On the Big Story, Part 3: The Kingdom of God

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: Israel and the Church  

How do Israel and the church fit together? And are there any other stages in the Big Story that God is telling? 

What should we make of all this? 

Oh, my friend, this is not dusty theology. This has everything to do with today’s news cycle, and more importantly how we live in and respond to it. 

The New Testament speaks often of “the kingdom of God.” John the Baptist introduces the term (Mt 3.2), and Jesus presents himself as the fulfillment of John’s prophecy (Mt 4.17; 12.28; 16.28). It’s a major theme of Jesus’ teaching (e.g. Mt 13), and it shows up in the writings of Paul, Peter, John, and James. 

So what is it? Well, a kingdom typically involves three elements: 

• A king, or ruler 

• A realm, or sphere of authority 

• A people, or subjects 

The kingdom of God, then, might be defined this way: 

God reigns in heaven and on earth, over a people he has created and called, for the praise of his glory (Ps 103.19). 

That reign has manifested itself persistently through the history of the world and will continue forever: 

• The cosmos (Gen 1-11): God created it from nothing, and he sovereignly directs it. We literally set our watches by this cosmic direction. 

• Israel (Gen 12-Mal): This is the kingdom of God as manifested throughout the Old Testament. He originates it in Abram; he constitutes it at Sinai; he appoints its leadership, climaxing in David and Solomon; he sovereignly directs its location in Canaan, then Egypt, then Israel, and even Babylon and Persia. 

• The church (Acts-Jude): This is the kingdom of God throughout the New Testament and up through today, all the way to the return of Christ. God originates it at Pentecost through the work of his Spirit; he empowers its spread as evidenced in Acts; He sets forth its moral code in the Epistles. 

• The eschaton (Revelation): “Eschaton” is just a fancy term for the time after Jesus returns; it literally means “the last thing.” At that time God will invade the realm of earth and establish his kingdom (Rev 20). (Here I’m taking the position that the millennial kingdom is visible, earthly, and yet future. Many will disagree with me.) Then he will create a New Heaven and a New Earth (Rev 21-22). 

So how does all this affect the way you and I live today and tomorrow? 

To begin with, we recognize and take into account the fundamental, universal principle of all existence, which is that God is in charge. 

A lot of people don’t like that principle, particularly in the West, where democracy is ingrained into us, and we talk a lot about our “rights.” But I’ll observe that according to the USA’s founding document, we are endowed with those inalienable rights by our Creator; even our democratic republican system begins by recognizing that God is in charge. 

Now. How do we think and live under that dominating principle? How do we respond to the evidences of brokenness in our human social and political systems? We manifest God’s rule in multiple ways. Let me suggest just a few and leave you to see how far down that road your own thinking can take you: 

• We seek to know Him personally.  

• We obey His will as expressed in the Scripture. 

• We submit to earthly authorities* because they are under His dominion (Rom 13).  

• We live trustingly and confidently—optimistically—in a broken world, or at least we’re supposed to, because we know that the Sovereign is wise and good and will bring it all out in a good place.  

• We seek an eternal kingdom, thereby relatively devaluing the present world. That means we live in grace, peace, and confidence instead of fear, frustration, and anger. 

As the people of God, we inhabit our phase of history, of God’s plan, with confidence in the one whom we know intimately, who has all power and exercises it wisely and beneficently. And I’ll observe that as God’s people, we can do the world a lot more good by living that way, in sharp contrast to the spirit of any age, than by acting as frustrated, angry, and afreid as everybody else. 

Vive la difference. 

* As I’ve noted before, there are exceptions to this rule at times when our authorities are not in fact respecting God’s dominion. 

Photo by Carlos Magno on Unsplash