~ Jesus and the Kingdom ~
In Matthew 4.17, right after facing-off with temptation in the desert, Jesus starts his career by giving a summons: 'Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.' The presence and availability of the kingdom of God is the thesis, or main theme, of Jesus' message. We make a grave mistake when we miss this: Jesus didn't come preaching about how to be a good person, he came preaching the presence and availability of the kingdom of God.
But what is the kingdom of God? A kingdom can be defined as the territory belonging to a governing authority in which the authority's word and power are the foundation of the rule of law. In Jesus' phrase, God is the governing authority, and his kingdom is the places where his ways are followed. It isn't surprising, then, that his word and power takes on a more robust character where his rule is loved. Putting it another way, the kingdom of God is where God isn't just the de facto ruler but the effective ruler, wherein his way is actively followed and his presence and power are most chiefly known. Jesus makes it clear in many parables that God's kingdom, inaugurated with Jesus, will spread throughout the whole earth. Jesus' proclamation is a linchpin of post-millennial thought: 'We believe the majority of the world will turn to Jesus, and that governments will become Christian in nature, not because it looks like that's what's going to happen, but because Jesus said it would happen.'
The Jewish people longed for God's kingdom to come. Even the most cursory sweep through the Old Testament prophets reveals a litany of prophecies about God's kingdom coming and what that meant: healing for the hurting, justice for the victims, and a divine dealing with evil. In a text that the Apostle Paul echoes in Romans 8, even creation celebrates the coming of God's kingdom. God's kingdom is portrayed as a kingdom of creativity and power and human flourishing, a kingdom free of all the corruptions due to sin; a kingdom free of anger and bitterness and jealousy and depression. When Jesus says that God's kingdom is 'at hand,' he's saying that what the prophets foretold - what the Jewish people longed for - was about to happen in and through him.
Numerous Old Testament prophecies point to the Messiah - the Anointed One - being the one through whom God's kingdom comes to bear on the world. Jewish theologians studied these prophecies and became convinced that the coming Messiah would do several things; namely, he would deliver God's people from their enemies, rebuild the Temple (Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, and though it was rebuilt under Persian rule and expanded under Herod, it was but a shadow of what it was in the heyday of the united monarchy), vindicate God's people against their enemies, and rule over the nations. Most theologians interpreted the Messiah's mission in a political nature, but Jesus had a different approach. The Jewish peoples' greatest enemy wasn't the Romans ruling over them but sin and death; indeed, the Romans were in the very same boat themselves! Jesus delivers us from our greatest enemies, sin and death. Jesus didn't rebuild the Temple; indeed, he prophesied its destruction (Roman soldiers destroyed the Temple in AD 70); however, he reconstituted the Temple in God's people indwelt by the Spirit. Vindication will come at the Final Judgment, and as we speak Christ's rule (the kingdom of God) is inexorably spreading through the world - and the gates of hell will not conquer it.
We become partakers of God's kingdom when we put our faith in Jesus, repent of our sins, openly align ourselves with him, and become baptized into his death and resurrection. When this happens, our identity changes: we go from sinner to saint, from God's enemy to God's child, from creatures destined to hell to creatures destined to a new heavens and new earth. We become coworkers with God rather than laborers after our own hearts; we become partakers of a life that is saturated with the divine through the Holy Spirit in us.
~ The Value of the Kingdom ~
In Matthew 13.44-46, Jesus gives two parables (the pearl of great price and treasure buried in a field) to show that the value of participation in the kingdom of God far surpasses anything else the world has to offer. Jesus doesn't portray the kingdom as a something we must grudgingly interact with in order to escape a fiery damnation; rather, he appeals to the human part of us. As humans we want to flourish precisely as humans, and such flourishing is found in God's kingdom. It is to our benefit, not just in the future but in the here and now, to embrace the kingdom and learn to live in its rhythm.
The benefits of participation in the kingdom are many. Ironically, what's often touted as the best benefit - going to heaven when we die - is simply an outworking of the kingdom's true best benefit: intimacy with God. When God created us as human beings, he designed us to live in an intimate relationship with him. That's the whole point of God walking in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Outside of Jesus we are enslaved to sin (albeit willingly), and we don't have intimacy with God. When the Teacher in Ecclesiastes tells us God has set eternity in the human heart, he's putting words to the cravings we have for a real, experiential relationship with God. We try to fill this craving through money, pleasure, and power, but these are all poor substitutes. We're designed to be intimate with God, and we flourish when we have it.
