This is a series about politics, earthly government, and Jesus. In my first post, I mentioned that part of the prophecy from Isaiah 9:6-7 tells us that Jesus is a ruler of a peaceful kingdom established and upheld by justice and righteousness. Then I mentioned that the Kingdom of Heaven is not of this world especially because of the way that justice is delivered through the death of Jesus. Yesterday we looked at what it might be like to live under Jesus as a wonderful counselor and loving father who lives forever.
Today I’ll talk about how this Kingdom is increasing and bringing peace as it grows.
As a citizen in the Kingdom of Heaven, instead of deciding what is right in my own eyes, I submit to the authority of Jesus through the Word of God and to his Spirit. I don’t believe that everything that has been done throughout history “in the name of Christianity” is truly a reflection of a life lived in submission to the Prince of Peace. By no means have followers of Jesus always gotten it right, but the communities of Jesus who have, bring a reflection of the Kingdom of Heaven and peace that comes with it wherever it goes.
Now, the Kingdom of Jesus is not of this world. It is not a form of government, nor a particular political ideology. It is being lived out among us through the lives of people who trust Jesus. The way we talk about it in our church community is that disciples of Jesus are a FAMILY of GOSPEL-BRINGING SERVANTS growing in living out everyday rhythms of life with the intention of bringing the message and ministry of the Gospel. A community that succeeds in small ways to live this out as their identity brings a reflection and foreshadow of what Heaven will be like. They end up showing the world what God is like and what it looks like to live as a citizen of his kingdom.
Since we know God is in charge, this means that we don’t need to take it by force, as some have tried. We don’t need to overthrow the government so that our ideals for laws get passed. We don’t need to weasel our way out of paying taxes claiming we submit to a higher law. And we certainly don’t need to worry about conspiracy theories, though acknowledging that there is more than meets the eye can be helpful.
Like ambassadors of another nation, disciples of Jesus who are a family of gospel-bringing servants use their days as opportunities to live out the kingdom of God’s rule in our hearts and lives among the communities and cities we live in to show what he is like and to invite others into it…like a family…like servants…like ambassadors. The church is meant to be an expression of the Kingdom of Heaven that brings an increasing peace in people’s hearts.
I’ll close with one of my most favourite passages in the Bible:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
____________________________
To read more posts on Spiritually Speaking, click HERE.
