Culture of the Kingdom
Today’s Topic: Interpretation of Scriptures
Scripture: Genesis 1:26; Luke 3:38; John 1:12; Romans 8:19;
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
The progression of a culture is largely dependent on what people know and how they interpret what they know. As time changed, so did our society and culture change. One of the changes I have seen that happen almost overnight was in the music industry. Now I do not agree with much of what the industry does or the messages it portrays. But as an example let me show you. In the early 90’s we saw the Pop culture really flourish. It was a culture that saw dancing and entertainment be the driving force and less really on singing ability. Just as the pop culture grew it was like overnight that the pop culture just seem to diminish and give way to the dominance of the hip-hop culture. Now these cultures are only as strong as people know and perceive about them. If we look at our society, we have to say the hip-hop and heavy metal culture has had a significant influence on our culture in a negative way from dressing, to attitude and even to spirituality and the blasphemy of Jesus Christ. But these things in the end will fade and die but at what cost and how many lives. Now depending upon the culture you live in, much of what you understand and interpret from the Scriptures is what you know and how you act towards them. There are two types of interpretations of the Scriptures that are present and dominant in the church. The reason these are dominant is because of the state of the church. There is the traditional interpretation and ad-hoc interpretation.
Traditional interpretation is when the traditions that you have interpret the Scriptures and the Ad-hoc interpretation is when you pull Scripture out of the Bible and quote it in support of anything you want to do as a contemporary initiative. In both cases the goal is to get someone to believe your argument or your perspective. Now the culture of the Kingdom offers a completely different way to interpret the Scriptures. First we must know that the things of God do not change from year to year. Everything that God does is absolute and consistent because He knows the end from the beginning. Hence what God tells you is already what He foreknown. So when it comes to interpreting the Scriptures in the Kingdom of God, it is not up to the sons of God to interpret. It is for the Holy Spirit to give us the interpretation so that the words we speak are not those of truth from our own mind, but from the mind of God because we are Ambassadors and Ambassadors only speak what the leader of the nation speaks. In our sense we only speak the words of the King and our Lord, Jesus Christ. Now let me give you an example of how the interpretation of Scripture from the Lord brings about absolute truths and not truths that change with time.
The purpose for God creating man was for Him to have a relationship with man as a son of God. Hence this is why when God created Adam He called him His son (Luke 3:38). God gave His son, Adam dominion to rule and take care of the Earth. The creation loved man because they would see the Creator in him. Now when mankind sinned in the Garden the relationship between God and man was severed so God always intending to have a relationship with man as His sons, He sent His Son, Jesus to the earth so that we can be reconciled back to the Father as His sons (John 1:12). Hence we have the scripture in Romans 8:19: For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Why? It is because it was God original purpose and the creation will see the Creator once again in mankind ruling as His sons. So the beginning started with the sons of God and the end concludes with the sons of God. So even though time and culture has changed, God has not changed and His original purpose will be fulfilled, with the sons of God ruling on Earth.
So the eternal truths surpass the realm of time, but God brings them to us who live in the pocket called time and allows the eternal to impact time and continue. This is what the culture of the Kingdom is currently doing for those who are a part of it. They realize who they are and their function in the Earth. The interpretation of scripture which is given to them Holy Spirit leads to revelatory truths that are confirmed and mature the body of Christ in the culture of the Kingdom. In the next message we will look at the current church culture and how it differs from the Culture of the Kingdom.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
