The King and The Kingdom of God.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Mark 1:14‭-‬15 NIV

and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

Colossians 1:12‭-‬13 NIV.

There is much to be said about the topic, and I am convinced that many others are able to bring more precise theology regarding the matter, however I want to share my discovery and how this relates to my life.

My first observation is that Jesus, the gospel and the Kingdom of God are deeply interrelated if not ONE and the same thing.  It would seem a futile excersise to separate them from each other. 

So what is the Kingdom of God? It is in the most simple terms the restoration of Gods rule and reign. 

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Luke 19:10 NIV

But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

Luke 4:43 NIV

And I tell you that you are Peter,  and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades  will not overcome it.

Matthew 16:18 NIV

From the three scriptures above we see that the mission and purpose of Jesus was to restore man to God, restore the rule and reign lost in Eden and to establish his church (body) to the Kingdom of God and to give them the authority to bring, declare and live under the rule and reign of Jesus as freed people, as was in paradise before the fall.

As the people of God we are both born again and rescued from the Kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light. Proof that the Kingdom of God and the Gospel are only found fully in Jesus Christ our Lord, God, Saviour and KING. Almost blows my mind that we are the bride, army, family, friends, servants and ambassadors of Christ, all at the same time. Obviously we need to balance this complex relationship with our God and give appropriate responses as the occasion arises. Holy Awe, worship, reverent fear, honour and respect, along with love, affection and obedience as we recall who he is and what we are. He is God almighty, creator of heaven and earth and we are the created, mere breaths, but one's that HE is fond of.  

what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?  You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.  You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:

Psalms 8:4‭-‬6 NIV

Unlike the Kingdoms of earth, the Kingdom of God does not have a specific geographical location or realm of a nation or country. Rather it's more of the rule and reign of God and the King (Jesus) in and through his people who have been redeemed and brought in by Faith and Grace and born again into the very presence of God by the blood of the Lamb. The kingdom of God is, in essence, God’s redemptive reign in us, both here on earth and in heaven.  We are part of the Kingdom, in as far as we yield and surrender to the Lordship of the King and HIS plans and purposes for our lives. 

Where and when is the Kingdom of God?

The Kingdom is past, present and future.

The past refers to paradise or Eden, where God delegated to Adam his authority to rule and reign as regent in the form of stewardship. It also refers to the redemptive work of Jesus (2nd Adam) as regent to reestablish the rule and reign of the Kingdom. Jesus clearly stated the Kingdom of God is at hand, the restoration began with his birth, ministry, mission and death on the cross he purchased man from the dominion of sin and death to righteousness and life.

The Kingdom is also now present, in and through us, his people. It's often described as "already" and "not yet". A great explanation of this I heard was to think of it as WW2 D day and V day. The D day was the event that started with the Allies invading and pushing through until eventually on V day Germany surrendered.  In this context we are living in the period between D day (Jesus on earth) and V Day (the second coming). As believers we have the privilege of knowing that God has already stepped into time and through Jesus brings the "yet to come" into the present.

There is a future when Jesus will return to enforce the final judgement on the evil and bring his final rule and reign, where every knee will bow before the King. However at that time it will sadly be to late to in Faith receive his offer of Grace and Mercy.

Jesus has restored humanity as Adam and exercised authority over sin, death, sicknesses, demons and creation (nature) whilst on mission on earth and so doing declared that the Kingdom of God has come. He gave us a new birth and has made us new creations, bringing us into "the yet to come" in our present. Therefore we can and must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. 

What great news, but life in the Kingdom of God requires that we Shema , that is to listen and obey or respond as a Knight of the Kingdom. I will take this up in the next blog  "A knights Tale".



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