[We Are the Kingdom of God]
When I became a Christian, I did so at a rather young age. I was thirteen years old and there was an immediate change in my life. I began to get involved with church quite a bit. We had two Sunday services (morning and evening), a youth group and a young men’s group. Shortly after becoming a believer, I met my best friend and his dad served as a pastor at a local church in the area.
I found myself leaving my current church (Assemblies of God) to join with my best friend and his dad at the Church of God. For a short period of time, I was involved with the Church of God on Sundays and was involved with the Youth Group at the Assemblies of God.
One of the prominent themes which was discussed a number of times at both churches was the imminent return of Jesus. While I don’t recall every sermon on the subject, it was always a topic of discussion. “Jesus could come back at any moment!” That was the phrase that got tossed around quite a bit back in those days.
Most of the times when preachers preached on the subject, the kingdom of God and heaven were discussed alongside the reality of hell. The sermons almost always ended the same though, with the preacher getting all teary-eyed and sharing how happy they would be to see Jesus and to finally be home. When you think about it, it’s a nice thought when you realize heaven is a place where temptations are removed, financial burdens are gone and you spend eternity worshipping the Savior. Pain is gone, struggles are gone, and there is eternal joy. It is a beautiful thought indeed.
We live in a broken world where nothing is certain and the demands of life are constantly weighing us down. There are bills to pay, children to raise, forms to fill out and spiritual warfare to face. We struggle against deadlines, financial burdens, set-backs and death. In our pursuit to make a living, we struggle to make ends meet and we often find our lives to be unsatisfying and we wonder where we went wrong. We feel the emptiness of life, the void that burns within that makes all, at some point; ask the question, “Why am I here?”
When we consider the pain and turmoil of life, then, yes heaven becomes so much more beautiful. And while the grim reality of hell lurks in the back of our minds and we so desire that no one goes there, we look forward to this day when everything changes for us. We all get a little chocked up with this idea of eternal paradise and being with Jesus.
For many people, they live their lives wondering what the point is. Believers can rise above the question knowing the purpose is to bring glory to God. For a believer, Jesus is a lifestyle. Yet, believers begin to ask this question, “What is God’s will for my life?” It’s a reasonable question since we are all on a journey of discovery and we wonder what he wants us to do. It’s not a bad question either but Jesus provided a great answer for us.
When Jesus was asked by his own disciples how to pray, Jesus offered a model prayer for us. While I am going to discuss this later on, there is one portion of that prayer I think is relevant right now. Jesus says, “May your kingdom come, May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Jesus wasn’t offering this prayer as to say, “God, it would be awesome if things down here were just a little better.” No, Jesus was saying, God, you reign in heaven. Your will is always being done in heaven. You are being exalted and worshipped as the Father of Lights in this very moment. God, give us all the obedience to live life for your glory alone. God, let us be a movement of your rule and your reign, here and now. God, let us be a reflection of what your kingdom is all about.
I’ll tell you, when I became a believer, I was all about God. I loved going to and serving church and I loved the care free life I could live because I was still a young man. Years went by and living for God went against the demands of life and it got to the point where God became nothing more than a support actor in my life, not the main star. Far too often, we live out our lives as if God lives in our own little world as opposed to the reality that we live in his!
We are the movement God wants to usher into this world. We are the ones he has called to be his hands and feet, going and doing and bringing forth the fruit, which his son, Jesus, produces through us.
God’s perfect will is being done in heaven but here on earth, is the same occurring? Is there such a disconnection because of the brokenness that our response is to give up and wait for Jesus to return or do we live out his calling? There is a tension we must wrestle with at times in our lives and it further exposes an aspect of our identity and flows into the calling Christ has given.
Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.” I don’t have an issue with that statement. While it’s complex I agree that Jesus is the light. He is perfect, holy, and blameless. He is that path we must follow and he is the life we must live. I understand he is the light and he opens our eyes so we might see, spiritually.
In Matthew 5:14 though, this same Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” That is something I have a problem with. I know Jesus said it but I have a difficult time believing that I could be what Jesus is. I struggle with identity and therefore I struggle with the Word of God. The Word of God must be what I go by to determine who I am, how God sees me, how much he loves me and how he values me.
In the end, God’s not simply calling us to be his children but to be a reflection of his movement (the church) and represent his kingdom, here and now, in this world. The reality that is so paramount to understand is that the kingdom is not only here but it exists within the hearts of believers.
The Old Testament prophets always referred to the kingdom of God in what is known as final consummation. God said in His word to come to Him with our burdens and cast them upon Him because he cares about us. (Psalm 55:22)Do we see God in that way though? Do we really look at God as one who truly loves us, with all of the junk that we carry around with us? I know I’ve had a long difficult road in my pursuit to understanding this. It’s not easy either to grasp his love. I look at His love and compare my life and my shortcomings and my failures to the list. In the end, all I have done is compare my ability to see myself as someone unworthy of love. I believe it would serve us best to see ourselves and compare ourselves to God’s ability to love. He is able to love the outcast, the broken, the weary and yes, the unlovable. You and I are the objects of His love, we are His creation.
This is, of course, easier said than done. I mean, let’s face it, you might be going through something right now and right at this moment you are reading these words and they are trying to make the way into your life but your circumstances fight against truth. Maybe you’re thinking the struggle won’t get any easier and the darkness that seems to be holding you won’t relent.
Then again, perhaps you’re on the other side and things are great and have been for a long time. The truth is everyone is on a journey. No matter where you are, God still loves you, just the way you are. I think most of us, if we are really honest with ourselves, get to a point on the journey where we forget what we have and who we are.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells a story of a certain man who had two sons. The younger son wanted to leave the family business, leave the surroundings and venture out into the unknown. While the younger son knew it was the wrong thing to do, his heart was set on it anyway. The father allowed him to leave and with that the son left behind everything and embraced a life not meant for him.
There’s a point in the story that needs to be addressed though, as it concerns us. The younger son gets to a place in his journey where he realizes he has nothing. His wild adventures have left him empty and he is struggling to survive. He actually gets to a place where he is feeding pigs and he begins to become jealous of the food they are eating. It would be pretty easy for us to skip over that part in our culture but for a Jewish person during those times, feeding pigs and craving their leftovers was not part of their lifestyles. There was no alternative though-he spent everything he had. Some of the Biblical texts actually say that during the famine, the son began to be in need. (Luke 15:14)
Searching and seeking a life outside of God will leave you empty handed and in need. Being in need and in great despair is what drove this young man to do what he did in feeding the pigs until he realized that home is where he belonged. This is the heart of the story I want to bring up because I think it describes us.
When the young man comes to his senses, he realizes he must return home-just to survive. Looking further in the story it reads, “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.” (Luke 15:18-19)
You see, the son tried to reason his way and argue with himself and later would use these exact points as a way to negotiate his way backing into the presence of his father and win a place back at his home. However, the argument this young man makes is not to hold his identity as a son but to take hold of a position as a hired servant.
When we’re on our journey, we find ourselves, so many times, reasoning and negotiating with God to become something less than what he has called us to be. You cannot become someone you are not! You cannot become a hired helper in the kingdom of God. You cannot detach yourself from your identity as a child of God and you cannot separate yourself from being the movement of God.
The Son of God left behind his glory and his rightful place in heaven and wrapped himself in flesh. God stepped into time, he became like one of us, and he entered into our world. He tasted our hurts, he experienced our pains, he faced our trials, and he saw God and heaven from our point of view. He came to us as a missionary. He lived among the broken, the outcast, the hurting and the fallen. He healed, he loved, he served and he discipled.
After all he went through, he put his faith on the line and trusted in His Father and surrendered his life on the cross. He took our punishment, our sins and forgave us. He came to us to love and heal us. He came to us and we denied Him, we mocked Him, we crucified Him.
Here we are, alive in this moment, forgiven by the Savior of the fallen. God has redeemed us and now He calls us, by our names, as His sons and daughters to “Go.” We have a commission, a Great commission, to make disciples of all the nations. We have a mission to love the world like Jesus Christ. We are a part of God’s plan to reconcile the world to himself. You are, I am, we are the kingdom of God. We are the hands and feet of Christ.
Jesus bought us at a price; no one else was willing to pay. He saved us, He loved us, and He gave us the chance no one else was willing to give. He made us new creations in Him. We are brand new. We are not refurbished, we are not repackaged but rather, we are new creations.
Personally, I would tend to think that an all knowing God would use someone other than me to bring about his purpose. Someone with better talents, more educated, more accomplished and more refined than I am. Yet, he set his love on me and he called me out. He did the same for you too. His will, his purpose and his plan includes us. No matter who you are, where you are or what you have done or what you are doing-God has given you a task-to be a missionary. We are called to be the light of the world. He has given us vision and purpose; he has removed the barriers and called us. Are we humbled yet?
WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, SERVING ONE LORD, JESUS. WE ARE CALLED TO ONE FAITH, FOLLOWING ONE GOD AND WE ARE CALLED, AS CITIZENS OF HEAVEN, TO INFLUENCE AND CHANGE THE WORLD AROUND US. GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME TO ADVANCE HIS SUPERNATURAL PURPOSE!
