Kingdom Principles
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KINGDOM PRINCIPLES PREPARING FOR KINGDOM EXPERIENCE AND EXPANSION KINGDOM PRINCIPLES PREPARING FOR KINGDOM EXPERIENCE AND EXPANSION Dr. Myles Munroe © Copyright 2006 — Myles Munroe All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless other- wise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNA- TIONAL VERSION Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken form the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Please note that Destiny Image’s publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers’ styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules. Cover photography by Andy Adderley, Creative Photography, Nassau, Bahamas Destiny Image® Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 310 Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310 “Speaking to the Purposes of God for this Generation and for the Generations to Come.” Bahamas Faith Ministry P.O. Box N9583 Nassau, Bahamas For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 10: 0-7684-2373-2 Hardcover ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-2373-0 ISBN 10: 0-7684-2398-8 Paperback ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-2398-3 This book and all other Destiny Image, Revival Press, MercyPlace, Fresh Bread, Destiny Image Fiction, and Treasure House books are available at Christian bookstores and distributors worldwide. Hardcover 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 / 09 08 07 06 Paperback 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 / 09 08 07 06 For a U.S. bookstore nearest you, call 1-800-722-6774. For more information on foreign distributors, call 717-532-3040. Or reach us on the Internet: www.destinyimage.com TABLEr OF CONTENTS Preface . .7 Introduction . .11 Chapter One The Priority of the Kingdom . .23 Chapter Two The Kingdom of God Versus the Governments of Man . .37 Chapter Three The Original Kingdom Concept: Colonization of Earth . .57 Chapter Four Kingdom Concept #1: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Kings . .75 Chapter Five Kingdom Concept #2: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Lord . .97 Chapter Six Kingdom Concept #3: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Territory . .113 Chapter Seven Kingdom Concept #4: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Constitution . .127 Chapter Eight Kingdom Concept #5: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Law . .141 Chapter Nine Kingdom Concept #6: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Keys . .157 Chapter Ten Kingdom Concept #7: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Citizenship . .177 Chapter Eleven Kingdom Concept #8: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Culture . .189 Chapter Twelve Kingdom Concept #9: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Giving to the King . .203 rPREFACE hile writing this book, I have at some time privately Wpondered the following questions: 1. Why is there so much hatred in the world? 2. Why do we discriminate against people who possess human value? 3. Why is there racism in the world? 4. What are the benefits of war? 5. Why do men in every generation pursue power at the expense of peace? 6. Why are there so many religions? 7. Why do the religions conflict? 8. Why can’t we love one another on earth? 9. Why is no one religion good enough for all men? 10. What can I do to make a difference in this world? 11. Why is there always tension between politics and religion? 12. Will there ever be global peace and harmony on earth? 7 Kingdom Principles 13. Why has man’s scientific and intellectual advancement not been able to solve his social, cultural, and religious problems? 14. Is there hope for our world? 15. What about the future for our children? What kind of world will they live in? Simply asking these questions can ignite a spirit of depression and despair because they expose the deficiencies and defects of humanity and cast a somber cloud of doubt about our achievements as a race as well as our potential to improve our lot. However, I wish to declare with positive hope and excitement that this book presents the solution—an idea that is older than time yet as fresh as tomorrow in addressing the heart cries of humanity in our search for a better world. This solution is not found in reli- gion or politics but in an idea that has been misunderstood for six thousand years—a concept that was established at the foundation of creation but then was lost. It is an idea that provides for the value, equality, significance, and purpose for each of the over six billion humans on this planet, all of whom deserve the best in life. This idea is about you and me and something that was always ours by divine right. It is a beautiful idea that has been lying dormant for centuries awaiting our rediscovery. This book is about your original purpose for existence and the source of meaning behind your life. In these pages you will discover the Creator’s divine motivation, design, and mandate for His cre- ation and your role in that creation. After reading this book, you will be equipped with the knowledge to answer some of the questions listed above. I am convinced also that you will come to believe, as I do, that there is hope for mankind, but only as we reconnect to the source of creation and our Creator’s original concepts for life on planet earth. 8 Preface Moses, the great freedom fighter and former prince of Egypt, first recorded this idea 3,500 years ago in his writings, documenting the creation narrative. But it was already an ancient concept even in his day. Then, 2,000 years ago, this wonderful idea was reintroduced by a young country teacher from Galilee but later was misunder- stood and lost in the complicated formation of another religion. What is this idea? The Kingdom! When one hears the word kingdom, immediately many different ideas, concepts, and pictures come to mind. Most of our concepts in life are the result of our culture, social development, and formal and informal education. We are products of our culture and interpret the world through our mental conditioning. The concept of kingdom in its original and pure sense has been lost to our modern world. Kingdom as a concept does not exist any- more in the minds of people in Western civilization, particularly in the past few generations, because all the prototypes either have been destroyed or abandoned. Because there are no kingdoms or rem- nants of kingdoms left in the western world, we live in a generation where the true meaning of the greatest message ever told cannot be fully understood. It is this concern that this book will attempt to address. The goal of this book is to reintroduce the concepts, principles, and nature of true authentic kingdoms as presented by the Creator and show the superior and advantageous nature of kingdom as compared to any religion, political ideology, government system, or social program. Join me as we explore and understand the precepts and principles of “the Kingdom.” 9 INTRODUCTIONr he greatest threat to civil society is mankind. Every day the flood of images on our television screens tells the sad story. Blood, death, diplomacy, conflict, Thatred, fear, poverty, starvation, rape, genocide, refugees and human migration, natural disasters, daily bombings, economic uncertainty, immigration, corporate corruption, moral decay, sexual revolution, and clash of counter cultures—all of these testify to the undeniable fact that we are our own worst enemy. All of our universities, cyber-space technology, blackberries, think tanks, G-8 meetings, fiscal and immigration policies, medical advancements, social experiments, religious conferences, peace marches, and declarations of cease-fire and peace on earth all seem to collapse at the mercy of our own self-imposed destructive spirit. We build buildings and then bomb them; we make weapons and then use them on ourselves; we invent medicines that heal and then withhold them from the sick; we improve the World Wide Web to enhance global communication and then use it to destroy the moral fiber of our children. We are our own greatest enemy. 11 Kingdom Principles THE SOURCE OF RELIGION All of this is compounded by our establishment of sophisticated religions into which we retreat to escape the social chaos we have created. Religion is the most powerful force on earth. Despite the claims of many to the contrary, everyone on earth is religious. Religion is defined as the adherence to a set of beliefs that regulate the moral, social, and ritualistic behavior of the individual. This def- inition would include the so-called atheist, secularist, communist, socialist, humanist or agnostic, for they all adhere to a belief system of some kind, even if it is the belief that there is no providential com- ponent in creation or life as we know it, or a belief in the power of the human as the supreme measure of truth and right. Virtually every major problem in history and in our contempo- rary world can be traced to some religious foundation. Religion has motivated the massacre of millions over the years in such horrific events as the Crusades, the Inquisition, and wars related to the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counterreformation.