Jesus says he came to give us an abundant life in the kingdom: living in rhythm and harmony with God is the gateway to a truly abundant life that begins now and continues into the everlasting future. The word 'abundance' captures the essence of human flourishing; but when we try to flourish outside the bounds God has given us, we experience the opposite of flourishing: dehumanization. Living in sin - enchained to the words of the flesh and doing things God doesn't want us to do - corrupts us to our core. God designed us to be his obedient image-bearers, and in Christ we are enabled to move in that direction. We won't be perfect by any means, and the Bible is very clear about this (1 John 1.9-10); but when we strive after obedience God works in our hearts to conform us to the image of his Son. It is in the kingdom of God - and, most importantly, by being intimate with God - that we find true joy, peace, and contentment.
I've said much about how we are designed for intimacy, or relationship, with God. This is what we see in Eden; but what we see in the Fall is that sin breaks the relationship. The Bible tells us that God can't be a friend to wickedness, but he loved us - and even liked us - so much that he sent his Son to take on the punishment for our sin and to defeat sin's grip over us. The main point of the cross isn't God making a way for us to get into heaven when we die; it's about making a renewed relationship with God available to those who will choose it. The best part of heaven will be having an unbridled, full and flourishing relationship with God, the kind of relationship God designed us to have with him. God is our lifeline, giving us all we need. When we're in relationship with him, we experience life at its fullest, how it was meant to be lived. As we grow in our relationship with God, we get tastes of what heaven will be like - and we crave it all the more.
Jesus announced that the kingdom of God was 'at hand.'
He said that it is to our benefit as humans to seek it.
And he made it available to us through the cross and resurrection.
But it remains something that must be chosen.
The benefits of participation in the kingdom are many. Ironically, what's often touted as the best benefit - going to heaven when we die - is simply an outworking of the kingdom's true best benefit: intimacy with God. When God created us as human beings, he designed us to live in an intimate relationship with him. That's the whole point of God walking in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Outside of Jesus we are enslaved to sin (albeit willingly), and we don't have intimacy with God. When the Teacher in Ecclesiastes tells us God has set eternity in the human heart, he's putting words to the cravings we have for a real, experiential relationship with God. We try to fill this craving through money, pleasure, and power, but these are all poor substitutes. We're designed to be intimate with God, and we flourish when we have it.
Jesus says he came to give us an abundant life in the kingdom: living in rhythm and harmony with God is the gateway to a truly abundant life that begins now and continues into the everlasting future. The word 'abundance' captures the essence of human flourishing; but when we try to flourish outside the bounds God has given us, we experience the opposite of flourishing: dehumanization. Living in sin - enchained to the words of the flesh and doing things God doesn't want us to do - corrupts us to our core. God designed us to be his obedient image-bearers, and in Christ we are enabled to move in that direction. We won't be perfect by any means, and the Bible is very clear about this (1 John 1.9-10); but when we strive after obedience God works in our hearts to conform us to the image of his Son. It is in the kingdom of God - and, most importantly, by being intimate with God - that we find true joy, peace, and contentment.
I've said much about how we are designed for intimacy, or relationship, with God. This is what we see in Eden; but what we see in the Fall is that sin breaks the relationship. The Bible tells us that God can't be a friend to wickedness, but he loved us - and even liked us - so much that he sent his Son to take on the punishment for our sin and to defeat sin's grip over us. The main point of the cross isn't God making a way for us to get into heaven when we die; it's about making a renewed relationship with God available to those who will choose it. The best part of heaven will be having an unbridled, full and flourishing relationship with God, the kind of relationship God designed us to have with him. God is our lifeline, giving us all we need. When we're in relationship with him, we experience life at its fullest, how it was meant to be lived. As we grow in our relationship with God, we get tastes of what heaven will be like - and we crave it all the more.
Jesus announced that the kingdom of God was 'at hand.'
He said that it is to our benefit as humans to seek it.
And he made it available to us through the cross and resurrection.
But it remains something that must be chosen.
~ Choosing the Kingdom ~
In Matthew 13.1-23, Jesus gives us the Parable of the Sower, in which he highlights different ways people will respond to the announcement of the availability of the kingdom (what has come to be called 'the gospel message'). When the Good News about the kingdom is preached, people always respond to it, either negatively or positively. Some disbelieve it, others mock it, and still others believe the truth of the message but refuse to turn away from sin and towards Jesus. In the parable of the sower, Jesus identifies three weak responses to the Good News and one strong one.
