 Ma'am, you are new. Yeah, welcome back after the break. Okay, so Siddiquidu has a question, like as we are, Ma'am, I had a question, like as we are studying about the Kingdom of God and we've got a great commission from the Lord and it is said that every niche of bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but how this thing can be achieved when the situation is like the Western countries are following Hinduism in a rapid pace and before 2015 Christianity was the fastest growing religion but now it is Islam. I wanted how can we build the Kingdom of God in such a situation, okay? When the situations and the atmosphere is not in our favor, is there something which we are lacking behind? Thank you for the question, Siddiquidu. Anyone would like to throw some light on his question? Anyone would like to answer, share your perspective before I do? Anyone? I don't understand why. I'm just back faster if we can get the question back because maybe we can try where we can. I don't hear the question. You didn't hear the question? Okay, I'll just read it out. He's posted it on the chat. He says, ma'am, I had a question like as we are studying about the Kingdom of God and we have a great commission from the Lord and it is said that every niche of bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but how this thing can be achieved when the situation is like the Western countries are following Hinduism in a rapid pace and before 2015 Christianity was the fastest growing religion but now it is Islam. I wanted to know how we can build the Kingdom of God in such a kind of situation. And he says, when the situations in the atmosphere is not in our favor, is there something which we are lacking behind? Can I say something about it, Pastor? Sure. There are. First of all, he put a light in the Bible that every knee will bow before Christ. To me, according to my simple analysis, I might think that every knee would mean every knee that is going to be saved. Of course, there are some knees that are not going to be saved but every knee that is in that perspective of being saved must bow and kneel before Christ because of course we all know that there are some sheep and there are some pox and there are some pox that press like a sheep. So I think, I don't really think because God is known to taking others as puppets. God takes us as human beings who take decisions for themselves. I don't think that everybody will be saved at the end. So I think every knee would mean, what is wrong might look like right or might be popular but it doesn't mean that everything that's popular is the right thing. So Islam and other things are on the rise or Islam is the fastest running religion in the whole world but doesn't mean that's the right thing. I think one day, one time, Christianity will take course will be also leading. Let me keep it from there. Thank you. Thank you, Lubeka. Jeffy, can you just close that door so because the sound from the first year class is coming here. Thank you. Yeah, anyone else? Yeah, so we see that we are called to usher in the kingdom of God and when everyone does their part, the kingdom will spread. God's rule, reign, dominion will spread and the earth people will know the true and living God and that is what we are called to do. Each one of us, wherever God has planted us. So when each one of us knows our calling, our purpose and what God has called us to do and we fulfill it, we are extending God's kingdom here on earth. And the reason why we see the signs of the end time these last few months we've been seeing and everyone has been talking about Jesus coming soon. You know, it's gonna be any moment but he will come when every person here on earth hears the good news of his kingdom. Here's the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so it is, that is what is our mandate as people of God to know, or people of the kingdom of God to know who we are, to know our calling, to know our mandate and to go and do it. And also as people of God, we are asked to preach and teach this and to our congregation members, if you're a pastor to preach and teach and let them know what is they're calling their mandate. The calling mandate is not just to come on church every Sunday, just listen to the sermon to fellowship to take holy communion and to go back what is their mandate they're calling. And that's why we see that the kingdom of God is not a theme that is spoken about or is preached in the churches and people don't know the urgency of building God's kingdom, of extending God's kingdom on here on earth. So we're studying this to know what we are called, you know, what is God's purpose, what is his intent, what is our calling, what is our position, what is our mandate, what we need to do. And if we take this seriously as individuals and we go and teach it to people in our churches and quicken their hearts, quicken their minds as spirits to extending God's kingdom, we will see the gospel being reached out in a faster pace. And we hear news that, yes, in many European countries, it's sad that many churches have become mosque, have become temples, have become shopping malls and all of those things is a sad thing. But it's a calling of the people there to know what is their calling and to fulfill their plan and purpose. Yet we see that there have been great revivals that have come about in America and Europe and the church has kind of become lukewarm, has died down