new church life: march / april 2014
We tend to look for Him to be
a king the way we want Him to
be a king, and to rule the way
we want Him to rule. Rather
than go back to the Word and
see what kind of a king the
Lord actually is and how He
actually rules, we try to control
that message ourselves.
What would it look like
if the Lord really was king
of this world? What would
the kingdoms of this world
look if He were in charge?
One problem for the people
back then, and similarly for
us today, is that we tend to
define the Lord as a king in
our own way. We tend to
look for Him to be a king
the way we want Him to be
a king, and we tend to look
for Him to rule the kind of
kingdom that we want Him
to rule. Rather than go back to the Word and see what kind of a king the Lord
actually is and how He actually rules, we try to control that message ourselves.
What kind of king is the Lord? And what kind of kingdom are we really
looking at here? When He was talking to Pilate the Lord said, “You say rightly
that I am a king.” (John 18:37) But He also said, “My Kingdom is not of this
world. If My Kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I
should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My Kingdom is not from here.”
(John 18:36)
If the Lord’s Kingdom is not on earth, where is it? Surely, His Kingdom is
in heaven. As New Church Christians, we understand that. All Christians get
it: the Lord is ruling heaven; He is the king of heaven. But calling the Lord the
King of Heaven can lead to a misconception. It can make it seem that the Lord
is only the king of the afterlife, not this life, and that His Kingdom will only
really be realized after death. But isn’t the Lord somehow king of this world as
well? Doesn’t His ruling heaven affect us all right now?
While the Lord’s Kingdom is “not of this world,” that doesn’t mean it has
nothing to do with this world. Take a look at what the Lord says in Luke 17:2021: “Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God
would come, He answered them and said, ‘The Kingdom of God does not
come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed
the Kingdom of God is within you.’”
That changes the whole concept dramatically. Clearly the Lord’s Kingdom
is not just some earthly kingdom, nor it simply in a place called heaven that
we go to when we die. The Lord’s Kingdom is not really connected to a specific
place, earthly or heavenly, at all. The Kingdom of God exists inside us, in our
spirit, and it is something that is alive and accessible within us right now.
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