Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
Luke 17:20-21 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
Matthew 21:31 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
If you've been to my house you will have seen a piece of my kingdom. I cant say I have complete dominion over this place as my wife and 3 children place their own mark on it. However, there are many things the way I want them to be. The guitars are hung on the wall where I want them. The lounge is laid out how I like it. My T-Shirt draw is organised in the way I want them to be organised! It's probably easy to think of this house as my 'kingdom' (if you stretch your imagination a bit!)
If you come to my place of work you may also get a glimps of my kingdom. As with the house many other people have influence over how my team runs. But some of the culture, the values, the behaviours and the practices have my stamp on them. It gives you a glimps of how I would like the world to be. Although the physical office space is not my kingdom, how some of it operates is a part of my kingdom. It's not physical but observable nonetheless. It's imperfect, just like me.
The concept of the Kingdom of God is one of the most empowering and exciting concepts in the New Testament in my opinion. It's also the most commonly misunderstood. I'm not an expert on the subject and recognise that many have written and preached volumes on the subject. However I do see that many substitute the words "Kingdom of God" with the word "Heaven" when reading the Bible. If that's true we have a problem with some of the passages. Both Mark and Luke tell us that some who stood with Jesus would not taste death before seeing the Kingdom of God. Did that mean they would visit heaven first? In Luke 17 Jesus said that people cannot say "here it is" or "there it is" because the Kingdom of God is within you. Is Heaven really found inside of us?
To quote Dallas Willard, the Kingdom of God "is the range of God's effective will, where what God wants done is done." I like this definition. If that's the definition then I want the Kingdom of God within me. I want to pray "Your Kingdom come, your will be done". I want to sing "Lord, we want to see Your Kingdom come". When I look around me and see injustice, oppression, cruelty, poverty and sin, I can say "God's Kingdom is not here and needs to be". Best I bring God's Kingdom to those places! It would appear that Tax Collectors and Prostitutes are moving into the place where God can truly have His way before the religious leaders ever let Him have a say!
Oh, and when I see the faults in my life, the sin, the mistakes, the poor character and the ego I can also say "God's Kingdom is not here and needs to be", time to let the true King rule on the throne of my kingdom. He's probably not too bothered about the T-Shirt draw but there's no harm in asking anyway!
No comments:
Post a Comment