The Kingdom of God Experiment

A true scientist does not assume anything prior to his experimentation, but rather he lets the results teach him. In this way let us who seek Christ seek Him experimentally. All Christ-followers are called to maintain this as their experiment: To actively seek God's will until the day they die. A sincere lover of truth lets his mind and convictions be conformed to the evident truth, which remains true apart from any puny man. False seekers, however, are those who arbitrarily decide what is right before they have knocked on any doors or asked for any answers. Such is the unreasonableness of sinful men, that they will fling themselves down to hell in order to be right, rather than find out what is right.
Small minds impose their own versions of “the way things should be” on the world around them. They even impose their smallness on God Himself. However, any god that can be molded by men is not God.

But greater is the man that lets God be Himself so that God might make that man into a man of God. From now ‘til our deathbeds, if we consistently leave ourselves open to Christ and let Him define Himself, then there will be no doubt that He is the One who makes this life worthwhile.

And, if we seek Him at all, then we should do so diligently. If our thirst is genuine then let’s embrace such an extremely sincere mindset that, in all humility, we will not give up until we find out whether Jesus is the Christ or if we should we look for someone else.

It’s this kind of seeking that we’re calling “experimentation.” This is a God-honoring quality of seeking.

And we who belong to Christ are designed to experiment collectively. We can only contribute to God's kingdom God's way, which means we can only succeed as an entire church of God. Our individual objectives in this experiment amounts to a singular, corporate goal, the culmination of which will be a product of Christ's handiwork, not at all our own doing.

If I am Christ's and if you are Christ's, then I can’t know my place in Christ as He intended without you also knowing your place. I am not Christ’s apart from you, and you are not His apart from me. We are all equally Christ’s, equally second place to Him, the Head. And all of the people whom He purposefully chose make up His fullness on earth. This is how God intended His fullness to exist on earth. This has been His goal since before the world existed.

God has given us at least a glimpse of a greater spiritual house, made mysteriously with redeemed souls. This house follows a heavenly pattern, which doesn’t naturally make sense to us. We can’t duplicate this divine work on our own. For this reason, God's designs for His church and His general way of doing things tend to make us uncomfortable.

However, those who are willing to step out experimentally in Christ will also be teachable in Him.

Maturity in Christ will not lead us to add up all the right answers that we have on our own, but rather it will lead us toward forgetting ourselves altogether, so that He is our All in all. The Spirit will lead us away from our decaying flesh to the best place any human could ever hope to be, which is planted down solid in the foundation of Truth Himself. As we fellowship with Christ in every aspect of daily life, He will teach us little by little, as much as we can handle, however much He knows is wise to invest in us.

Wherever we are, experience will teach us that we only need Christ. He embodies every spiritual asset necessary for our heavenly living on earth. This way, if there should be any heavenly accomplishment on this earth, then all credit for this will go to Him and not at all to us.

It’s the basic things about Christ that make me want to explore Him. The fact that He is and the fact that He is continually available makes me long to know Him more and dwell in Him all the time.

As of right now Christ is available to everyone who seeks God. He meets seekers where they are and builds them up from there. This is for our encouragement, so that we will keep seeking Him.

Step by frightening step, as we continue dwelling in Christ, God's spiritual goals will come increasingly into focus. As we strive into unknown, spiritual territory toward obedience, we will also delight to forget ourselves in favor of remembering only Christ.

Christ will continue to be our only Satisfaction as He establishes His kingdom in and around us. Our job is to become more like nothing, and thereby make room for His Spirit to fill us completely. And, while is the eternally filling Substance for His people, He also consumes us like the blazing fire of God.

Do we know Him who is the original Architect, who is both the Cornerstone as well as the One who holds the whole building together? If yes, then we also can rest assured that He is competent and more than worthy of all our active, obedient trust.

Do we know the One who embodies God's heavenly plans as well as His spiritual house on earth? If yes, then we needn’t worry about being privy to every last detail of God's plans. But rather, it is our honorable place to accept whatever simple grace He gives us. A mere glimpse of Him is more than we can handle in any case.

In Christ, we needn’t act like anything that we’re not. We needn’t try to fit ourselves into any religious mold that seems like a good idea. And we needn’t try to impress ourselves or others with any complicated, religious theories. The simple, reasonable truth of the matter is that we can only work with whatever Christ gives us.

So what do we have to work with? We have whatever grace God allots to us. We live on borrowed life and we breathe in borrowed breath. Each day (if God gives us another day) brings new opportunities to become familiar with His mind for us. We who work for Him have this highest honor of building on whatever portion of His blueprints He reveals to us using whatever tools He sees fit to give us. He has honored us with maybe two or three spiritual stones to stack into His spiritual house. So let’s stack them with the greatest of care and dedication, in anxious longing to see if God won’t give us one more stone, one more clue to His kingdom or one more glimpse of Himself.

We have no choice but to be limited to knowing whatever God has taught us thus far. But this limitation is purposeful, a reminder of God's wisdom. We are limited so that Christ is our Fullness, not us. Though we are limited, yet He is the Completeness of God. This is also the case for me, O reader, that I myself offer you no guarantees. I am banking on Christ to guarantee Himself. Not my words, but rather only the Spirit of God can drive the Truth all the way home, down to the depth of your conscience and convictions.

This book is purposefully limited, and your being convinced of this in regards to this and also every other book, is also to your advantage. This modest ensemble of encouragement for Christ-seekers is unavoidably incomplete, rife with spaces and gaps that only the Spirit of Christ can fill.

Therefore, knowing the fullness and sufficiency of Christ, let Him instill in you, O reader, a tenaciously forward-moving momentum. You may have learned a thing or two from living, and that’s a good thing. But keep moving. Let Christ keep moving you. By the Spirit of God, move beyond yourself, beyond me and beyond the scope of this book. If there is any substance in these pages, then it was meant to be tested and tried. Even better, it was meant to be absorbed and surpassed. When in doubt, you should approach Christ directly to see if He supports the things I am saying and, even better, to see if He supports everything you are doing and saying.

by Patrick Roberts.

This is an excerpt from To the Church of the West, Scattered Throughout the World. Find this book and similar articles at www.BooksByPatrick.com

Patrick is an average Christ-seeker. His goal is to turn people to Jesus Christ.