Diplomatic Immunity

After publishing the last chapter, I thought I was done with 1 John 3, but no, there's more light coming from it.

1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

It says now are we the sons of God. It doesn't say then we will be the sons of God, it says now. How exactly are we sons of God now?

1 Peter 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

We are sons and daughters of God now because we are born again and have the spirit of Christ in us, which is incorruptible seed. Corruptible seed is seed that will die. Incorruptible seed is seed which will never die. Incorruptible seed is eternal life.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are sons of God now because we have eternal life, because we are born of incorruptible seed.

Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Galatians 4:6,7
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

When were we made sons of God? When did we receive eternal life? Will it be at some time in the future? Will it be when Jesus Christ comes back for us? No, we were made sons of God at the time of the new birth. That was when we received eternal life. Now read 1 John again.

1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

When are we the sons of God? At the return? No, we are sons of God right now.

I have eternal life right now. Eternal life isn't something I get at the return, it's something I have right now. When I got up this morning, I had eternal life. This life I'm now living every day is part of my eternal life. My eternal life doesn't begin at the return, it began when I was born again, when I was born of incorruptible seed. For me that was 40 years ago in the Gulf of Aqaba, sailing up the Red Sea. For the last 40 years I have been living my eternal life. When I got up this morning, I was living my eternal life. Every breath I breathe is part of my eternal life. I'm living eternal life right now. Not one minute of my life is wasted, not one second of it, it's all part of my eternal life. I'm not losing anything of any value in this life, because everything I do is part of my eternal life. At the return, I will remember everything I'm doing now because I'm a son of God now and I have eternal life now.

We don't receive eternal life at the return, we receive a new body, that's all. When we get that new body, we will still be who we are now. I will still be George in that new body. You will still be who you are in that new body. We are sons of God now, we have eternal life now, not at the return, not when we get our new bodies, but right now.

All my life I've thought that one day I was going to have eternal life. This is just not true. It's not what the word teaches. I'm not getting eternal life at the return, I'm getting a new body in which to continue living my eternal life. I'm not going to be someone else when that happens, I will still be George, I will still be me. One day this body will be replaced with a new body so I'll be able to continue living my eternal life. If this body dies in the meantime, I'll get to enjoy a good sleep until my new body comes along. That's why Paul refers to death as sleep. It isn't death for us as sons of God, it's sleep, a sleep from which we will awake.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

For years I've been bugged by the words from a song in a church hymn book, a song that is well known around the world. I never liked singing it because it always made me cringe inside. Well, anything religious makes me cringe inside, but this song really had me scratching my head. There was something about it I just did not like, but I could never put my finger on it.

For the last week, for some reason, the words from that song have been in my head. Try as I might, I just couldn't shake them, I couldn't get them out of my head. They were even there in the mornings when I woke up. I didn't realise it was God trying to teach me something, but there you go, I'm human. While walking along the coast yesterday, thinking about this chapter, the words were there in my head again and I suddenly realised why they make me cringe. Here are the words.

This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through,

My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue.

First of all, were these words written from the vantage point of a super conqueror, someone living on his high places? No, they were not. Were these words written by someone who was prevailing in life, someone who was living the more abundant life? No, they were not. These words were penned by someone who was wishing he wasn't here. No wonder this song made me cringe inside. It's religious shite.

I don't know about you, or the dickhead who wrote that song, but I'm living here in this world. If you're not living here, where are you? On Mars? This world will be my home as long as I live here. It may be temporary accommodation, but it's still my home for the time being. I'm a son of God right now. I have eternal life right now. I'm living my eternal life as a son of God right now. I'm not crying my eyes out wishing I wasn't here because my life is so shit. I'm enjoying my eternal life, every single day of it, and as long as I breathe in this body, this world will be my home.

Folks, it's time to scrape a little more religious poo from our brains and look at 1 John with enlightened eyes.

1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

When are we the sons of God? At some point in the future? No, right now. I am George, I live in this world, and right now I'm living my life as a son of God. It isn't something that happens at the return, it's something that happened when I was born again over 40 years ago. I'm living my eternal life right now. Right now I am George. I'm sitting at my computer, looking at the screen. I'm me, right now. I've been me all my life. Well, at the return I'm still going to be me. I'm not going to be someone else. I have eternal life right now. So do you. God, the creator of the heavens and the earth is quite happy spending eternity with me for company. My body isn't going to live forever, but I am, and God is quite happy having me as a child. He says so in Ephesians. It was his good pleasure to make me his son.

