Kingdom of God is built on His unchanging character

We as the people of God do well to understand the ways of the Lord. Though this knowledge may seem unobtainable, we have the Holy Scriptures to aid us in our search to learn about this vast God whom we both love and serve. God’s nature has been consistent, and has not changed (Jms 1:17). It is the keeping of the law and its requirements for blood sacrifice that has changed, and that change was necessary because the law was a type, or representation of that Perfect thing which was to come. Jesus not only became the perfect sacrifice for our sins, but He was always designated to be that sacrifice and was slain from the foundation of the earth, long before He hung on the cross.

Once we establish that it was the keeping of the law that has changed, and not God’s character, we can study the scriptures as our source of truth, and the Holy Spirit will teach us through them. God wants us to know His ways and live according to them, therefore He would be unjust to keep them a mystery. This morning the Lord led me to Ezekiel 33 and 34, which describe some of His ways. As a brief review I have listed them below;

• God gives warning of things to come
• God holds men accountable for what they hear (this is repeated also in the book of Revelation when He says “He who has an ear . . . “)
• God sets a watchman in place to be responsible for his fellow man’s understanding of the warning
• If a man will repent of his sin, God will grant life. But if a man will not repent of his sin, neither will God grant life.
• God will not always speak to rebellious or insincere people
• Shepherds are set over people to care for them, not only for themselves. God holds leaders accountable for those whom He sets them over.
• God gives rest and restoration and healing to His people, but opposes the unjust and arrogant. He is against those who shut the door on their fellow man by muddying the water of truth and destroying the pasture of nurturing they should be able to feed on.

Looking again at the partial list of God’s ways (above) we see that there is a great amount of accountability, both on the part of leaders to lead their people, and on the part of people to care about their fellow believer. This accountability includes speaking the truth with regards to God’s standards, and not polluting the truth with our own thoughts (muddying the waters). Besides being accountable for what we hear, I see that we must follow through by being obedient to what we hear. Though this seems to imply an “Old Testament” strictness, this theme is carried through the New Testament as well (Jn 15:10; Jms 1:22). When we look at the Holy Scriptures and find the same thing in both Testaments this verifies that God’s ways have not changed. Learning God’s ways is important for us all.

Here is the word brought forth from this lesson;
“If a leader knows the ways of the Lord then he can discern his flock and he can discern himself. I have not changed. Upon the foundation of My own character I build in holiness, and the Kingdom I build shall not house the profane. Helen, you asked me what the Kingdom of God is. This is what it is; My kingdom has substance . . . truth, wisdom, justice, understanding of the ways of the Lord. It is built by those who obey what they learn from Me. The rebellious and insincere will not inherit My Kingdom.”(Rev 22:14-15)