“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (King James Version, Revelation 11:15)

The book of Revelation has been a curiosity to mankind, particularly in Christian circles, since its writing two millennia ago. It is the last book of the Holy Bible and the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon, which earned it a central position in Christian eschatology. The Book of Revelation unveils impending divine strategy from God’s perspective and the likely experience of its unfolding, from man’s.

Its chapters are written in a rich, overlapping, symbolic code, hence the many interpretations over the centuries. Revelation 11:15 (And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever”) describes a particularly critical transition, from a state of consciousness that is largely disconnected from God and the influence of the Spirit of God to one that is intimately linked and seamlessly united. This reconnection would radically transform life as we know it and put an end to the causal loop that unnecessarily and tragically limits human potential and constrains to death.

Human consciousness is designed to provide the linkage—the crossover point—between heaven and earth and to provide dominion or control over the kingdoms on earth “below,” figuratively speaking. The Fall of Man, as it was described in the beginning of the Biblical record, was essentially a fall in consciousness that was precipitated by the misuse of free will. Man sought to be “as God,” using judgment forbidden to him, and in so doing man was cast down from his rightful seat of authority and occupation by virtue of the working of natural law. As it was written, “Daemon est Deus invertus.”

The majority of the Biblical record from the account of the Fall of Mankind in Genesis up to the book of Revelation is both an account of the attempts at restoration through the subsequent ages and a description of man’s experience of divine strategy working in and through him (or not) in relation to his contemporary circumstances.

The book of Revelation is a blueprint for the restoration of consciousness, both individual and collective. It was written following man’s rejection of a significant strategic initiative and it is the playbook for another major surge, spiritually speaking. This particular chapter and verse reveals a starting point–an end of one state of control and authority–and the beginning of another. It describes the end of man’s domination of the kingdoms of this world—a world rife with suffering and pain—and the beginning of man’s dominion in a state of consciousness where “I and my Father are one” is known and demonstrated by all of humankind.

This is not a Christian victory, or even a religious one for that matter. It is a victory for God and the body of God, of which we are each a unique and integral part. This victory is one of remembrance, of reassembly, not according to old patterns and forms but in relation to the present need. It is “new wine” in “new skins” at both the individual and collective level.

Just as Jesus Christ challenged the popular notion that the process of restoration in His day would follow the tactical approaches taken by Abraham (King James Version, John 8:37-39), we must likewise see in our day that the initiative He personally spearheaded some two thousand years ago was appropriate for that time, not ours. The factors have changed in heaven and on earth; so too must the approach. The question: “What would Jesus do” may be useful in the sense that it catalyzes a larger vision or higher perspective, but to follow that thinking out into action would be foolish and counterproductive. In fact, it would be a manifestation of the very judgment that has kept us locked in the fallen state for far too long. 

The coming of this new kingdom—”the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ” (Revelation 11:15)—will involve the radical transformation of virtually all of the familiar patterns and institutions on earth. Government and politics, in particular, will not be recognizable. By extension, nation-states, patriotism, militaries, and other institutions as we know them will lose relevance in their present form. The deep compulsion to belong will not only remain, it will allow humankind to flourish in the absence of the cysts and silos man has built for himself as a replacement for the reality of life in the kingdom of heaven.

The state of oneness—not sameness but oneness—is nigh impossible to imagine from the present state of consciousness. In fact, most fear it. Most dread the notion as they assume that oneness requires the removal of variety and diversity, which in the human world is seen by most as “the spice of life.” In the world we’ve created, a world in which virtually every form is shaped by the spirits of fear and greed, security and peace come from man’s laws, external controls, and artificial limits to thought and behavior in the guise of social norms and mores. In the kingdom that comes on earth, as it is in heaven, control emerges from within and above, figuratively speaking. In this state of being and identity, we would naturally extend dominion, rather than forcing ourselves upon others and the natural world, in the spirit of domination. 

When the hate, lies, and death that triangulate man’s kingdom give way to love, truth, and life, everything, and I mean everything will change, as form conforms invariably to the spirit(s) in which human consciousness is centered, individually and collectively. This shift was described in the book of Isaiah: “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17) and in the book of Revelation: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1). 

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash