So, all of this talk of Heaven and Hell and the ‘already, but not yet’ talk has me thinking about the Kingdom of God. Why? you might ask. Because the Kingdom is everything. And by everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Allow me to explain. (And yes, I know that this isn't the most thorough explanation and there are probably holes, but it's been a long week and my brain is fuzzy.)
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels describes it like this:
‘The term ‘Kingdom of God’ or Kingdom of Heaven’ signifies God’s sovereign, dynamic and eschatological rule. The Kingdom of God lay at the heart of Jesus’ teaching... [It] denoted God’s eternal rule rather than an earthly kingdom, its scope was universal rather than limited to the Jewish nation, and it was imminent and potentially present in Him rather than a vague future hope, being inextricably connected with his own person and mission.’ (417)
Dodd was the first to really break through with the idea that the Kingdom was already present in the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus’ miracles were seen as proof that in Jesus’ person and works the divine sovereignty had dealt the decisive blow to the kingdom of Satan and was indubitably a wholly present reality. (ibid 421)
So, I’m going to go a long with this. If eternal life starts now, it only makes sense that we are a part of the eternal Kingdom of God now also. Does that make sense to you, or am I making a weird jump?
Well, in the Synoptic Gospels alone (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), there are 73 separate mentions of the Kingdom- 103 if you count parallels. That tells me that it’s something Jesus spent a lot of time on and something that we probably ought to pay attention to (just as a side note, there are only 12 mentions in the entire NT of hell... which do you think Jesus was more interested in?) (Just a thought...)
Anyway, I digress.
I found this amazing book called ‘Surprised by Hope,’ written by NT Wright. Here’s what he has to say about the Kingdom (he gives a lot of support for it, and you can read it all if you like, but I’m not putting it on here- the excerpt I chose is long enough...)
But when we reintegrate what should never have been separated- the kingdom-inaugurating public work of Jesus and his redemptive death and resurrection- we find that the gospels tell a...story. It isn’t just a story of some splendid and exciting social work with an unhappy conclusion. Nor is it just a story of an atoning death with an extended introduction. It is something much bigger than the sum of those two diminished perspectives. It is the story of God’s kingdom being launched on earth as in heaven, generating a new state of affairs in which the power of evil has been decisively defeated, the new creation has been decisively launched, and Jesus' followers have been commissioned and equipped to put that victory and that inaugurated new world into practice. Atonement, redemption, and salvation are what happen on the way because engaging in this work demands that people themselves be rescued from the powers that enslave the world in order that they can in turn be rescuers. To put it another way, if you want to help inaugurate God’s Kingdom, you must follow in the way of the cross, and if you want to benefit from Jesus’ saving death, you must become part of His Kingdom project. There is only one Jesus, only one gospel story... Heaven’s rule, God’s rule, is thus to be put into practice in the world, resulting in salvation in both the present and the future, a salvation that is both for humans and, through saved humans, for the wider world. This is the solid basis for the mission of the church. (pg 204-5)
Now, I know I haven’t listed any Scripture yet, but good grief. If you can’t find a passage in Matthew or Luke about the Kingdom, I think you probably can’t read. It’s everywhere! (No offense to those of you who can’t read... though you probably weren’t offended because you couldn’t read it...)
Here’s my point, and where it ties into my continued process of digesting ‘Love Wins.’
The future is not the point. It’s not the focus. Yes, it is an element of our faith. But the future is here, now. The Kingdom is not something we wait to be a part of- it’s something we are already a part of. Sanctification happens because of what we are a part of. If we aren’t actively participating in the advancement of the Kingdom, how on earth can we continue to grow in our walk with the Lord?
What’s more, knowing that we are already a part of the Kingdom changes our motivations. If the future isn’t the point, then the statement ‘One more jewel in the crown’ is null and void. We aren’t working toward a future reward so much as we are working to continue the Kingdom of God. We are doing things because of who we are and what we love, not because of who we want to be, who they are (who ever ‘they’ is), or what we hope to attain someday.
If you would like a passage for that idea, look at Matthew 25:31-46.
Application- Don’t leave a crappy tip because of them. Leave a generous tip because of you who you are. You are a member of the Kingdom, and responsible for it’s advancement.
How does it tie to ‘Love Wins’?
Rob (remember, we’re good friends) talks quite a bit about how what we think about heaven, hell, and eternal life dictates how we behave now. To quote:
...is it true that the kind of person you are doesn’t ultimately matter, as long as you’ve said or prayed or believed the right things? If you truly believed that, and you were surrounded by Christians who believed that, then you wouldn’t have much motivation to do anything about the present suffering of the world, because you would believe you were going to leave someday and go somewhere else to be with Jesus. If this understanding of the good news of Jesus prevailed among Christians, the belief that Jesus’ message is about how to get somewhere else, you could possibly end up with a world in which millions of people were starving, thirsty, and poor; the earth was being exploited and polluted; disease and despair were everywhere; and Christians weren’t known for doing much about it. If it got bad enough, you might even have people rejecting Jesus because of how His followers lived... That would be tragic. (pg 7)
I’m going to say that all of this falls under ‘Kingdom’ theology. Because there is no Heaven, Hell, or eternal life if there is no Kingdom of God.
So why are we doing what we’re doing?
Do we believe that we are a part of the ‘already, but not yet?’
If this is God’s Kingdom, and we are set to inherit, but we aren’t doing anything to advance or proclaim the Kingdom, what kind of heirs are we?
If we are heirs with no interest in the Kingdom, how on earth are we even going to be a part of it?
So, I ask you, what should be the focus- heaven and hell, or the Kingdom of God?