to the things of God and so we see other religions taking precedence, but yet we still see that the work of God is on the move, there is revival happening, God is moving. And so for us as people who are, who God is placed in a specific geographical area when we look at the West or when we look at Asia or we look at even India, we are called to not just to preach and teach, but also to pray. It's important that we pray that God's kingdom takes precedence in the hearts and minds, people know that the kingdom of God is in them, what is their kingdom calling, mandate, live out of the kingdom perspective, act out of the kingdom perspective, build God's kingdom because everybody is building their own kingdom, their own earthly kingdom. You know, they're looking at their own jobs, their children, carriers, building better homes, having more luxurious things. That has become the mindset of people. That is where the world is running and that is where the people of God or the church is also running. So so important for the shepherd to teach that sheep about the importance of building the kingdom of God and also praying and interceding for nations and for people groups, for tribes and for unreached people groups in different pockets, in different parts of the world. So that is what we are called to do. Firstly is to preach and teach. Secondly is to make known to God's people, they're calling their mandate. And thirdly is to pray. And fourthly as churches to send out missionaries to mission fields, adopt different mission fields and pray for them and send out missionaries. But we see that churches are so caught up in their own personal agendas or plans that they have throughout the year which is just making their sheep comfortable and happy and well-fed and all of them are well-fed and fattened calves. So to say that they don't want to go out and reach out, it's because the sheep chappers have failed to bring about the kingdom mindset and the kingdom perspective and fulfilling the great commission that God has called us to. Does that help answer your question, Siddiquenu? Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. Okay. Okay, so now as a student, you still have your father's church, you can still preach the kingdom of God, you can preach this book to your church, let them know how they can build God's kingdom, what role they have. And also as a church, you can lead your people in praying for different groups, unreached people groups, you can, there are books available of unreached people groups and prayer requests and you can pray for them, okay? That's what we can do. Okay, so we were looking at the kingdom of God and we said that the kingdom of God was part of God's original intent and purpose even before the creation of the world, even before the foundations of the world. And God wanted to have a kingdom of hairs of people who would be kings along with him, who will inherit this kingdom, who will be hairs, co-heirs with Christ in that kingdom and people who will be hairs and joint hairs with Christ. And we see that at the appropriate time, God introduced his original plan, his intent, what was in his heart, he brought about it when he created the world. When he created the world, it was basically him bringing about his original intent of his heart, the purpose of his heart, which is to initiate his kingdom here on earth. So God introduced his kingdom and we read that in Genesis chapter one. We read verses 27 and 28. So we see that when he created man and woman, he gave both man and woman the authority to subdue and to have dominion over the earth. So he basically created people who would be hairs, who would rule, who would manage, who would execute God's kingdom, of his kingdom here on earth. And we see that through creation, he begins to unfold his plan and his purpose, okay? But we know that God's original intent, his purpose, his plan was temporarily interrupted. When was it temporarily interrupted? When was God's original intent plan of bringing about his kingdom here on earth, but he initiated through creation, how was it temporarily interrupted? Thank you, John Paul, when man sinned, yes, the fall of man. So we see that when man fell, it kind of temporarily interrupted the purpose, the intent of God of bringing in his kingdom here, okay? But the good news is that we read that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who was slain even before the foundations of the world, which means that God knew that this is going to happen and he already had the plan of redemption in his heart, even before the foundations of the world. It was already in his heart, in his mind, it was a done thing, it was a completed thing because the word of God says, even before the foundations of the world, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God was slain even before the foundations of the world. So it was the plan of redemption is not something that God said, oh, what do I do now? I had this whole wonderful plan of bringing about my kingdom here on earth and it was so beautifully going and mankind fell. It was not something that he was taken up by surprise, but it's something that he knew even before the foundations of the world and even before the foundations of the world, he had the plan of redemption. It was already a done, completed thing in the heart and the mind of God because Jesus, the Lamb of God was already slain before the foundations of the world