THE MUCH BETTER COVENANT OF LOVE – Ron McGatlin
The betrothed bride has played the harlot and is an abomination to her loving husband. Without the new covenant of the blood of Jesus, there is only fiery destruction and devastating, shameful life.
Loving Father God has called, “Here I am, hear I am come to me.” The call was heard and not entirely ignored, but delayed with, “Not just now, but soon; I’m about to make it, this feels too good to leave right now, but soon.” Yet the calling grows dimmer and more distant over time as the challenges of life become increasingly complex and demanding.
Unheeded, the love call becomes no longer distinguishable among the calls of unfulfilled needs and desires. Striving to achieve a sense of comfort and purpose in a competitive world without the loving presence of God to fulfill, guide, and comfort can become an empty, fruitless, wasted life.
Finally, something drastic happens, and we feel rejected or lacking. The degree of success we had achieved fails, or maybe we wear out, and our physical or mental health fails.
Again, the love call reaches us, and we decide to seek out the God of the love call. We head to a church we saw a few blocks away. Inside, it feels very formal and polite, with lots of smiles and brief, friendly greetings. Yet, somehow, the love call is not there. We go back to our cave of despair to try some mind-numbing entertainment or substance for a moment’s rest.
AS THE PEOPLE GO, SO GOES THE NATION
If the people and nations of this world were under the Old Covenant, there would not be hope for many of them, and a flood or some other disaster would be inevitable to remove them.
Those not aligned with the New Covenant of the cross and the resurrection life of Christ Jesus are not under the blood redemption of God in Christ and are not filled with the resurrection life of Christ within them by the Holy Spirit. They are like those who were lawless in the Old Testament and were destined for destruction in this life on earth. Entire nations, cultures, and societies are destined for annihilation because they have not responded to the love call of God to the New Covenant life.
To disregard the new covenant reality is the same as being again under the Old Covenant without hope for an abundant life in this world. For the person who denies God, it is as if the New Covenant does not exist.
Only by hearing the love call and responding by receiving Christ Jesus into their hearts as Savior and Lord of their lives will their destiny in this world be changed and fulfilled.
The following Scripture is only a small sample of many prophetic words of the Old Testament regarding judgment. This one is particularly related to Babylon and its way of life, which is also extremely present in the world today.
Isaiah 13:6-11, “Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man’s heart will melt,
8 And they will be afraid.
Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11 ‘I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.’”
The Scriptures also speak of several “Day of the Lord” events coming upon nations and peoples. The “Day of the Lord” always refers to a season of the destruction of evil.
GOD’S PLAN AND PURPOSE
The massive destruction was not and is not the desire of God. Everything that He can do without breaking His words and promises to mankind and the world is being done or has been done, even to the giving of His only begotten Son for the redemption of mankind and the world.
Unlike the Old Covenant, in Christ Jesus, we are not under the law and are not required to bring sacrifices to temporarily cover our sins. We can now live sinless lives in the powerful grace gift of God’s love through the redemption and empowerment of Christ Jesus. The living power of Christ abides in us as we abide in Him and are connected to the love and power of God.
THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
The Gospel of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed focused much more on life in this world now than on the afterlife. It is much more about bringing heaven to earth than getting us to heaven after we die. As this reality is received and believed by the people of God, the ways of heaven are made present and active on earth.
There is no evil in heaven, and there can be no evil in heaven on earth. Selah. There is no evil darkness in the kingdom of God on earth.
Love is the power of the kingdom to destroy evil in God’s people and through them in the whole world. Righteousness, peace, and joy are the fruit of love and the prominent characteristics of the kingdom of God on earth.
When the real gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed and believed, as Jesus proclaimed it, many people of the world will come to it. The fullness of life in this world is Christ in us, bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth.
The partial gospel of the lukewarm church, which promised salvation for going to heaven after this life, did not attract all people to the light and love of God in this life. People are now more drawn to the greater message of Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom, which is about redeeming, restoring, and empowering God’s people to bring about His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Christ in His resurrection, ascension, and return in the Holy Spirit, now abides in His kingdom people to establish His kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
Isaiah prophesied the establishing of the kingdom of God on earth and the annihilation of all that lifts itself against God. (Read all of Isaiah Chapter 2.)
The love kingdom of God is being established over all the mountains of government and rule in this world as prophesied.
“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:2-4.
Many people in the world have turned from God to false gods and evil darkness. As the gospel of the kingdom is presented in the demonstration of the love and power of God, many will turn to Him and become valuable servants of God and leaders in the kingdom.
ARISE INTO THE TRUE KINGDOM CHURCH
Hebrews 12:18-29, “For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: ‘And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.’ 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.’)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ 27 Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
SPIRIT GOD CHURCH
The Greek word translated “church” in the New Testament is “Ekklesia,” which means “called out assembly” and is sometimes used in reference to governance or gatekeeping in Jerusalem.
The major distinction between the religious church systems and Jesus’ Ekklesia is the presence of Christ Jesus Spirit by Holy Spirit as the Head of the called-out assembly. Some of the best times in this life experience are gathering in the Spirit of God with other believers and holy angels under the headship of Christ Jesus to worship, praise, and commune together in the light of God’s righteousness, peace, and joy.
Ron McGatlin
https://openheaven.com
basileia@openheaven.com