God from the beginning wanted a man–Adam.
After fall, God wanted a people, Israel.
Even in the tabernacle, the whole pattern pointed to a single individual–Jesus.
And, in the church, we are yet built into the body of that one individual, Christ.
Man was created to rule upon the Earth. Forfeiting this for the pleasures of this life, he has become corrupt, and the Earth itself suffers as a result. Man was created in the image of God, and therefore bears the responsibility of rulership, of right living.
This is the basis of the judgment, the verdict of which is announced in John 3:19, that light came into the world, but men loved darkness rather than the light. Because man is created with conscience, he knows his sin, no matter how far he buries it. When the light of the revelation of Jesus Christ came, there was no escaping it. That light penetrated every darkness, and everything was revealed. But, men wanted to hide, and so, refused the light.
But, God always wanted a man. As Genesis 1:28 was the first statement of the Kingdom for man, that he should have dominion, and tabernacle only pointed to Jesus, God has never once been wholly interested in buildings. We are the temple of God, and the physical structure of the tent of Moses was only a shadow of what was to come.
The real worship is in spirit and truth. The real temple is us, both individually and corporately.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:15 that the spiritual man judges all things, and is judged by no one.
God is looking for a people, individually as well as corporately, who will walk in the humility, character, and perfection of His Kingdom, as He called Adam to at the first. This is in accord with the heart of Jesus as displayed in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, and always results in an authority over darkness like Jesus displayed.
It is not about power, primarily, but about authority. As many will call Him Lord, and will have moved in great power, but they never knew Him, so it is about the true heart of the Lord, where all authority dwells.
Every man upon the Earth, past, present, or future, is both created in God’s image, and is born fallen, corrupt, and damned. It is only in uprightness, cleanliness of hands and heart, and in the perfection of Christ, that we stand clean, and with the authority of heaven, to both command and exercise dominion over the principalities and powers, thrones, and dominions, and spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenly places. Yet, they are there, and we do have the authority, in Christ, when we walk in His way. To say differently would deny the Gospel, yet in the experience of so many, it seems so fleeting.
The answer lies in faith. Standing in faith, unwavering and undoubting, which is impossible if one lives in sin and compromise, we see mountains move, and heavenly bodies shaken, as the Lord commands.
As Psalm 149 says, we execute the written judgments upon God’s enemies. It is not that we are in ourselves anything. But, through the Spirit within us, we release heaven’s judgments against our enemies. A high praise on our lips, and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God in our hands, we stand unmovable against the forces of darkness.
And, the focus of it all, true relationship, is found with the Father, in love, in rest, and in peace and saftey.
These are the enduring marks of the true Kingdom, not the miracles and signs which accompany it’s preaching. They are required, but only the former is the real heart of the Lord.
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
1 Timothy 1:5