and that is why he is God. So he's sovereign, he's omnipotent and he knows everything and so we see that in time, he brings about his plan of redemption, okay? So when mankind fell, when Adam and Eve fell, there are two things that happened in the context we are studying about the kingdom of God. The first thing is that the Lordship, you know, we know that God initiated his kingdom here on earth and he gave man and woman the authority, the Lordship, the domain of the earth here. He gave his kingdom to us. He gave his authority, his Lordship to us, but when Adam and Eve fell, when they sinned, they gave their Lordship over to the devil. So it was temporary in the hands of the devil. So he was a ruler and he had taken Lordship and authority over the earth. The second thing is that, you know, in God's original intent and plan was that man and woman would, mankind would, human beings would inherit the earth. There would be heirs with God, co-heirs with Christ. And this also was marred. We were no longer a heirs of the kingdom, but we became as slaves. We came under the dominion, we came under the authority, under the oppression of the evil one, okay? So these are the two things that in the context of the kingdom of God that happened during the fall. So God's plan of redemption was not just to save us from our sins, or it was not just to rescue us from Satan and from his script, but the plan of, of course, these two are part of that plan of his redemption. But in the context of what we are studying about the kingdom of God, God's plan of redemption is to bring us back, his people, his heirs, co-heirs, his sons and daughters back into that place of experiencing God's original intent of a kingdom that he had prepared for a people who would be heirs with him and joint heirs or co-heirs with Christ, okay? So that is what he accomplishes during the plan of redemption. He brings us back to a place where we are given back our position that we are sons and daughters, we are heirs, co-heirs with Christ in his kingdom, and we receive back our authority. We receive back the power. We are no longer slaves. Satan has no longer authority over, you know, God's domain, his kingdom here on earth, but we are given back our authority, we are given back our position, and we are given back our identity, okay? So we, we need to look at ourselves, even though we've come from darkness into light, we know that when we are born again, only our spirit man is born again, but, you know, we need to renew our minds daily, okay? And one of the aspects of renewing our mind is in this area, you know, who we are, that we are sons and daughters, we are heirs, co-heirs with Christ, we have to develop this mindset, not of slavery and of subjection, but that we are children of God and that we are heirs with Christ and that we rule and reign with him, okay? So in the process of, in the plan of redemption, God wanted to restore two things. The first thing is, wanted to give back the authority that was taken, that, sorry, that the authority that human beings gave to Satan when they fell, God brought back that authority, and that authority is now given to the church. So the church is, in one sense, the kingdom of God, because it's God's domain, his rule, his reign, his government, his presence, which is manifested every time his people meet, and also the church are a group of people who are called saints, who are sons and daughters, heirs and co-heirs with Christ. So, and he also wanted to change our understanding from being subjects or slaves to recognizing that we are heirs and co-heirs with Christ. So that is the place that God wants us to be. So, born again experience is not just something that, oh, I'm born again, I receive God's blessing and I have a ticket to heaven, okay? I have a place booked for me in heaven. It's not just that, it's something as small and belittling the plan of redemption or the price Jesus paid on the cross. It's a kind of, it's humiliating God for what he has done when we just think in this very meager, small way. But we need to think about it in a broader perspective and see it in a broader way of what God has really redeemed us from, and where he has bought us to what is our position, what is our authority and what is our calling. And once we realize our position, then we operate out of that position, okay? For example, you know, just for example now, you know, in this building, this building belongs to, just say this building belongs to my dad, okay? He's just say he's running a business here and he's the boss here. He owns this whole establishment, this building, this business. So when I enter the gate, you know, and I come in, I don't need to get permission to go and meet my dad. I can just walk in and I can just walk in, right into his office and I can just speak to my dad because that is, you know, because the position that I have that I am his daughter, you know, I don't have to, you know, the guard will not stop me at the gate and ask me who I want to speak. If I have an appointment, the secretary will not stop me and say, okay, you don't have an appointment, you can't meet him, he's busy, but I have access to my dad. Anytime I can come to this building, no one can stop me, I can just go and meet him. That is my position, that is the authority that I carry. So even in, you know, when we are assured into the kingdom of God, we carry that same position, that same authority, but