Digging Deeper

Heart Guide for Lesson 3:
The Keys to the Kingdom

This is a diagram of the levels of reality revealed by scripture. What you are seeing presented here is a Biblical world view—and it is radically different than the one most people in our culture embrace and impossible for our science to observe.  

Note the fallen counterparts of spiritual darkness to those of Light—both centered on the earth. Consider the relationship of the Kingdom of God to other levels of reality—whether of light or darkness. Consider also the relationship of the Kingdom of God to earthly kingdoms existing in the natural/physical realm, such as organizations, corporations, municipalities and nations. 

Heaven — eternal dwelling of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, angels, saints
                      (1 Peter 3:21)
   Kingdom of God — invisible, spiritual reign of heaven reaching to earth 
                      (Romans 14:17)
      Church — the Body of Christ, partly visible, humanity organized by God
                      (Matthew 16:18)
          New nature — the new creation, Christ's life in us, regenerated spirit
                      (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 1:27)
              Earth and its heavens — natural/physical realm of 5 senses and matter
                      (Psalm 24:1-2)
          Fallen nature — the flesh, Adam's life in us, spiritual death
                      (Romans 8:6-9)
     World — the Kosmos, partly visible; humanity organized by Satan
                      (John 12:31; 1 John 2:15)
   Kingdom of darkness— invisible, spiritual realm surrounding earth
                      (Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:13)
Hell — eternal place of punishment for Satan, fallen angels, demons, the damned
                      (Matthew 5:30)

There are more Kingdom keys! Add to this list any other “keys” to healthy, happy living that you have discovered along with way.

1) The Key of Authority: Resisting and rebuking the enemy is a key to freedom (see the next lesson for more on spiritual warfare).

2) The Key of Surrender: The grace of yielding to God in any situation frees us in the midst of what we are going through (see “The Disciple’s Cross”).

3) The Key of Praise: The power of aggressive praise frees the heart from heaviness and a host of other burdens (see “The Pick Axe of Praise”).

4) ______________

5) ______________

Let’s combine the key of knowledge with the key of believing and see what the results could be. Since we are “saved by grace through faith” (Eph 2:8) our believing has an enormous part to play in the quality of the life that grace now offers us. Consider this principle: “The ruling factor is the belief that rules you.”

If in your heart of hearts (not your intellectual or mental beliefs) you believe that you live in a world that rejects you, or that God doesn’t really care about you or doesn’t love you as He does others, or that your life is worthless or meaningless, or that only bad stuff happens to you, or that when you get hurt or suffer loss there is no end to the pain and no good thing really comes out of it… then your heart will naturally feel depressed and heavy. And it should—if that is the kind of world your heart believes you live in. It would be a denial of “reality” to feel good about being yourself and living in such a world. Anybody whose heart believed those things would feel the same way.

But that is not the universe you live in! If you are a believer in Christ, you have been translated out of that awful, seemingly god-forsaken dimension of reality the Bible calls the kingdom of darkness (where many of those things are true for the unredeemed) and has translated you into the Kingdom of His beloved Son.

Let’s try to understand the reality that we live in now:

1) You are deeply and affectionately loved by the Father—always, at every moment, no matter what shape you are in.

2) You are completely forgiven and covered with grace and mercy.

3) That same power of forgiveness is available to you for you to be set free from every hurt.

4) Everything will actually be made to work for your good, whether you believe it or not.

5) Your best Friend is with you and will never leave you or forsake you.

6) The greatest Teacher in the world is working with you to help you grow.

Believing these great truths  even just a little, will make you begin to feel just a little better (see The Power of Believing: Lesson 13). Learning how to believe them a lot will make you feel a lot better!

See the connection between the keys? We have to be shown by grace what the truth really is (the key of knowledge); we may need to be helped by grace to fully believe it (the key of active belief).

Return to Keys to the Kingdom: Head to Heart Guide for more ways to go deeper into these truths or stay "on course" by going to the...