Hello

Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God (“Kingdom of Heaven” in Matthew) more than any other topic.  So, it’s important.

When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, he was talking to people living in a Jewish community nearly 2000 years ago.  These people were living under occupation by a foreign power and they were very unhappy about it, but they knew that God had said, through the prophet Nathan, that the Kingdom of David would be established for ever.  Jesus, David’s descendant, came along and said that the Kingdom of God had already “come near” (Matthew 10:7; Luke 10:9-11; Luke 17:21).  However, Jesus made it very clear that the Kingdom of God wasn’t the kind of earthly Kingdom his listeners might have been hoping for.  He said:

“The Kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; no one will say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the Kingdom of God is inside you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

and

“My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight… but my kingship is not from here.” (John 18:36)

So, Jesus told his followers that the Kingdom of God had already come near and that it was inside them.  This Kingdom is not composed of land with borders; there can be no borders to God’s Kingdom.  Our loving Father’s Kingdom is a Kingdom composed, at least partly, of his people.

Jesus said that God’s kingdom is a different sort of kingdom, but it is a kingdom and, like every other kingdom, it has rules.  However, one of the wonderful things about the Kingdom of God is that the rules are not like the rules in an earthly kingdom.  The rules in an earthly kingdom are usually a long list of what subjects are not allowed to do. The rules in the Kingdom of God are the commands of Jesus, and they are a short list of what subjects must do.  Some examples: “Love the Lord your God”, “Love your neighbor”, “Treat others the way you like to be treated”, “Don’t judge others”, “Don’t condemn others”, “Be merciful”, “Forgive others”.  (There is a link to a list of Jesus’ commands, “What does Jesus want his followers to do?”, at the end of this article).

All the rules of the Kingdom of God can be summed up in one word: Love.  In the Kingdom of God, love is not a mushy word.  It is a command.  Being a subject in the Kingdom of God means loving the King and it means loving the other subjects in the Kingdom and it means loving those who are still outside the Kingdom. This is how God wants us to live. This is how God has always wanted us to live.  This is the Good News that we are to share with the world.

The Kingdom of God is inside us.  So, importantly, when Jesus tells us to pray “Your Kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10; Luke 11:2), he is not telling us to pray for his return.  He is telling us to pray that the Kingdom of God, which has already begun, will keep growing and spreading.

 

So, is there evidence that the Kingdom of God is coming?

I think there is plenty of evidence that the Kingdom of God is coming.  The rules of the Kingdom of God didn’t start with Jesus.  Throughout the story of God communicating with his human children, he has been telling us to meet the needs of the poor and the alienated and those who are denied justice.  I see evidence that we humans are getting better and better at these things.  Here are a few examples:

• the increasing acceptance that slavery and torture are wrong (in international agreements and in many countries).
• the increasing acceptance that it is wrong to treat others as less important or worthy because they were born as women, people of color, people with disabilities, or members of many other groups of marginalized and alienated people.
• the increasing concern about wealthy people exploiting poor people by overworking or underpaying them, or by taking their land.

I recognize, of course, that we have a long way to go in these areas, and many others.  But we are making progress.  Not long ago, exploitation and oppression of the poor and the weak, by the rich and the powerful, was regarded as normal, and not wrong.  Indeed the rich and the powerful often defended their behavior by saying that God had given them their positions of wealth and power.  Today large numbers of people are recognizing that exploitation and oppression are wrong and are successfully advocating for change.  And those who claim to be serving God and following the teachings of Jesus are often found in the front rows of these movements.

Finally, I also see the spread of democracy as evidence of the coming of the Kingdom of God.  Democracy puts real power in the hands of the people that God is most concerned about, the poor, the alienated and those who are being denied justice.  Again, we have a long way to go.

Let’s pray that God’s kingdom will come and let’s obey the rules of God’s kingdom.

 

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10).

“Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8).

 

May our loving Father bless us and strengthen us as we work for him in his Kingdom.

Jesus is Lord.

Peter O

 

Related Articles

“What does Jesus want his followers to do?”

“What did Jesus say about loving God?”

“What did Jesus say about obeying God?”

“God’s law really is written on our hearts”

 

 

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