SUMMARY
The mission of the Church is rooted and inspired by God’s redemptive rule over His people. That is the substance of our message and the motivation of our mission.
We often misunderstand the phrase “the Kingdom of God”. We think of the UK or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or we have Medieval pictures in our heads of castles and knights and pageantry. However, the phrase in the Greek actually refers to the kingship, reign or rule of God. As R.T. France states, “the kingdom of God is not making a statement about a thing called ‘the kingdom,’ but about God, that he is the king. Thus, ‘the kingdom of God has come near’ means ‘God is taking over as king,’ and to ‘enter the kingdom of God’ is to come under his rule, to accept him as king.”
The Kingdom of God is then the redemptive rule of God over His people, made possible through the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Life under the reign of God constitutes a new world-order, a new value system, a new allegiance, a new hope, a new future. It is a radical in-breaking of God into history and human lives.
We read Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Mark 1.14-15: “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 is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus’ public ministry began with those words – a proclamation of the Good News. All the centuries of Israel’s history, the promises to the Patriarchs, the words of the prophets now were being fulfilled in Christ. His coming signaled the beginning of the end. The waiting period for God to intervene was over. Now, in Jesus, God was invading time and space to accomplish the redemption of His people. In His life, death, resurrection, ascension and promise to return, Jesus made it clear that the kingdom is here. It is both a present reality and a future hope. In Christ, we experience the rule of God now and will experience it fully when Christ returns.
This message calls for a definitive, two-fold response: repentance and belief.
Repentance means to turn around – to change ones heart and ways, or better yet, to switch allegiances. Repentance is an action rather than a feeling. Biblical repentance is:
- Radical. It involves a complete turn around – a resetting of ones direction and purpose in life.
- Unconditional. Repentance is not offered with conditions and excuses. We don’t say, “Lord, I’ll repent if you get me out of this situation,” or “I repent, but it really wasn’t my fault.” True repentance is unconditional. We fall down before God and confess only our guilt and need and ask only for His forgiveness and mercy.
- Comprehensive. It involves every area of our lives – outside and inside, behaviors and motives, our actions and our hearts. We can’t repent a little. It’s all or nothing.
- Costly. It involves sacrifice. It involves giving things up. Stopping behaviors, battling thoughts, starving sinful lusts, throwing off our old nature. There is a death in repentance – death to the old way of things – death to our corrupt, sinful nature.
Belief involves faith, faithfulness and trust. James Dunn defines faith as, “a reliance on God that becomes the basis and motivating center for all conduct and relationships” (Jesus’ Call to Discipleship, 27). The call to believe is a call to be defined by faith. And this faith has content. Jesus said, “believe the good news.” The Gospel message then – the good news that God has invaded the human condition bringing salvation and life through Jesus Christ – this message is to be the core of our lives. It is to define who we are. We are called to cling to God’s sovereign and redemptive rule.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
What is to be our response to the reality of the Kingdom of God?
Recognize God’s rule. We must recognize that God is King and we are not. We didn’t make ourselves. We can’t sustain ourselves. We are fragile and powerless. No matter how strong or smart we think we are, we are dependent upon God’s upholding hand.
Relish God’s rule. Our response is not to be just a sterile, stoic recognition of fact, rather we are to enjoy and take pleasure in God’s rule. We like to think that we are in control and can make it on our own. We think happiness and fulfillment comes from being the masters of our own fate. But in reality, that only leads to emptiness and despair. The fact that God is in control, that we are not left to ourselves, that His purposes for our salvation have been and will be fulfilled – that is stuff for celebration. God’s sovereignty brings joy! So delight in God’s redemptive rule!
Reconcile others to God’s rule. Because we recognize and relish God’s kingship, we are then called to plead with others to be reconciled to God. We want others to experience the freedom, relief, love, acceptance, life, joy, peace and hope we have. We want to help others delight in God’s redemptive rule!
Relinquish our rule. This is another way of saying repentance. We must relinquish our stubborn and false belief that we can rule ourselves; that we can do it on our own. Difficult though it is, in order to follow Christ, we must relinquish our rule and submit to God’s control.
Rely on God. This is another way of saying belief. We relinquish trust in ourselves so that we can trust in God. Like Peter, we cry out as we find ourselves sinking, “Lord save me!” And we grab hold of Jesus’ outstretched hand.
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The Church, during some of its history, has misunderstood the concept of the Kingdom. I think of Charlemagne “evangelism” tactic of forcing conversion on conquered peoples. Or the Crusades which tried to defend and expand “Christendom” through warfare. But the Kingdom of God is not a human domain. It is not a political or geographical entity. It is the rule of God. The Kingdom then is not something we build, but something God builds. We don’t bring about God’s reign, He does. As we read in Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.”
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER
The Kingdom foretold - Daniel 2; Daniel 17.13-14
The beginning of Jesus' ministry - Mark 1.1-20
Jesus sends out disciples with His message - Luke 10.1-12
Relishing God's Rule - Psalm 95; Psalm 47
Ministry of Reconciliation - 2 Corinthians 5.11-21
Kingdom of Light - Colossians 1.3-14
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