ManagingYourMetron_Ch1

Chapter 1

Made to Matter

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth
as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

Is it possible that the prayer Jesus prayed when he taught his disciples
to pray, was actually intended to be answered?

Like me, you may have just mentally skipped over this section where
Jesus prayed, “…on earth as it is in heaven…” because we have no grid to
understand the implications of what he prayed. I have come to understand
that this prayer is not as abstract as it may appear at first glance. In fact, as
believers and followers of Christ, we are positioned by God to be part of
seeing this prayer answered. All of history, all of scripture and the meaning
of life are intricately woven into a redemptive narrative that is found in the
fulfillment of this prayer. This redemptive narrative is not only designed to
bring hope and a future to all people but also to answer the burning fire in
every believer’s soul that asks the question, “Do I matter”?

Our spirit knows that we were created in the image and likeness of
God, and our very nature is hard-wired to connect with our maker. The
fact that everyone is born to matter is at the heart of all human existence.
Failure in this basic human quest is the root of all of the world’s problems.
These problems are complex, but the solutions are simple. The world
system offers endless counterfeits and temporary alternatives for this quest
of the soul. In the end, it bankrupts the life of those it deceives. Like any
counterfeit, you eventually realize that it doesn’t have value and are often
left worse off in the end. When we as humans connect with our heavenly
Father we can come to realize our position in God’s original design. When
we are born again in Christ Jesus, the Bible states that we have become a
new life form.

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2nd Corinthians 5:17 explains, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

You, as a new creature, have been restored to your proper position in
God’s design for mankind. As one who has been redeemed, you are now
seated in heaven yet living on earth.

Colossians 1:13 describes what happens at salvation when the scripture
says, “For he rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to
the kingdom of his beloved Son.”

You are a multi-dimensional being who has a body but is a spirit. You
live in two realms simultaneously and who you are on earth is shaped by
where you sit in heaven. This is one of the great mysteries of God’s design.
The key to effective kingdom living on earth starts with realizing that as a
believer, are currently seated with Christ Jesus in heavenly places.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms
in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6)

The Bible says that once we have believed on the Lord, our very nature
has been transformed, and we find ourselves living in two realities. On the
one hand, we are seated in heavenly places, and on the other, we are solidly
standing in the natural world. This makes us naturally supernatural. The joy
in our earthly journey is that we get to live in the natural world just as we
do before the throne of heaven. God has put us into our spheres of influ-
ence to be a bridge or conduit that brings the presence and ways of God
into creation.

The naturally supernatural follower of Christ is one who maintains an
eternal perspective on all that surrounds them. A spiritually-minded be-
liever is familiar with the ways of God and aims to reproduce the culture of
Heaven into the sphere of influence that God has given them on earth. The
introduction of God’s presence and ways into creation is the true definition
of transformation and the heart of his original design.

An untold number of philosophical and theological commentaries have
attempted to answer the fundamental question many believers ask, “Why
are we still here?” A follower of Christ may find themselves asking, “If God
is love,” as the scripture says in 1 John 4:8, then why does he leave us in
this fallen and pain-filled world once we embrace salvation? Wouldn’t it
be the most loving thing he could do to remove us from this world once
we have believed? Many believers will go on to ask, “Is it loving for God to

Made to Matter 3

leave his children in this fallen mess to suffer once they have become part
of his family?” Since this is often a normal line of questioning for Chris-
tians, it is evident that we don’t understand that we are not just saved from
something, but we are also saved to something.

I would suggest that many believers have a very limited and self-focused
understanding of purpose. Thinking that we are only saved from “sin” and
the “world” leads one to struggle to understand correctly one’s purpose
and identity. In the kingdom being saved from is also being saved to. The
identity of the believer in Christ is defined by who God says we are and
that he declares we are seated with Christ Jesus in heavenly places. (Ephe-
sians 2:6) Now that we are redeemed through salvation into God’s family,
we discover that we have co-inherited all things with Christ Jesus.

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and
if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” (Romans
8:16–17b)

According to the scripture, we are co-heirs with Christ in the Kingdom
of God. This is a huge enhancement to our understanding of reality and
raises not a few questions. One of these being, “What shall I do with this
inheritance?”

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed
away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Let’s start by looking at what happens when you receive Christ and are
born again. You become a new creature, and the old “you” has passed away.
You are transformed from a sinner who wants to be a saint into a saint who
might still choose to sin. Salvation gives you a new identity. As one who
is born again, you receive dual citizenship and begin to manage a multi­
dimensional identity. Your spiritual passport indicates that you are a citizen
of heaven and a citizen of earth. Your spiritual birth certificate indicates
that not only are you a dual citizen, but your father is the King and the
creator of heaven and earth. You are always in his domain and under his
jurisdiction. When we realize who we are as God’s children, confidence
flows from our lives, and there is no place for fear. Our identity rests on
what God declares over us. What he says is true is, indeed, what is true.

When you are transferred into the Kingdom of God through faith in
Christ, you are not only saved from judgment, but a whole new identity

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is imparted to you. The good news is that you are saved from sin, and you
have been given a new nature. The software of your soul has been rewrit-
ten. As one who is co-inheriting with Christ, you have been enfranchised.
Scripture declares that the new creature you have become gives you a place
in God’s house. And as such you have become a fellow heir with Christ,
and you are a rightful heir to what also belongs to Christ. What belongs
to Christ?

“And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him as head over
all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in
all.” (Ephesians 1:22–23)

You have inherited the Kingdom of God, but that inheritance comes
with responsibility. It is not just a free ticket to an amusement park. It is
not a ticket to escape the world around us or to evade the flames of hell.
Your inheritance is a co-mission to co-labor with Christ to see his will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Creation is anxiously longing and waiting
for you to claim your inheritance and become who you were meant to be.
We live in a kingdom of the enfranchised, and what you have inherited,
creation desperately needs. Salvation is not just to get you through the
door of heaven, but it is to get heaven out into earth through you. As one
who is seated with Christ Jesus in heavenly places, you are perfectly po-
sitioned to know God and make him known. Acting responsibly with our
inheritance means that we embrace a life of co-laboring with Christ and
take personal responsibility in the Kingdom of God.