yet we don't use that in arrogance and pride, but, you know, in humility, we know who we are, what is our position and we follow through in that. So after fall, we see that the kingdom is reintroduced. So when is the kingdom reintroduced is, you know, the beginning of the Gospels, we see that John the Baptist, who came announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God. So John the Baptist comes and prepares the way for Jesus Christ, who is the son of God, who's the king of the kingdom. And we see that John the Baptist is the forerunner and what is this message? The message is in Matthew chapter three verse two. Would somebody like to read that please? Matthew chapter three verse two. Matthew chapter three was to repent therefore for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Thank you, John. So John went about preaching says, saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What is the meaning of the phrase is at hand? Yes, Chefina? Near. It's near, yes. It's close by, it's near you, it's reachable. So, you know, repent for the kingdom of God is here and then we see that John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus and then we see Jesus coming to the scene, he began his ministry and Jesus begins his ministry by proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of God. We read this in Matthew chapter four verse 17 and also we see that Jesus announces the good news of the kingdom in Matthew chapter four verse 23. So can one of you please read Matthew chapter four verse 17 and someone else can read Matthew chapter four verse 23? Verse 17, from that time Jesus began to reach and had to say, and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Thank you, can somebody else read Matthew chapter four verse 23? And Jesus went about all Galilee, seen in the Asinago good, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing on all kinds of sickness, on all kinds of disease among the people. Thank you, so we see that, you know, Jesus spent his time teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God and in Matthew chapter four verse 23, we see that he proclaims the good news of the kingdom. Now, we'll just look at a few important things about the uniqueness of the kingdom of God. What is the uniqueness of the kingdom of God? It's there on page eight for you. The uniqueness of the kingdom of God is that the king of the kingdom stepped into our world. So the king of heaven, God, you know, he stepped into our world and, you know, why did he step into our world? As I said, to recover everything that was stolen, was taken away, which was lost at the fall, you know, he recovered it back. So he personally came to usher in the kingdom of God here on earth and he executed the kingdom of God here on earth and he revealed to us, you know, what the kingdom is like, okay? And he showed us how he modeled for us how we can live this kingdom, how we can be part of this kingdom, how we can live this kingdom and how we can usher in this kingdom here on earth. And he left an open invitation for everyone who was interested to come and be part of the kingdom of God. But when we see earthly kings, you know, when they want to conquer a territory or a kingdom, or a geographical area, they usually send their army, which is led by a captain to conquer, okay, that place and to bring back the exploits and to win the battle. But we see here that, you know, the king of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, he did not send anyone else, but he himself came, he himself came and he himself fought for his people to reinstate them to their original intent, their purpose, their calling and their position. And we see that, you know, John the Baptist was a forerunner who came announcing about this king. And we see that the king of the kingdom coming personally and establishing the kingdom here, making known the kingdom here. So when Jesus taught, when he preached, when he did the miracles, when he showed forgiveness and compassion and care, it was basically him ushering the kingdom and saying, this is how the kingdom of God is. This is how the kingdom, this is what you will enjoy in the kingdom of God. This is the benefits of being part of the kingdom. And he invited people to be part of the kingdom of God. Okay, like we said in the beginning, okay, these are the uniqueness of the kingdom of God. And like we said in the, like I said in the beginning that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom because it's in our heart, it's in our lives, it's within us. Okay, so there are two aspects of the kingdom of God. The first thing is a spiritual aspect or a spiritual dimension in the kingdom. And then there is a natural aspect or the natural dimension of the kingdom of God. So the spiritual dimension is what we see operating here and now in the present. The natural dimension is what we will see in a way into the future when the king will come again the second time. So the spiritual dimension of the kingdom is what we are experiencing now is what people have experienced all these years, what people will experience even in the years to come, which has to do with the king's rule, domain, his reign, his government, in the hearts and lives of people. So it's a spiritual dimension because the rule, the reign of God is in the hearts and in the lives of people. But there will be, we will see the natural dimension of this kingdom when the