Practical Kingdom Truth

by Rev. Jim HollandTeri was out of town, and I have been spending a great deal of time at the hospital with my mother, so when Bethan texted and asked the boys and me over for supper, I accepted with relish. I had been wondering what delicious thing I would prepare for the three of us, but the thought of not having to worry about cooking and cleaning up at all, and just relaxing in the craziness of my daughter’s home was welcome.After supper, we were sitting on the deck in the back yard, and I looked around and was not disappointed. I turned to see my two grandsons playing happily, one on a ladder and the other with some truck, both totally naked, shod only in footgear. One had on his red tennis shoes and the other one his boots. Bethan and Jrew didn’t seem to mind, so what could I say? It was obvious—and I know from having them at my house often—that clothing is not a big priority to them, so the conversation just went on as if they were dressed to the nines in their Sunday best, and we enjoyed one of those enchanted evening when everything seems right with the world.I have thought of that image the past few days.  From one extreme to the next: young boys bursting with life, their whole life in front of them, on one hand, to my dear, sweet mom struggling to recover from her back surgery on the other. One image suggested the joy that is possible in life, and the other a reminder of how hard life can be, especially as we age.I think it was Bethan who told me one day not long after she had finished college, and had had enough time to reflect on the mystery of life, “You know Dad, I have figured it out. In a fallen world, the bad things are really, really bad and the good things are really good.” She is right, and as you read the Bible, you see exactly that. The Bible is unflinching in its descriptions of how broken the world is—utterly broken! Bad things happen to good people, the good die young, and you try to do the right thing and live a gospel life and still wind up with cancer or hit by a drunk. Not to mention death—the final and climatic blow of the fallen-ness of humanity. And yet, the descriptions of joy and the human capacity for wonder and pleasure are also themes the Bible is lavish in describing—marital bliss, the wonder of food, the breathtaking description of landscapes, and the capacity that God made in the human body for simple and yet profound enjoyment. Yes, Bethan you are a theologian; you can pass go and collect two hundred dollars.For the past four months, I have been thinking about, reading about, and preaching about the Kingdom of God. I suppose that is a good thing, since Jesus talked about it more than any other subject. There are so many facets to Jesus and his speaking about the kingdom that they are too numerous to mention here, but one of the huge takeaways about the kingdom as we see it in the Bible is that it is both “now and not yet.” Aside from knowing that Jesus came as my redeemer, and to give me the freedom to actually live well in a broken world, the truth that Jesus’ kingdom is a present reality that exists right now but will not be fully realized until he comes to bring the New Heavens and New Earth, is one of the most practical truths I know.Hardship is a little easier when you realize this, because you know that as good as life can be, you will never get all your heaven here and now. The Bible is clear: we were made for joy, and it is certainly a fruit of the Spirit, but as much as God might bless you with joy and material things, they can never fill the heart completely. Even if we don’t get the life we thought we would have, something glorious awaits us when one day, “the not yet” of the kingdom arrives, God will wipe away every tear, and our bodies will last forever.We strive for all our heaven here and now, though, don’t we? Yet, even the greatest joy we ever experience is laced with bitterness and disappointment, because we know the vacation will end, the perfect moment will fade, the best marriage will be interrupted by death. Instead of being crushed by that realization, we thank God again for the joy, fleeting though it is, because we know that one day, we will not just experience joy as something fleeting. No—one day we will pass into it, wallow in it, and know that it will not fade or pass away.But perhaps one of the greatest practical benefits of knowing that one day God will bring the consummation of the kingdom to pass is how we live now. After a lengthy description of what our glorified humanity will look like when Jesus comes back (the present model with amazing upgrades!), Paul concludes his teaching by saying this: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (I Corinthians 15: 58) In other words, it is the knowledge of what God has in store for us that makes us love God’s world even more, have more concern for it, and be more diligent in seeing now the realization of the Lord’s Prayer, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” See, what the Bible teaches you about the kingdom being “now and not yet” is radically counter-cultural. It teaching that the goal is not an easy life but a meaningful life, not a life lived to maximize all pleasure and avoid all pain (no one can do that, anyway), but one lived under the rule of God, with the concern of God for this world—one of redemptive usefulness in all things.