The Kingdom is Now at Hand

I concluded last time that we, as human beings, are made to rule. We have a kingdom or dominion in which we have power over every decision. Along with have influence over our own thoughts and actions, we often are put in positions of influence over the lives of others as well. This is not what I was speaking of before when I mentioned control and manipulation. I refer here to parents having influence over their children, teachers over their students, and even coworkers over other coworkers. We often find that as soon as we seem to have our own lives on the verge of figuring out, God hands us a world of people who often seem impossible to figure out.

"Well done! You were faithful with a few things, and I will put you in charge of many things." (Matthew 25) 

 Indeed, it appears that that was God's plan from the start, to get us to the point where we can mesh our kingdom with his. It's as though he had a conspiracy all along to get us to take part in his work.

"Come you who are under my Father's blessing and take over the government assigned to you from the beginning." (Matthew 25:34)

 It's as though God's been reserving positions in his kingdom with our names on them before we even knew our names. Imagine if Obama approached you with an offer to fill a role in government he specifically designed with all of your abilities and talents and experience in mind. Now imagine a situation much more real, where God has already done that and is waiting for you to step into that role. 


This is not so difficult to imagine, and I know many of you have already done so without even trying. Picture the places in life where you feel and know you're needed every time you step into them. Picture the people who clearly want to spend time with you (children, grandparents, friends). Picture the conversations that last for hours. Picture the times you've volunteered and time has just flown by. Picture when you've given yourself away and seem to have received life in return. This is your government. This is your kingdom. 


Of course many of us are not fond of this government we've been assigned. Often those people I mentioned are the kind of people we don't want to spend a lot of time with. We can give them so much, but they often cannot give us anything in return (that we can see). We believe we were destined for something "greater". God's kingdom does not always line up with our kingdom. 


Contrary to a popular idea, the kingdom of God is not primarily something that is "in the hearts of men." That kingdom may be there, and it may govern human beings through their faith and allegiance to Christ. At the present time it governs them only through their hearts, if at all.

Thus we are left to pray:

 Our Father in heaven

Holy is your name

Your kingdom come

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven 

 
It is not a matter of God's kingdom not already being here. After all, if our kingdom is our effective will and influence, then God's kingdom, likewise defined, is everything in the known universe except our hearts, where we have been given free reign. Thus when we pray for God's kingdom to come, we are asking it to come into our hearts, to merge our separate kingdoms into one heavenly, eternal kingdom. Eventually, we are able to merge this with the kingdoms of others who have done the same.

Love of neighbor, rightly understood, will make this happen. But we can only love adequately by taking as our primary aim the integration of our rule with God's. That is why love of neighbor is the second, not the first, commandment and why we are told to seek first the kingdom, or rule, of God.

I've always understood this concept, but never been able to explain it. It is not sufficient to simply love others as we see fit because our best efforts are not enough. God is love, and any love shown apart from him will ultimately fall short of the standard written on our hearts. Having experienced a God who is love in all parts, no imperfect human love can match up. We must first align ourselves with God, and then we will find that divine love naturally overflowing to the other areas and people in our lives. 

New Testament passages make plain that the kingdom is not something to be "accepted" now and enjoyed later, but something to be entered now.

We see from this study that we are one step closer to living the eternal kind of life now. We must not abandon this trek we have begun but must carry it on to completion. We have a position of government with our names on it, a place in God's kingdom, a part of God's kingdom. We have the opportunity to live the life we were designed for. We have the time to start, and that time is now. Carpe Diem.