THE KINGDOM OF GOD
“The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” – Luke
17:21
People
are far guiltier of reducing the kingdom of God than rejecting it
outright. Reducing it and, therefore,
limiting it.
The
people of Israel reduced the kingdom to a political kingdom. They looked
forward to a messiah who would drive out the Romans and restore the throne of
David. Even after the resurrection of Christ, the disciples still thought of
the kingdom in national terms. They asked Him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?” Yet,
Jesus always insisted that His
kingdom “is not of this world.”
Some
Christians have sought to reduce the kingdom to an ecclesiastical kingdom. They
claim that the church, with all its manufactured claims to infallibility, is
the kingdom. However, the Christian church, while it holds within itself the
best life of the kingdom, cannot lay claim to the kingdom of God as its
exclusive possession. The kingdom is absolute; the church is relative. The
kingdom judges and corrects the church, and the church is potent to the degree
that it obeys the kingdom and embodies its life and spirit
Today some church leaders have reduced the kingdom of God to a
materialistic kingdom. So
to become a follower of Christ is to become successful and prosperous, for “God wants His children to have the best”—plenty
of money in the bank and a luxury car in the garage. Yet, the Word makes it
clear that “the kingdom of God does not
mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”
(Romans 14:17).
Jesus
said, “The kingdom of God is in the midst
of you.” That is, He is
the kingdom. The King and the kingdom are
one in that Jesus is the embodiment of the kingdom. He is the kingdom of
God putting on sandals and walking. This
means that if Christ is living in you, the kingdom of God is in you. When
Christ reigns within, then His Spirit and virtues are manifest in your
individual life and in all of your social relationships.
Thought for the day:
We belong to an unchanging King and
an unshakable kingdom.
J.T.
Seamands