came as “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45) to accomplish this restoration work.

The point is that “the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) were created at the beginning of time, but Adamic history started much more recently. Adamic history is subject to the Creation Jubilee Calendar, which is subdivided into Sabbaths—days, weeks, rest years, and Jubilees—which provide us with time-structure for history. This structure is rooted in the sovereignty of God, for by it we may understand the divine plan and the limits of time in which to restore all things. Christ subdues; Elijah/Elisha restores.

The Law of the Air

Restoration is needed in both the heavens and the earth and under the earth (Philippians 2:10). These are the three areas which need restoration. We don’t know much about the heavens or under the earth, but most people know quite a bit about the problem on the earth. The earth is basically subdivided into land, sea, and air, all of which need restoration.

There is the law of the land, maritime law, and the law of the air. Currently, all have a problem that needs fixing, and to build the Kingdom, all three must be restored.

The first to be created was the air, or “firmament” (KJV) and “expanse” (NASB), as we see in Genesis 1:6. This firmament was located between the upper waters and the lower waters. This does not speak specifically of the layer of oxygen on the surface of the earth. It is a jurisdiction of law, which was part of God’s creation. When Adam sinned, this jurisdiction was given to a new entity mentioned in Ephesians 2:1, 2, 3,

¹ And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, ² in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  ³ Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Air and wind speak of the Spirit of God, which was breathed into Adam in order to make him a living soul. Sin, however, reversed this, putting him into a state of death (mortality). Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 that “death spread to all men” on which (eph ho) all sinned. We do not have a sinful nature that dies; we have a mortal nature that sins.

In other words, because the breath of life became the breath of death through sin, all men were caught up in the power of the prince of the air and were unable to keep from “indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” Being enslaved by Sin (the slave master personified), our flesh served the law of Sin, while our new creation man, which was begotten by the Spirit of God, serves the law of God. This is Paul’s conclusion in Romans 7:25,

²⁵ … So then, on the one hand I myself with my [spiritual] mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin.

In essence, our personal restoration begins with the fresh air of the Holy Spirit being breathed into us that brings us life and restores us to God’s jurisdiction. Hence, that which the new creation man speaks is by the breath of the Holy Spirit, having retaken its original and rightful dominion over the air.

In the end, when every tongue confesses (professes) Christ as Lord “to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11), then collectively, all authority over the air or firmament will be fully under Christ. There will be no more “sons of disobedience” who indulge their flesh or who submit to the law of Sin. They will all—by nature—act in accordance with the law of God.

Of Land and Sea

Genesis 1:9, 10 says,

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

God Himself separated “dry land” from the “seas.” This was not merely a geological separation, but also a separation of legal jurisdictions. The law of the land is “natural law,” i.e., the laws of God that regulate men’s relationships and interactions. To violate the rights of others is sin, or crime. The law of the seas, or maritime law, regulates commerce in the world today.

The problem is that the beast governments of Mystery Babylon have brought a flood of water upon the land, subjecting the law of the land to the maritime law. They have reversed what God established in Genesis 1:6, no longer keeping land and sea separate.

Noah’s flood removed the breath of life from all flesh (Genesis 6:17; 7:22) by reversing the boundaries of land and sea that He had established at creation. The result was death. Babylonian governments have entered into that pattern of death by bringing maritime law onto the land. The result again is death as a “way of life.”

God, however, intends to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh (on land) “as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). This will re-establish the waters above the firmament as having jurisdiction over the earth, giving life to all.

The revelation of creation is seen in Job 38:8-11 saying,

⁸ Or who enclosed the sea with doors when, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; ⁹ when I made a cloud its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, ¹⁰ and I placed boundaries on it and set a bolt and doors, ¹¹ and I said, “Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop?”

This prophesies of the birth of the new creation man—the “sons of God,” as stated in the previous verse, who are born in the midst of water “bursting forth…from the womb.” This newborn is then garbed in “thick darkness, its swaddling band.” The Hebrew word translated “darkness” is arafel, “thick or dark cloud.” It is the same word used in Exodus 20:21,

²¹ So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud [arafel] where God was.

The thick cloud veiled God’s presence, so that men might not be destroyed by looking at Him face to face. The veil in the tabernacle, and later in the temple, served the same purpose. It is not that God actually lives in darkness, but that men are prohibited from seeing His light and glory until they are prepared to see it and live. 1 John 1:5 says, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” In men’s present carnal state, the light of God appears as darkness. The problem is perception, not reality.

Job’s revelation relates this to the original creation and to the boundaries that God placed upon the seas. Man’s laws have breached those boundaries by subjecting the law of the land to maritime law, putting nations into a state of death. We, however, as sons of God, are called to reverse that order. By speaking inspirationally with the breath of God, we speak creatively, bearing witness on earth to the voice of God in heaven, thereby bringing the flood of the Holy Spirit upon the earth. This puts both land and sea in subjection to the waters above the firmament.

Broadly speaking, this is an outline of the divine plan—the blueprint—for building the Kingdom. The earth is our inheritance, for Jesus said in Matthew 5:5,

⁵ Blessed are the gentle ["meek," KJV], for they shall inherit the earth.