On Earth as It is On Heaven - Preview 1

Of God’s Expanding Empire

From Another Place

One of the most famous scenes in The Bible has a supplicant Jesus standing before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. The steely-eyed governor asked his prisoner:

“Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Are you asking for yourself,” Jesus calmly replied, “or are others asking that about Me?”

“What?” blurted Pilate. “Am I a Jew? Your own people and chief priests have brought you before me. What have you done?”

And then, Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, then My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now My Kingdom is from another place.”₁

And because of what Jesus said here about His Kingdom not being “of this world,” most people assume that only Heaven is worthy of being pursued, and that the Earth should be forever viewed as an enemy of God’s Kingdom. As a result, generation after generation of the faithful have spawned all kinds of philosophies that denigrate anything to do with the present world.

Story Continues Below

To watch author and historian W. Kent Smith discuss the contents of his book On Earth as It is On Heaven, at the Sacred Word Revealed Conference ’23, hosted by Zen Garcia, CLICK BELOW.

Story Continues From Above

Many who hold this view naturally point to the fact that this is because ever since Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden we live as fallen creatures in a fallen world. And as a believer in Scripture myself, I’d certainly agree that this is an accurate depiction of the human condition.

However, just as importantly, in spite of our fallen state as descendants of Adam and Eve, The Bible is just as clear on many other aspects that are just as worthy of our consideration. As for the true nature of our world, despite its present predicament, Scripture declares:

The Earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness—the world and all who live in it.₂

The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the Earth is full of His loving devotion.₃

For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it’s received with thanksgiving.₄

So ends this Preview of ON EARTH AS IT IS ON HEAVEN. To read more, please click on one of the following links:

To continue with this series, read an Excerpt to see that in contrasting His Kingdom with the present world, Jesus never intended to demonize the Earth.

Read the Next Preview to learn how law, liberty, and tolerance once marked only individuals, but America was founded on such ideals.

Read the Next Excerpt to see that while men and women of character embrace law, liberty, and tolerance, this never marked the end of the story.

To hear Kent talk more about his book On Earth as It is On Heaven, CLICK HERE.

To listen in on some private musings, in which Kent dictated audio notes in the process of writing the book, CLICK HERE.

To read about the Sacred Word Revealed Conference ’23, hosted by Zen Garcia, in which Kent discusses his book On Earth as It is On Heaven, CLICK HERE.

To get a copy of On Earth as It is On Heaven, CLICK HERE.