Divine Mandate
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| Every form of life was distinguished from non-living matter by its capacity to be fruitful. |
Immediately following the creation of the progenitors of the human race, came the divine injunction in Genesis 1:28 for them to reproduce, multiply, to have dominion, to replenish the earth and to subdue it.
This command applies to every human who comes into the planet and extends beyond having physical children. It sets the stage for our becoming productive in every sphere of life.
When the Lord gives a mandate to a person, it means first of all that He has made all the arrangements necessary for it to come to pass. He already built within man the capacity to be fruitful on the earth before He spoke these words.
Unfortunately, for far too long we have lived according to how we understand humanity. The time has come for us to rediscover the meaning of being human within the framework of the original plan of our Maker.
We were all born with a desire for birthing deep inside of us and when we are unable to bring about the delivery of those things that God has placed in us, no matter how successful or well positioned we may appear to be in the natural, we do feel something vital lacking. We feel unfulfilled, as though a part of us is missing.
With the fall that followed the original sin, mankind was disconnected from the true Source of life and the result was spiritual death. In order to remedy this, Jesus Christ came as the Last Adam and the Life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). His mission through the work of redemption was to bring restoration and to offer life more abundantly (John 10:10).
We were all born with a desire for birthing deep inside of us and when we are unable to bring about the delivery of those things that God has placed in us, no matter how successful or well positioned we may appear to be in the natural, we do feel something vital lacking. We feel unfulfilled, as though a part of us is missing.
With the fall that followed the original sin, mankind was disconnected from the true Source of life and the result was spiritual death. In order to remedy this, Jesus Christ came as the Last Adam and the Life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). His mission through the work of redemption was to bring restoration and to offer life more abundantly (John 10:10).
The Fruit of the Kingdom
However, when those to whom He came became intent on rejecting Him, His message and His cause, He declared that the Kingdom of heaven would be taken away from them and given to another people. The defining mark upon this second group was that they would be a people who would have the ability to bear the fruit of the Kingdom (see Matthew 21:43).
We understand that the Kingdom He was speaking of, as opposed to the lifeless religion and rituals of the day, was a radical spiritual government whose authority had descended to the earth and was here from the days of John the Baptist, on a mission to expand through violently dedicated lives (Matthew 11:12). The nature, resources and power of this supernatural order would be manifested on earth through regenerated human beings committed to the King and His cause.
We understand that the Kingdom He was speaking of, as opposed to the lifeless religion and rituals of the day, was a radical spiritual government whose authority had descended to the earth and was here from the days of John the Baptist, on a mission to expand through violently dedicated lives (Matthew 11:12). The nature, resources and power of this supernatural order would be manifested on earth through regenerated human beings committed to the King and His cause.
In contrast, the major aim of the rival government run by the prince of darkness is to ensure this Kingdom does not expand on the planet. Satan and his league of evil forces intend to take over all spiritual operations and use them to enslave humankind. He is ready to allow world economies, political systems, social agendas, religious structures and systems, cults and even Christian organizations to thrive, just as long as the Kingdom does not increase (Isaiah 9:6-7), and its reality does not materialize on the earth (Luke 11:2).
So the enemy wages war in the spirit realm against those who have resolved to bear its fruit, the ones who are prepared to be agents for the release of the potential of this Kingdom in the present world. He perpetually schemes against them, seeking to confront, attack and stifle their fruitfulness, their capacity to be spiritually productive.
So the enemy wages war in the spirit realm against those who have resolved to bear its fruit, the ones who are prepared to be agents for the release of the potential of this Kingdom in the present world. He perpetually schemes against them, seeking to confront, attack and stifle their fruitfulness, their capacity to be spiritually productive.
Life after Life
One of the most obvious signs of life is the ability to reproduce. It is true in the physical and it is also true in the spiritual. Every form of life that was engineered by the Creator in Genesis was distinguished from non-living matter primarily by its capacity to be fruitful. Plant life, animal life, human life was to bear fruit and reproduce each after its kind. This statement is repeated continually in the opening chapter of Genesis in reference to all living things. The same reality was later echoed by Christ when He spoke concerning the second birth to Nicodemus in John 3:6, and stated flesh gives birth to flesh, Spirit gives birth to spirit.
There is a deep level of intimacy in a relationship that allows for procreation to take place. This intimacy is true naturally, between a man and his spouse and it is also true spiritually between Christ and the Church. The church may have organizations, but essentially it is not an organization. Rather, it is part of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth that functions as the Body of Christ. Each true believer is here to develop such intimacy with Him that through this relationship and union, he or she can be used to deliver Kingdom fruit that pleases the Father.
For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
(Isaiah 62:5)
(Isaiah 62:5)
In several instances, the Lord uses the analogy of a bridegroom and a bride in both the Old and New Testaments to illustrate the relationship that He shares with His people. In such a relationship, when intimacy has been established, procreation becomes a natural outcome. In the previous section, we dealt with devotion to His presence. We have become joined with Him in marriage and in this union, our lives are meant to bring about lasting fruit. As we have seen, seasons of repentance, worship and prayer help nurture this intimacy.
“In those days and in that time,” says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; with continual weeping they shall come, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, 'Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.” (Jeremiah 50:4-5)
In the natural, living beings cannot procreate without a birth process. Likewise, the bearing of Kingdom fruit in the life of a believer is something that can be likened to a birthing. There are laws that govern each stage of this process. Let us consider a few of these.
Separation
Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived and she hid herself five months saying, thus the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked on me to take away my reproach among men. (Luke 1:24-25).
Conception is followed by a prenatal time of hiding that we can call the incubation stage. But what does this mean for us? Separation. It is a stage in which one is strategically drawn to withdraw from things that could otherwise harm what is about to be birthed.
Before He began His public ministry, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where He remained for forty days. Likewise, Paul the apostle wrote of having been in the desert of Arabia for two years. I believe it is during this time that the apostle received the building material he would later use to set into the structure of the Body of Christ. The same is true of others who were used of God, like Moses, Elijah and John the Baptist. Isolation was part of their preparation.
Before He began His public ministry, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where He remained for forty days. Likewise, Paul the apostle wrote of having been in the desert of Arabia for two years. I believe it is during this time that the apostle received the building material he would later use to set into the structure of the Body of Christ. The same is true of others who were used of God, like Moses, Elijah and John the Baptist. Isolation was part of their preparation.
Situations or experiences that bring us into solitude are not always arranged by the enemy. They can be allowed by the gracious hand of a loving Guardian who is watching our progress and understands us better than we can ever know ourselves. He sees our tendency to be distracted. He knows how it is possible to miscarry when we fail to fully incubate that which we have received in the spirit.