When some people hear the gospel preached, it stirs their heart and enlivens something within them, but the evil one moves in and pushes them away from putting their faith in Jesus. The Bible is clear that God has an enemy who is active in the world; his goal is to 'steal, kill, and destroy,' and he does all in his power to keep us from coming to Jesus. If that fails, he will do all he can to keep us from growing in our faith. If he can't keep us from God, it's his goal to make sure our faith is anemic and to prevent us from becoming, in the here and now, the people God wants us to be.
When still others hear the gospel, they receive it with joy, but when troubles come, they turn their backs on it. Jesus is clear that the Christian life is no walk in the park. Troubles will beset us, and though all people have troubles, Christians may have more, if only because many in our culture hate God and stand against him and those who align with him. If you think becoming a Christian and having God on your side will insulate you from troubles, you'll be sorely mistaken. The good news is that in the midst of troubles God is by our side, seeing us through it, and we look forward to a day when the 'troubles of the world' will trouble us no more.
Others respond to the gospel and put their faith in Jesus, but when it becomes clear that repentance and obedience involve forsaking sinful things they hold dear, they backtrack. The Christian faith demands that we turn our backs on the things of the world: money, pleasure, and power are to no longer hold sway over us. Because we are naturally bent towards seeking these things, given our sinful natures, it can be difficult to live the Christian life. Many would prefer a more easygoing life, and they turn their backs on the gospel in order to live how they please.
The fourth response Jesus gives is the one that is commendable. The right response is hearing the gospel, embracing it, and letting is saturate our lives. When we put our faith in Jesus and repent of our sins, we enter the life of the kingdom, and as we persevere, we become more and more integrated with that kingdom. The result is that we bear 'fruit': a changed life that is a testimony to the power and patience and love of God. It's interesting that Jesus speaks of varying degrees of fruitfulness: some bear fruit a hundredfold, others sixty-fold, still others thirty-fold. His point is that while one Christian may be superbly mature in the faith, with a life transformed by God top-to-bottom, still others will be immature, and their fruitfulness will be far less. Jesus doesn't rate our membership in the kingdom by how much we produce; the one who produces thirty-fold is no less a member of the kingdom, and a receiver of its benefits, than the one who produces a hundredfold. This is wonderful news to those of us, such as myself, who often struggle to live within the kingdom. God is gracious and kind and merciful.
When some people hear the gospel preached, it stirs their heart and enlivens something within them, but the evil one moves in and pushes them away from putting their faith in Jesus. The Bible is clear that God has an enemy who is active in the world; his goal is to 'steal, kill, and destroy,' and he does all in his power to keep us from coming to Jesus. If that fails, he will do all he can to keep us from growing in our faith. If he can't keep us from God, it's his goal to make sure our faith is anemic and to prevent us from becoming, in the here and now, the people God wants us to be.
When still others hear the gospel, they receive it with joy, but when troubles come, they turn their backs on it. Jesus is clear that the Christian life is no walk in the park. Troubles will beset us, and though all people have troubles, Christians may have more, if only because many in our culture hate God and stand against him and those who align with him. If you think becoming a Christian and having God on your side will insulate you from troubles, you'll be sorely mistaken. The good news is that in the midst of troubles God is by our side, seeing us through it, and we look forward to a day when the 'troubles of the world' will trouble us no more.
Others respond to the gospel and put their faith in Jesus, but when it becomes clear that repentance and obedience involve forsaking sinful things they hold dear, they backtrack. The Christian faith demands that we turn our backs on the things of the world: money, pleasure, and power are to no longer hold sway over us. Because we are naturally bent towards seeking these things, given our sinful natures, it can be difficult to live the Christian life. Many would prefer a more easygoing life, and they turn their backs on the gospel in order to live how they please.
The fourth response Jesus gives is the one that is commendable. The right response is hearing the gospel, embracing it, and letting is saturate our lives. When we put our faith in Jesus and repent of our sins, we enter the life of the kingdom, and as we persevere, we become more and more integrated with that kingdom. The result is that we bear 'fruit': a changed life that is a testimony to the power and patience and love of God. It's interesting that Jesus speaks of varying degrees of fruitfulness: some bear fruit a hundredfold, others sixty-fold, still others thirty-fold. His point is that while one Christian may be superbly mature in the faith, with a life transformed by God top-to-bottom, still others will be immature, and their fruitfulness will be far less. Jesus doesn't rate our membership in the kingdom by how much we produce; the one who produces thirty-fold is no less a member of the kingdom, and a receiver of its benefits, than the one who produces a hundredfold. This is wonderful news to those of us, such as myself, who often struggle to live within the kingdom. God is gracious and kind and merciful.
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