The preliminaries have been taken care of. The requirements are met for being a part of God's kingdom on this earth, or the rule of God. Jesus said this at the very beginning of his ministry. He made an open proclamation of the accessibility of the life he was currently living. It was a simple message, and it was repeated time and again.
Eugene Peterson's The Message translates his words this way: "Time's up! God's kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message." I have always wondered at what "message" Jesus could possibly be proclaiming before his ministry and teaching had even started. He hadn't made any revolutionary theological statements yet. He hadn't shown God's power of miracles and wonders. He hadn't defeated sin and the devil once and for all. So what, in God's name, was he preaching?
After a hundred readings of this passage looking for secret, hidden messages, I've finally returned to the two most basic meanings, clearly stated and out in the open for all to see.
1.) God's Kingdom is here
- Not "God's Kingdom is in heaven".
- But rather "God's Kingdom is here."
- Not "God's Kingdom is going to be here at the end of times."
- But rather "God's Kingdom has arrived, landed, and persisted for the past 2000 years."
- Not "God's Kingdom is a mystical realm of spiritual nirvana to be accessed by brilliant minds after a lifetime of dedication."
- But Rather "God's Kingdom is available and open to all."
Now, before I go off into some merely academic wordfest on all the implications this seems to bring to my previous understanding of life, the universe, and everything, I'm going to add a few disclaimers. I do NOT have a doctorate in divinity. I haven't mastered theology. I haven't even swept through seminary. What I publish here are my simple thought reactions to the readings I come across. As stated plainly in the overview, you are welcome to add your own. Now without further ado...
2.) Change your life in reaction to the news of part 1
Jesus not only tells people that the Kingdom of Heaven is here on this earth at this very moment, but he adds the second part which tells them/us to change our lives in reaction to that news. This of course implies that we CAN change our lives. Meaning everyone who hears his message has the opportunity to enter this kingdom that he just told us all about. We have a chance, nay, an opportunity, nay, a destiny to take up now the eternal lives that have been waiting for us since our moment of creation.
After announcing and exhibiting the rule, or "kingdom," of God... his fame grew to the point where crowds were in the thousands. But they were only responding to the striking availability of God to meet present human need through the actions of Jesus. He simply was the good news about the kingdom. He still is.
Jesus, it would seem, does a lot more than just announce the eternal life of God; in some deeply intricate way he is attached to the access we have to it.
The rule of God, now present in the person of Jesus himself, submits to approaches that were previously not possible. Personal need and confidence in Jesus permits any person to blunder right into God's realm.
And it truly is a blundering. Anyone who tells you they've figured out the perfect step by step solution to accessing and pursuing God's kingdom, anyone who tells you they know exactly how to live the eternal kind of life, is only trying to impress upon you a sense of their greater spirituality. We are human. We are not divine. Grasping the divine may be simple, but it can also prove to be exceptionally hard. That is the essence of the Divine Conspiracy. What is standing just before us, what is readily available to us, what can cause our lives to flourish and blossom and boom in ways unimaginable, this is the very thing that we, as a people, turn away from on a daily basis.
Completing step one does not axiomatically bring about step two. One is a choice of God's; the other is a choice of ours.
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