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The Kingdom of God

When comparing the Roman Empire or the Allied Forces in the Second World War to the Kingdom of God there are, of course, several fundamental differences, not least of which is that God has absolute power, something Roman Emperors and General Eisenhower could only dream of. God could achieve all his purposes by ‘direct action’ – he created the universe just by speaking – but it’s clear that did he this for us, and he chooses to involve us, if we are willing, in his great plan of redemption.

Jesus spoke often about the Kingdom of God^[22]. A kingdom is a territory and a people group that have a monarch, someone who has authority over the land and the population. In history, a nation could lose their land but retain their monarch. Therefore, the key factor in a kingdom is sovereignty over a people group.

When we put together all Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God, we do not find a simple message of God’s sovereignty. The Kingdom of God is something we must enter, but to do so is not easy (Matthew 19:24). Children (Mark 10:14-15), sinners (Matthew 21, 31), foreigners (Luke 13:29) find it easier to get into than the rich (Luke 18:24) or the self-righteous (Luke 17:20) – we need to be born again (John 3:5) to be part of it. It has secrets (Luke 8:10) and it is revealed through parables (Luke 13:19, etc.).

Any serious study of the Kingdom of God from the pages of the Bible has to come to the conclusion that the teaching on this subject is paradoxical, but the centurion, with his insight into Jesus’ authority, can help us with an intuitive understanding of what Jesus intended when he spoke about the Kingdom of God.

There is an even wider and deeper paradox at the heart of the gospel, which can be stated thus: human beings are free agents who are responsible for their actions; yet God is in charge of the universe, even of our hearts and minds. All attempts to resolve this paradox using human logic have failed; and have resulted in the setting up of opposing camps labelled Calvinism and Arminianism after John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius. Calvin taught that believers should be assured they are elect because they are in Christ, and that election is completely an act of grace by God. Arminius held that election is conditional on man’s response to God’s grace, that predestination is no more than foreknowledge on God’s part. Although this paradox appears at a number of points in both the Old and New Testament, none of the Biblical writers seem to see it as a problem to be wrestled with using our abilities of logical deduction.

The biblical characters… never face the sovereignty-responsibility tension as an abstract theological conundrum; but there is a profound experiential awareness of it among those who are faced with personally painful and perplexing predicaments.^[23]

This cannot be dismissed by assuming the Biblical writers had no interest in logic, there are many examples of careful reasoning in the Bible^[24]. Rather, we must deduce that this paradox is ultimately beyond our finite minds.

Although it appears that there is no logical solution to the paradox, in considering the Bible’s description of Jesus, we find a complete practical resolution, i.e. he is a man with free will yet he always obeys the Father^[25]. This can be seen most clearly in Gethsemane; he had a real choice whether to go through with the crucifixion:

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

Yet the Father’s sovereign purposes were perfectly fulfilled, as Peter said:

“This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” (Acts 2:23)

As we consider what Jesus desires for his church, we need to keep the paradox in mind. Of course, God could defeat satan, solve all the problems of humankind in one instant, and just take us all off to heaven, but he has chosen to allow us to play a major part in his plan of our redemption. However, he has a problem – we often think we know best how to fulfil what we presume are his purposes.

When we look at the life of Jesus here on earth we see the prototype for our involvement in the plans and purposes of God. Jesus knew where he was headed, he operated according to certain principles (for example, loving God with his whole being and loving his neighbour as himself), but what he chose to do day by day was not according to some master plan, but as the Father led him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, during his time on earth, from his conception until the Resurrection, chose to have the same limitations as every other human being that has ever lived. Everything he achieved during those 33 years was as a finite being who lived in communion with the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus said, “Follow me”, he meant by this that his followers should do the same. We are equipped with the same Holy Spirit. Also, we have an advantage over the pre-Pentecostal disciples in that Jesus lives in us, and is not just walking beside us. However, it is valuable to look at those early followers to be inspired by what is possible with Jesus. He sent out the Twelve to do what he had been doing, but he also sent out (Greek: apostello) seventy (or seventy-two) others that we read about in Luke 10. The details of this account need to be studied by every Christian who longs to see the kingdom of God moving into new territory, but for now, let’s concentrate on these points:

The willingness of the seventy to be used in this way brought joy to Jesus (v21) and he told them that they were blessed more than prophets and kings (v24)
Jesus won a major victory over satan through them (v18)
The seventy had direct confirmations of their effectiveness (v17)

It is clear from Luke 10 that Jesus has chosen to defeat his enemy through his Body, and he needs the willing submission of its members. We have to reject those eschatologies (theories about the end times) that say that the church can passively wait for the return of Jesus; these are inconsistent with how he led his followers when he was on earth and how he is working in and through us today

Therefore…

Today’s church in the UK gets close to Luke 10 in what is usually called ‘Healing on the Streets’, taking seriously Jesus’ words to the seventy:

“Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’” (Luke 10:9)

Many churches (often working in partnership) have sent out small groups into town centres offering prayer for healing and seen remarkable results.

