Inheriting the Kingdom (3min)
Article by Jerame Nelson
Let’s talk about inheriting the Kingdom of God. I want to share with you an interesting verse I have been studying for years. Check this out:
“If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.” Eccl 11:3 NIV
I believe this verse means that when we die, our level is set. I believe this “level” is what we accomplish on the earth and our intimacy with Jesus. Did you know there are different levels to knowing God? How we live now affects the realm of rewards in Heaven. We only have this one life to live on Earth. Once you’re gone, you’re gone. There’s not another chance to make history for His name.
Watch “Thinking Like the Kingdom of God” with Jerame Nelson from Night 1523 of the the Fire and Glory Outpouring in San Diego, CA!
One of my favorite parables of Jesus is in Luke 15. It’s the story of the lost son. In the parable, there is a prodigal son. He goes to his father and asks him to divide his inheritance. The son takes what the father gives him and goes off and lives it it up. He goes crazy partying, messing with harlots, the whole deal. Before he knows it, he finds himself in the pig’s pen. He realizes that his father’s servants are better off than him, so he decides it’s better to return home, to ask for forgiveness and to beg his dad to be even a servant in his house. The son goes home. When the father sees him from afar, He runs to his son. He tells the servants to get him a ring and a robe and he give them to him, kisses his neck and puts sandals on his feet. The father then kills the fattened calf to celebrate his return. As all this is going down, something interesting is happening. The prodigal’s older brother refuses to celebrate his return.
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:28-32 NIV
You see, the older son had it far better than the younger son. The older son had the whole estate. The Father told him, “I’m with you always and all I have is yours.” Yes, the younger son gets a ring, a robe, new sandals, but the older son had everything the father had. There are different levels of inheritance. The younger son got a party in his honor. The older brother had more of an inheritance, but wasted away his life.
Listen to the “Gospel of the Kingdom” (Ep. 6) from the Elisha School Podcast with Jerame Nelson.
Do you think that the person who accepts Jesus on their death bed will get the same inheritance as the person who sells out their life to Jesus? I don’t think so.
God is rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrew 11:6 NIV
There are different levels of inheritance because there are different levels of intimacy with the Father. When you’re born again, you’re saved. Then you become a servant of God, but you don’t stop there.
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15
We can have friendship with God but there’s another level.
We become the bride of Christ.
There are different aspects of knowing God. We can know Him as the King of the Kingdom. You can know Him as the Warrior God. There are different revelations of Jesus. You can know Him as the Lion and know Him as the Lamb. There are different aspects of the Kingdom and there are different levels of anointing and power and authority.
Keep it Simple…
I believe that as we are on the Earth, we can inherit the Kingdom and taste of the age to come. Our reward is according to our intimacy and how much we give to Jesus on our time here on Earth.
Watch the trailer to “The Kingdom” Elisha Lab with Jerame and Miranda Nelson, available for purchase today!
