Posts Tagged ‘The kingdom of God; What it Means to be a King’

Understanding the Kingdom of God

Sunday, November 22nd, 2015

Christ The King

Dan 7: 13-14; Rev 1:5-8; Jn 18:33b-37

Dc. Larry Brockman

A Kingdom!  It’s not something that we can relate to in this country.  We have no “King”; in fact, our revolution occurred because we wanted to escape from domination by a King.  And so, as a result, the “Kingdom of God” may seem a little fuzzy for us.  The closest thing to a king that we can relate to is all the fuss made over other nations royalty.  We see them glorified in earthly terms and venerated.  But we have no equivalent in our society.

Yet in Biblical times, Kingdoms were the norm.  Everybody understood that a King was the absolute ruler.  All Dominion and Glory and Power belonged to the King, or Caesar or Emperor, or whatever he was called.  People understood the concept.  That is why Israel longed for the restoration of the Kingdom in Jesus’ time, because they were sickened by the corrupt and repressive domination of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.  They wanted their own Kingdom with a just ruler, like David of old.  But they could only think in terms of an earthly Kingdom

One thing we know for sure:  Heaven is the Kingdom of God.  And so, whether we are familiar and comfortable with Kingdoms or not, we need to understand the Kingdom of God and how it differs from kingdoms in this world.  All of us have been offered everlasting life in that Kingdom; none of us has been promised everlasting life in this world.  Aside from life in the Kingdom of God after our earthly life, there is only the prospect of death.

So what is the Kingdom of God like?  Well, it is not a democracy- none of us gets a vote there, as individuals, we don’t get a say about what happens.  It is not a republic either- diverse groups of people don’t matter in its governance, only the King’s will matters.  God alone will make the rules, and give the orders, and make the rewards.  And the rewards are great- joy and happiness and freedom from all pain and suffering forever. Like all Kingdoms, the head of the Kingdom of God wants loyalty and service from his subjects.  Each of us has been given the opportunity to show our loyalty and to serve the King while we live.  We are called to respond to that opportunity by accepting the Word of God, Jesus Christ, on faith.  That’s the loyalty part.  And then by living according to the word of God by following the Gospel as a way of life, and by doing the will of the Father for us.  That’s the service part.  It is on these criteria that we will be selected for the Kingdom of God or not.  Put another way, these are the basis for our judgment.

Today we hear multiple accounts of the coming of the Kingdom of God.  Notice how similar the first two accounts are.  One like the Son of Man will come, and then everything will change- life as we know it will be different, because God, and His designated Son, will reign forever- with all dominion and glory and power.  There will be no more competing kings or earthly powers; no more death and suffering.  They also establish that Jesus Christ is that King.

Now the important point today is the message that this Kingdom is coming-  It is coming for all of us.  Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King.  And the Gospel makes it very clear in Jesus’ own words that his kingdom is not of this world.  Funny, isn’t it.  Because we have just spent 10 or so weeks in ordinary time on the church calendar hearing about the kingdom of God in parables and stories and other snippets from the Gospel.  We hear that the Kingdom is amongst us; that the Kingdom is a hidden treasure waiting to be found right now; and that there is joy in heaven over repentant sinners because they will share in the Kingdom.  So how can the Kingdom be amongst us and at the same time not be of this world?

Well, the joy that we all seek is the joy that is in our hearts when we know that we are in harmony with God.  Nobody can take that away from us, no matter how much mental or physical stress or pain we may be under.  If Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, in other words your King, then the Kingdom of God is already there for you.