I believe that the ways of healing on the streets that correspond most closely to ‘the way that Jesus did it’ are those that have the minimum of structure and the maximum of opportunity to hear Jesus directing the work. One advantage we have over the First Century, is modern telecommunications. With the help of Nathan Taylor^[26] we employed an approach he calls ‘Locked and Loaded’. Simply put, this involves two teams: one ‘wandering with intent’ around the streets of the town, the other gathered in one place. The job of the second team is to seek Jesus’ direction and to pass on his commands, by phone (voice or text), to the first team. One Saturday, I was half-way between the two teams when I met an friend; we stopped to chat, and I described ‘Locked and Loaded’. She then asked for prayer for a work colleague who had suffered a heart attack, so we prayed together there and then for him. I continued on into town to meet up with the first team, only to discover that they had just received this text “Got sense of patch of ground between end of grey friers bridge and stop cafe. Something significant to happen there.”. This was so precise: we were praying exactly half way between the Greyfriars footbridge and the Stop Café. Later the same day, I was able to ask my friend to tell her colleague that we knew that God was on his case.

The obvious question that arises at this point is, how can I hear the voice of the Master better? What would the answer be if this question were asked during the 3½ years of Jesus’ public ministry? Quite simply, get close to him. The ones that heard the most (some of them left us the Gospels) were the ones that spent time with him, hearing him speak to the crowds, the group and to individuals.

The next question is, how do I get close to him today? In those years, they could walk to where they could see him, but what can anyone do since the Ascension? The answer again is very simple: be close to his Body, be a part of it, and acknowledge his presence in his Body, then he will speak directly to you. This shows how vital it is that our churches are true expressions of the Body of Christ. Each time we compromise how we are as a church, in order to achieve a worldly purpose through a worldly means, we limit how well we will hear him speaking to us as individuals, corporately and to those outside of our fellowship. This is why we should examine our churches, not to see how large they are, or what they achieve, or how many programmes they have, or any other criteria; but simply how well they reflect the nature of Jesus as revealed in the Gospels and the rest of the Bible. Even when a church sets out on the road to Christlikeness, there is an enormous temptation to hang on to these other goals, particularly as we are usually judged on our ability to meet them. I believe we must consciously and deliberately put them aside, and be single-minded in our pursuit of him and our surrender to him, and his goals for us.

As we read the Gospels, we realise Jesus was prepared to listen to everyone. He would allow himself to be diverted, he encouraged every glimmer of faith in God; but he was hard on those who put their faith in anything else, for example, their traditions or their self-righteousness. We will go on getting to know him better for eternity, but we need to start now.

So, there is no formula here, like there is no formula for falling in love. All we can do is get rid of the things that get in the way of a deeper relationship, and acknowledge our utter dependence in him and his grace.

Let’s finish this chapter with a paragraph from Andrew Murray. His words to be spoken to the Father are not a formal prayer, but rather an expression of a deep desire.

We have not only Christ’s life in us as a power, and His presence with us as a person, but we have His likeness to be wrought into us. He is to be formed in us, so that His form or figure, His likeness, can be seen in us. Bow before God until you get some sense of the greatness and blessedness of the work to be carried on by God in you this day. Say to God, “Father, here am I for Thee to give as much in me of Christ’s likeness as I can receive.” And wait to hear Him say, “My child, I give thee as much of Christ as thy heart is open to receive.” The God who revealed Jesus in the flesh and perfected Him, will reveal Him in thee and perfect thee in Him. The Father loves the Son, and delights to work out His image and likeness in thee. Count upon it that this blessed work will be done in thee as thou waitest on thy God, and holdest fellowship with Him.” ^[27]

Discussion Points

List out some of the ways you have seen God achieve something employing Christians when he could have just done it himself? In each case, discuss the possible reasons why he chose to use sinful, fallible, weak,… people rather than the forces of heaven directly under his command.
Give examples of relationship building through working together on a God-inspired project. Do you think the participants grew closer to God as they built their relationships with each other? If anyone has experience of a foreign mission trip, it would be valuable to share how the team related to each other and how this affected their walk with the Lord.
What is your heart’s desire in seeing God doing things through you? Pray for each other.