HOPE! - The Kingdom Of God

Why should we be patient with others? Why should we be gentle? What do we have to motivate our humility? Aren’t these all just acts or works? We already know that doing good deeds isn’t what gets us into heaven right? It’s all by grace right? And we already know that our good deeds are like “filthy rags” when compared to God’s goodness… so what’s the point of trying?

What’s the answer?

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Huh?

The Kingdom of God is not about doing good deeds to get into heaven. We’re not patient because we think that God will reward us for our patience. God is the reward. And he is the source of all that is good… in us… and in the whole of Creation.

It is the Kingdom of God that woos us and transforms the essence of our beings into conformity with the will of God.

But what is the Kingdom of God?

I would explain the Kingdom of God as both a physical and a spiritual place. The kingdom of God exists within us because the spirit of Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit. So the kingdom of God exists in the present day because it exists within believers who possess the kingdom already.

However, while it exists in the present day, it also exists in the future. The future is not exactly the same as the present. “The kingdom is and is yet to come.” This means that while the kingdom is here with us now, it has not yet been fully realized or revealed. It has been inaugurated but it has not yet been made complete, or brought into fullness.

The kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God over his creation. He reigns inside of our hearts, and he will reign over all the earth. The kingdom of God is seen in the church and will be seen throughout the entire world. Jesus will return and reign on the earth in a physical kingdom. This is also the kingdom of God.

Jesus described the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven (same thing), in many different ways. In the gospels Jesus speaks of the kingdom in parables. He says that it is like a mustard seed, which starts out as the smallest of all seeds and then grows to become the largest of all garden plants. The kingdom begins as the smallest of all things but grows into the largest of all things. It begins as a tiny seed planted in someone’s heart and grows into something bigger than that person themselves. It grows into heaven itself. God himself lives inside of us even though he is bigger than all that exists. The fullness of God became a baby in a manger. This is the kingdom of God.