king returns, when Jesus returns, there will be the battle of the Armageddon where he will throw out he'll overthrow all the armies of the nations of the world and he will establish the physical kingdom in Jerusalem. And the exciting thing about this, we read in Daniel chapter four, is that the kingdom of God will be given to the saints. So who are the saints? Who are the saints? Me. Yeah. So it's you say, you can tell yourself, I'm a saint. Sometimes we don't think that we are more a sinner than a saint, but each one of us are saints and it's important to tell yourself who you are. You say, I'm a saint, I'm a child of God. Yes, Loubega. I was trying to answer the question, who are the saints? And my answer was those who will believe until the end. Those who will be? Those who will believe until the end. Those who will be believing until the end, until the end of times, or until they die, until those who will be believing. Okay, thank you, Loubega. Okay, so, and the government, God's government here on earth is physical kingdom that he'll be establishing here on the earth in Jerusalem. Who will be part of the government? Who will rule and reign? It's the saints, it's you and I, okay? So, maybe some of us think that I work so hard for God, I live a holy life, righteous life, but I'm facing all of these hardships, these difficulties, but take heart because there is a reward, not just in heaven, but we will see that, we will experience the rewards, the benefits here on earth itself, when Jesus will establish his physical kingdom, the greater the good steward that you have been, faithful, live a righteous life, walked in the ways of God, loved him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, you will be given positions of authority in God's government. So, we, his saints will rule and reign in his natural kingdom, which is just the natural dimension of the kingdom of God. So, this dimension or the natural dimension of the kingdom of God will happen sometime way in the future, but we are at present experiencing the spiritual dimension about the kingdom of God, okay? So, how does the spiritual dimension of the kingdom of God affect our lives, affects your life? How does it affect my life? What does it mean to us, okay? So, that's what we will be looking at in this course as we study this course, but we will look at how we can enter the kingdom of God. So, how do people enter the kingdom of God? How do people enter the kingdom of God? Or how are they part of the kingdom of God? When are they called sons and daughters of the kingdom of God? When do they become heirs of the kingdom of God? When do they inherit the kingdom of God? By believing in Jesus, okay? Thank you, Super Shish. Let's read John chapter three, verses three and five. Can somebody read that please? John chapter three, verses three and five. John chapter three, verses three and five. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus answered, 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. Thank you, Rosalind. So, here we see how can we be part of the kingdom of God? How do we enter the kingdom of God is when we are born again. So, we are born again as this verse says, we are born again from above, which means we receive a spiritual transformation and this transformation, spiritual transformation is only brought about by God and the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our lives. So, it's the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of the word, the word of God. And so, when we are born again, we are ushered into the kingdom of God. We become sons and daughters. We become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ and we begin to experience the kingdom of God. And it says here that, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So, what does it mean? Cannot see, that means unless we're born again, we cannot be part of the kingdom of God and we cannot partake or experience the kingdom of God. Okay, there's another reference given here on page number 10, Colossians chapter one, verses 12 and 13. Can somebody read that, please? Colossians chapter one, verse 12 and 13. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be, Go ahead, Subashis. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the sense and the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Thank you. So here it says that we, when we are born again, you know, we are transferred. We have a transfer of a citizenship from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Jesus, Christ, okay? So we see that two opposite kingdoms here, kingdom of darkness, kingdom of light, kingdom of God, kingdom of Satan. So we are, you know, we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness and we are assured into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Okay, so when we are born again, we become part of a new kingdom that is a kingdom of heaven. And, you know, just as when you become a citizen of a new kingdom, you need to adjust, you know, to their laws, their rules, to their government authorities, to the law of their land, you know, adjust to various cultures, food and everything. The same way when we have been brought out of darkness into light from out of the power of Satan of being slaves to Satan, to being children of God, to being part of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, we need to also make several adjustments and adaptations. Okay, so it's not