Ephesians 1:4,5
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption [sonship] of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Now, although this world is our home for now, our citizenship is in heaven.

Philippians 3:20
For our conversation [politeuma - citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

As sons of God we are citizens of heaven, but we won't get to live there until Jesus Christ returns and we get our new bodies. In the meantime, we live here on earth. We are not citizens of earth, we are citizens of heaven, but we live here on earth.

Now here's the thing. We're citizens of heaven, we're sons of God, we have eternal life, and yet we're still living here in this world. The devil is the god of this world. He doesn't like us living in his world. I don't particularly like him much either. So how does God protect us from the devil while we live here? Job gives us a clue.

Job 1:9,10
Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

That hedge of protection that was around Job, what exactly was it? In our day and time, during this Age of Grace, we can refer to that hedge of protection around us more appropriately as diplomatic immunity. We have diplomatic immunity because we are ambassadors for Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

We need to stop here and think about this. We are citizens of heaven, yes, but while we are living here on earth we are ambassadors for Christ. Do ambassadors live in their own countries? No, they don't, they live in foreign countries. Does the ambassador for the United States of America to a foreign country live in the United States of America? No, he doesn't, he lives in the foreign country in which he serves. That's why he is an ambassador. If he lived in his own country, he wouldn't be an ambassador to anyone, would he?

Where does the American ambassador to Russia live? In America? No, he lives in Russia. Where do all Jesus Christ's ambassadors live? In heaven? No, here on earth. As long as we live in these earthly bodies, as long as we live here on earth, we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ. The moment I was born again, I began living my eternal life, that's when I became an ambassador for Jesus Christ. I'm living my eternal life right now as an ambassador in a foreign world.

We are living our eternal life right now. We are sons of God right now. Our citizenship is in heaven right now. We are ambassadors for Christ right now. This earth is our home right now, but only for as long as we live here. While we live here, we are ambassadors for Christ.

What benefits do ambassadors enjoy? They are citizens of their own countries, not citizens of the countries they serve in, so they enjoy all the rights of the country of which they are a citizen. Our citizenship is in heaven, we are not citizens of earth. The American ambassador to Russia enjoys all the benefits of being an American citizen. As ambassadors for Christ, we get to enjoy all the benefits of being a citizen of heaven, and that includes diplomatic immunity.

As citizens of heaven we have diplomatic immunity from the god of this world. Want a new sonship right? Here you go then, we have the right to diplomatic immunity from the god of this world.

Job did not have diplomatic immunity because he wasn't a citizen of heaven, but he did have a hedge of protection around him. Before the day of Pentecost, the believers needed that hedge of protection, and it was provided by the tithe. In our day and time, in this Age of Grace, as citizens of heaven, we have protection through our diplomatic immunity. How else could we live safely in this world?

Now yes, the devil did get through that hedge around Job, he did breach his protection, so there are conditions to enjoying our diplomatic immunity. If the American ambassador to Russia broke the conditions of his diplomatic immunity by breaking laws while serving in Russia, he would have consequences to deal with. Diplomatic immunity does not give ambassadors the right to break with impunity the laws of the countries in which they serve. While we serve here in this world as ambassadors for Christ there are conditions to our diplomatic immunity. We do not have the right to break the word knowingly and willingly without compromising our diplomatic immunity.

Things that will compromise our diplomatic immunity have been covered in great depth in my two classes, Walking by the Spirit and Teachings in the Key of Life. Stuff like fear, witchcraft, homosexuality, stealing, lying, robbing God by refusing to tithe, adultery, and idolatry will compromise your diplomatic immunity. We have to live the word. It's not difficult to live the word, and this is not difficult to understand.

The devil is the god of this world. As sons of God we live in a dark world whose god is the devil. As ambassadors for Christ, we have the right and the authority to teach the word and raise people from the dead. We have the right to diplomatic immunity from the god of this world as we serve as ambassadors for Christ.

Romans 8:31-39
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As citizens of heaven we shine as lights as we serve as ambassadors for Christ in this hell world, raising people from the dead and freeing them from the god of this world.