THE ETERNAL EMPIRE OF THE ELECT

2 Peter 1:11

Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

My Vision is to spread the message of God's plan for mankind. I have no hope greater than the promise of ruling in the Eternal Empire of the Messiah, Jesus my Lord. The promise is for all His elect. All of human history is but a blink of the eye, compared to eternity. Kingdoms have come and gone. Rulers have lived and died. Their names are just memories etched in dye and paper, and will fade in time. Heaven and earth will disappear, but the Word of God will never die.
Jesus came to us preaching "the kingdom of God." He said, "Change your mind, for the kingdom of God is at hand." There are two kingdoms in existence today. One is the kingdom of darkness, and the other is the kingdom of light. Every person alive today is in one kingdom or the other. Is it time to change your mind about which one you are in? It is a no-brainer which one I want to be a part of. One kingdom lead to death, and the other to life eternal. One kingdom rules by deception and hate, the other by truth and love. One kingdom is coming to an end, while the other will never end. One kingdom is led by an immortal Man who is God, the other is led by a dethroned and doomed evil tyrant.
All the kingdoms of the earth have one thing in common--they will cease to exist. Earthly kingdoms are not just nations, or governments. You, as an individual may have your own kingdom. Your business, or your job, or your house, or your money, or your possessions, or your pleasures are all your own domain over which you wield control. These mere earthly pursuits will end one day. On that last day of human empire, every individual, every person in every city, state, and nation will yield up control of their kingdom to the King of Kings. When Jesus sits on His earthly throne, will you be part of His Kingdom?
This Eternal Empire of the Elect is entered only one way. The Father has brought us out from under the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His Son, through the blood of His Son. Every act, word, thought and deed of Jesus was done with eternity in mind. He saw existence as one endless stream of time. Death to Him was a door to be walked through, and then closed forever. He came out the other side of death's door triumphant and immortal. Jesus took from satan the power of death and hell. God brought Jesus back from the grip of the darkness, and raised Him to sit enthroned in the highest seat of the universe. We mere mortals dwell with our minds and senses fixed on this temporal world. Even we who believe in Jesus, often find ourselves mired down with life's cares, burdens, worries, and troubles. There is a simple key that will free us and unlock the mysteries of eternity for us, and keep us fixed solidly on the Kingdom of God. That key is suffering.
Suffering was the price paid for our release from the bondage of darkness. The blood Jesus shed was not a result of what He had done, but the result of what we had done. Suffering in this context takes on a new definition. We define suffering as something to be avoided at all costs, but to Jesus suffering meant the acceptance of momentary pain as the means of achieving everlasting pleasure. He was perfect, so the pleasure of Heaven was assured Him. He could not be anything but Who He was, the eternal Son of God. The pleasure His pains procured for Him, was to have us as His own prize possession. He took us, captives of satan, darkness, and death, and through His own blood paved the way for us to walk into light, life, and the very presence of God.
The Apostle Paul was another man who kept his eye on the invisible realm of eternity. Paul suffered as perhaps no other man has ever suffered for a cause. Yet, because his eyes had been opened to the reality of the lasting pleasures of God's Kingdom he could say, "For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory--beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease! Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting." These were not just words to Paul. They were his experiences. He could not find sufficient words to contrast the joys of eternity with the sufferings of this life. Are your eyes opened to these realities? Do you have an awareness of infinity? Do you know that time and space are physical limitations upheld by God's limitless power? When at last God is finished with time and space, they will be no more. Death is the absence of life; darkness the absence of light. Will your eternity be spent in darkness, or in light? Does the blood of Jesus mean anything to you? Are you willing to throw away an eternity of bliss, for a few selfish ambitions and pleasures?
The simple message of Christ's love is what thousands have shed their blood to carry. Many still suffer persecution and death as they proclaim the message of God's Kingdom. If you have been alive more than five seconds, you know that suffering is a part of life. The cries of a newborn baby attest to that. It was not meant to be this way. There was another option open to mankind. We were not designed to live in a world filled with suffering. It is something our minds revolt against, and our bodies cringe from. But God, He Who Can Never Be Defeated, made a way for us by His incalculable love to be forever freed from the pains of our own selfish choices.
Please listen to this simple but profound truth. You cannot avoid suffering in this life. That is impossible. But you can choose which kind of suffering you want. You can choose the kind of suffering that both overcomes and destroys you. You can run from the light, and suffer the consequences, both now and forever, or you can come to the light, and choose the kind of suffering that overcomes the world by faith in the Son of God, and reap eternal benefits. If you have one ounce of faith in who God is, then you must trust that He is greater than any suffering, trouble, or trials that may come to you in this life. You can face life trusting in your own devices, or you can face life trusting in this great Creator. Think about it. Ponder your decision well. My prayer is that you choose to believe in love, no matter what you think it might cost you. Later you will find out that it pays rich dividends to trust God, as we rule together, alongside our Redeemer, in the Eternal Empire of the Elect.