that something that comes automatically to us, it's something that we need to be mindful of and how do we know, you know, what is the kingdom rule, the mandate, the laws, the authority that we have, the position that we have, we need to read God's word. The more we read God's word, the more we are grounded in our foundations of who we are in Christ, you know, what is our calling, what is our position, what is our authority? And once we know that, you know, we will operate out of that, we will live out of that perspective and we will truly live as kingdom, as children of the kingdom of light, as children of being citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Before we end this chapter, we will look at an aspect of the kingdom of God, of being sons of the kingdom of God. We look at the parable of the, we'll just study one parable here, of course, in the course of studying this course, you know, we will look at many other parables about the kingdom of God, but here we look at one parable, the parable of the wheat and tares. So we see that, you know, a farmer went out to sow wheat and when, you know, the enemy also came and sowed a sowed tares or weed and what does the farmer do? He doesn't pull out the weeds because he knows when he uproots the weeds, it'll also uproots the plant, the weeds that is growing. And so Jesus just says this to the crowd, but when they're, you know, away from the crowd and Jesus is just with his disciples, the disciples ask him what is the meaning of the parable. So Jesus explains that to them in Matthew chapter 13 versus 36 to 40. So can somebody read that please? Matthew 13, 36 to 40. Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, explain to us the parable of weeds in the field. He answered, the one who sowed the good seeds is the son of man. The fields is the world and the good seed stands for the son of the kingdom. The weeds are the son of the evil one and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angel. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. Thank you, Sita Kenu. So here in this little picture, now, you know, Jesus is explaining to us an entire scenario of what is happening in the world now and what will happen in the end. I'd just like to bring our attention to a few things. Here it says, the son of man is sowing good seeds. So who are the good seeds here? Yeah. Jeffy and I say, me. Yeah, that's right. It's you and I. So we are the good seeds. The good seeds are the sons and daughters of the kingdom. So it's so important for us to picture ourselves as good seeds. Okay. You know, not seeing ourselves as good seeds. As sons and daughters of the kingdom of God. So we need to picture ourselves as good seeds of the kingdom of God. And each one of us are good seeds and we are being sown into this world by Jesus. And he has put us here on this earth for the sake of the kingdom of God. And each of us are good seeds and we are being sown into this world by Jesus. And he has put us here on this earth for the reason and for a purpose. And so here we see that there are only two kind of people on the earth. One kind is those who are sons and daughters of the kingdom of God. And the other is those who are sons and daughters of the wicked one. Okay. There are no hybrids. You cannot be both. You know, you can only be one. You cannot be a hybrid. You can either be the son and daughter of the kingdom of God. Or you can be the son and daughter of the wicked one. Okay. Or you can either be a wheat or you can be a tear. Okay. So as believers, each one of us are good seeds. Each one of us are sons and daughters of the kingdom of God. And we are sown into this world which means that, you know, your purpose in this world is connected to the fact that you are the son and daughter of the kingdom of God. That is your purpose. So sometimes you're wondering what is my purpose in life. The first purpose in life we need to know is that you are a good seed, your son and daughter of God. You're sown into this world and that is your purpose. And you are here to build the kingdom of God. Okay. So that is the only reason we are here. So our purpose, our mission on earth or your purpose, my purpose, my mission, your mission here on earth is described by the fact that we are sons and daughters of the kingdom of God. It's not defined by your education. It's not defined by your job. It's not defined by your career. It's not defined by what you are doing on the earth. But your purpose, your mission is this that you are a son and daughter of the kingdom of God. And that defines everything else you do here on earth. So your job, your career, your education, your marriage, you know, you're having a family, a means through which you express the fact or express the truth that you are a son and daughter of the kingdom of God. So all of these job, career, your education, all of them are avenues, are venues that bear the fact that you are a good seed sown by God here on earth and you are put on display. You're put on display to establish the fact that you belong to a greater kingdom, to a higher kingdom, to a greater, a bigger mindset, a greater, bigger perspective, greater than a bigger kingdom that is a kingdom of God. And that is being expressed in and through you even as you know, you go about doing your job, fulfilling your work, or you're calling whatever God has for you. So, you know, we need to, having said all this, we need to operate