You don’t have to read the words in red, the words of Jesus, very long until you learn that it’s all about the Kingdom. “Every thought and saying of Jesus was directed and subordinated to one single thing …, the realization of the Kingdom of God upon the earth,” and “this one phrase [Kingdom of God] sums up his whole ministry and his whole life’s work” ( Jesus: An Historian’s Review of the Gospels, 1995, pp. 10-11).
Jesus said that the kingdom was at hand and, yet, taught us to pray for it “to come.” He began many parables with words such as “the kingdom of God is like…” He seemed often to describe a government with God in charge. At other times he said that the Kingdom of God is within you, or in some translations, “in your midst.” Then at His trial for blasphemy, he said his Kingdom wasn’t “of this world.” Is it possible to reconcile these diverse teachings about the Kingdom?
I believe Jesus was talking about the Kingship or Lordship of God over each life. This is possible because of His sacrifice and is appropriated through faith. I think He was also talking about a world in which kingship would no longer be voluntary, that at some time every “knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
What followers experience now is just a foretaste of the perfected kingdom. Our life in the kingdom now is personal, cloudy and faith-based. The kingdom will one day be universal, clear and so real we can touch it. We can enhance our kingdom experience now by having our minds and hearts set of Jesus. The more we can do that, the more we can live in Him, the more real is our Kingdom experience.
It’s foolish to describe someone as so heavenly minded as to be no earthly good. The only way to be of any earthly good is to be heavenly minded. I’m not talking about walking about with our heads in the clouds. We have real issues that have to be dealt with and focused on every day. The reality, however, is that such things are temporary. Our heads and hearts need to be focused on what lasts, storing up, as we discussed yesterday, treasure in heaven.
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