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Kingdom Good News
By daniel | May 2, 2004
Beloved,
Okay, let?s review. We have been exploring the seven aspects of the Church as presented in Paul?s letter to the saints at Ephesus. We have seen that the Church is the Body of Christ, that Christ is our Head and that we are each members of His Body. We have also seen that the Church is the New Man (or New Mankind) ? a new society on the earth composed of individuals from every ethnicity under heaven, being transformed and made absolutely new straight through from the inside out. And we have seen that the Church is the Kingdom of God on earth in the here and now, that Jesus is the King of that Kingdom, and that His rule is only made real in the world as we each and all come to deal with Him as Lord.
Now we are moving on to the Church as the Household, or Family, of God. Before we do that I would like to take a few minutes and review all we have said about the Kingdom. The review will help me see all we have said concerning the Kingdom in one big picture, and I hope it will do the same for you too. So, here goes.
God is not trying to save as many sinners as possible and get them, by the skin of their spiritual teeth, into heaven to live with Him forever before He trashes the whole project. Rather, God is masterfully executing a brilliant plan to bring heaven fully to earth, blending His space and our space into one incredible cohabitation, Creator and creature, living together for mutual advantage.
He is doing this by way of quiet invasion. God?s kingdom is the range of His effective rule ? where what He wants done gets done exactly as He wants it done. Jesus the Messiah was the first wave of this kingdom and His basic message was, “The kingdom of God is available to you in the here and now! Change sides!” As people believe the good news and turn from self-rule and self-advancement to Him (a transaction Paul later calls “obedience to the good news”) the kingdom gets inside them, ruling them from the inside out instead of from the top down. These people are becoming a people, a community ruled by a King they all have in common, a King who not only rules each one?s personal affairs, but also the dynamics of the life together.
Now, whether or not one is in the kingdom is entirely a matter of whether or not the Spirit of the King is in him. Thus, “unless a man is born of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Likewise, the kingdom only moves forward, God?s blessed conspiracy to rule the world for our good and His glory can only unfold, through cooperation with the Spirit. Luke makes this very clear, both in his gospel and in Acts. The simple fact of the matter is God?s kingdom is a product of God?s Spirit, and all our best natural effort can do is make a terrible mess.
A great many people are in “kingdom” circles but are not in the kingdom at all. Appearances, in this case, are very deceiving. Likewise, a lot of “ministry” happens out of natural means and lacks either the direction or power of the Spirit of God (though both may be asked for), and the results wind up being so much worse than the original situations.
Thus, we see how imperative it is to yield to the Spirit?s direction. But at what points do we yield? As citizens of God?s kingdom, what matters are private and ours to rule however we like? None. None at all. According to both John and Paul, one of the primary elements of the Spirit?s ministry to us is provoking us, from the inside out, to yield to Jesus as Lord. And that?s really the practical crux of the matter, isn?t it?
The fact is Jesus says you must lay your life down to find it in Him. He does not suggest loaning it out to Him when you have extra time. He commands absolute, unchecked surrender. And this is not because He is an egomaniac. Rather, He is compulsively (can we say God has compulsions?) generous, and what He has to give us cannot fit into our lives. No, we are to make the kingdom our whole life and abandon every other reason and distraction. And this is what Jesus means by statements like, “But seek rather the kingdom of God and His righteous rule” and “Fear not little flock; it is your Father?s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12) Jesus is Lord, and we are each invited to agree.
And so I repeat the good news to you again. God is Sovereign and has all the rights. Fortunately for you, He is inviting you to cooperate with Him in the world, in His brilliant scheme to bring life and wholeness to the world under His benevolent rule. But that cooperation must be on His terms, since He is king and you are not. So change sides. Abandon whatever it is you have called your “life” and take hold of the life that is “life indeed” ? the life lived in glad and complete surrender to Jesus as Lord. He can rule you by His Spirit, much better than you can rule yourself, but He waits for your cooperation. So, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
I love you,
Virgil
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