from a kingdom of God perspective. So how will you live? How will you operate your life if you saw everything from a perspective that you are a son and daughter of the kingdom of God? What would you do? Where would you go? How would you invest your time? What will you strive for? Where will you invest your time or energy or efforts? You know, if you saw yourself as son and daughter of the kingdom of God. So when you see yourself as who you are and what God has called you to be and what he had in mind even before the foundations of the world, you would, you know, work out of that perspective. You will operate out of that perspective and you will fulfill God's plan for your life. So God's plan is that he wanted to prepare a kingdom and he wanted to prepare people for his kingdom who would be his sons and daughters would be his heirs and co-heirs heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ in his kingdom. So that what God is unfolding has been unfolding in the past throughout history. He's been unfolding it even right now. So even as we are born again into this kingdom we need to operate out of this kingdom mindset and out of this kingdom perspective. Okay? So even as you've heard all of this today you know, we need to make a conscious effort to live that kingdom perspective so we need to ask ourselves you know, how would we live our life where we invest our time and energy our efforts into and you know, ask ourselves this question how would life change if you and I have come to know this truth that we are sons and daughters of the kingdom of God. So in the course of this you know, here we'll be I mean, the rest of these months we'll be talking about the principles of the parables of the kingdom we'll understand how the kingdom of God operates we'll talk about the authority of the kingdom, we'll talk about the relationship of the church with the king but even as we try to understand all of these things we need to just basically come down to this basic fact that even as we are born again we're born again into the kingdom of God we are children of God sons and daughters, we are heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ he has reinstated us to our original position our identity and we need to you know, work out of that identity so being a son and daughter of kingdom is our identity and that is what defines our purpose here in this world Okay, so that was chapter one anyone has any questions? Yes, can I ask a question? Sure Isaac Yes, I just want to draw light on this phrase or the statement the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the earth taking the word frame in context that slain means to kill so what of that phrase or vast mean that the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the earth, thank you ma'am Okay, good question, thank you Isaac so the Lamb of God is slain is very familiar in the Jewish context because the Lamb was slain during the Jewish Passover, also the day of atonement you know atone for the sins of the whole of of the Israelite race so the Lamb was slain to atone for or to cover the sins of of God's people so that God could relate to them God could come in them and speak to them and dwell among them but we know that Jesus Christ was a Lamb of God who was slain which means that the Son of God came and he died on the cross that means he gave his life in exchange for our lives that we can be forgiven of our sins, we can be we can overcome we can be set free from the power of the evil one from his bondage from his slavery but in the context that we are looking about the kingdom of God that the kingdom of God was was God's original intent and plan in his heart and in his mind even before he created the world even before the foundations of the world was slain and when did he bring it about he brought it about in time in history and that is when when he created the world he brought about his kingdom and he brought about his kingdom building by creating human beings, man and woman and he gave them dominion he gave them authority over the kingdom that he introduced he established here on earth but we see that when Adam and Eve sinned when they fell you know God begins the plan of redemption but the plan of redemption was not something that God just thought about it when Adam and Eve fell but it was something that was really in the heart and mind of God he knew that this is going to happen and we see that you know he already knew that his son would come and die on the cross and would fulfill the plan of redemption and would set his people free bring them back to their original position intent and re-establish re-initiate the kingdom of God here on earth and so with that in mind that you know Jesus dying on the cross was something that took place at the point of history but it was already a conceived thing it was already a done thing a completed thing in the heart and mind of God even before it happened in history so what we're saying is that God did not plan things in the course of history but even before history began even before time began it was something that he had already thought about he would already completed in his mind even before it ever took place here on earth did that help answer your question Isaac? Yes, perfect thank you Ma Okay, thank you everyone for joining class I'll see you next week and we have to rush off to our next class so have a good day and God bless each one of you, thank you