The Good News Of The Kingdom

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 

                                                                                   (Mark 1:14-15 KJV)

The Good News; the Gospel, that Jesus preached is the Kingdom of God! 

There was a time when I asked people (particularly pastors) what they thought the  Gospel was. I heard a lot of different answers. Mostly they were things like: love, joy, peace...  No one, that I recall, answered the question with what Jesus preached: the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God does indeed include love, joy, peace, and many other much desired states of being. But, outside of the Kingdom of God, we search for these things in vain. 

The Christian lives in this material world. But, the Christian is also a resident of the Kingdom of God. God does reign in both of these kingdoms. He is the after all the Creator and Lord of all things. The Kingdom of God is often portrayed as something that will come to us in the future. But, Jesus said it is near to us. It is not of this material world so it is not seen by the naked eye.

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20-21)

It is unfortunate that so many Christians live solely for the world and for the time after death or when Jesus returns in a manner that the whole world will see with their eyes. It is unfortunate because they do not recognize that with the death of Christ the Kingdom of God has already broken into this world. We are heirs and citizens of that Kingdom and live even now in the presence of God. 

St. Paul wrote to the Colossians:  "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Col 1:12-14)

Translated us into the Kingdom is past tense. It has already been accomplished. It is done. The Kingdom of God is ours today as well as in the future. 

The Kingdom of God is indeed peace, love, and joy and much more. It is all of those things because we who were not God's children are now God's children and live in His eternal presence even now. I often wonder how it is that if we choose the kingdom of the world over the presence of of God in His Kingdom today why we would even want to live in His Kingdom after death. I also think that maybe it is that we profess to be Christians because ultimately we are afraid of death. So, maybe we should consider if the reason we might profess our faith is because of the fear of dying or because we actually love God.

As Christians, we live in both kingdoms. God ordained it to be that way. He reigns in both. In the kingdom of the world we will continue to strive after things that really don't matter much. But, in the Kingdom of God we can find joy and peace and love because in that Kingdom we can know God's presence even today.

God's Peace - Pr. J.