Kingdom?
To the human mind and reason, a kingdom is the sovereign reach of its king, his strong right hand of power. To the Divine mind, it is the space within and its corresponding intimate relationship to its king. Divine kingship is not government rule but relational union. Not outside but inside, not external but internal, not doing only but why it is done!
It is the body of Christ in which Jesus is its head, heart, and soul, a peaceful and harmonious community.
New Creation
“For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can’t you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life! All who walk by this standard are the true Israel of God—his chosen people. Peace and mercy on them!”
“What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.” (Galatians 6:15 MSG, NLT)
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)
The counterintuitive nature of the Lord is expressed clearly in the servant versus the sovereign character of the kingdom. Here, the kingdom life as expressed in sermon one of the first series, “The Child in the Mist,” is finally summarized. The childlikeness that we share with the Father and the Son reaching full expression in Goodness! The Goodness of God’s other-centered and self-giving truth and freedom are found here. And they are fully expressed in the Life of Jesus! They are contrasted with the selfishness of fallen and broken humanity in its self-centered and self-seeking darkness and slavery found in this world.
Kingdom of Children
“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.'” Matthew 20:25-28 NASB
“How terribly have the theologians misrepresented God! Nearly all of them represent Him as a great king on a grand throne; God thinking how great He is; making it the business of His being and the end of His universe the keeping up of His glory, wielding the lightning bolts of Jupiter against those that take His name in vain.” GM
“Theologians have done more to hide the gospel of Christ than any of its adversaries!” GM
Kingdom? is the introductory blog for the sermon below: