- Live the Gospel Between Sundays
- Posts
- 📖 The Kingdom of God: In Your Midst
📖 The Kingdom of God: In Your Midst
Is the Kingdom of God a people, place, or thing?
Our goal at Theophilus is to make Jesus’ teaching accessible and relevant for all in the 21st century. Do you want to join that mission? Consider supporting the Theophilus Newsletter. We would be utmost grateful 😀
The Kingdom of God: In Your Midst
The Pharisees stood around Jesus and questioned Him.
He claimed to be the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed, who would rescue His people from all evil by ushering in the holy Kingdom of God.
Surely, if Jesus was this Messiah, then He’d know when such a Kingdom would arrive.
So, the Pharisees asked, and received from Jesus an unexpected response:
“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21, emphasis added)
The Kingdom is Now
Our series for the days ahead is something of a “standalone sequel” to last week.
Last week, we discussed Jesus’ Second Coming, which is intimately tied to the completion of God’s Kingdom.
In that series, we discussed the Kingdom to come in great detail, but not much about what is already here.
Jesus spoke both of a Kingdom to come and a Kingdom already here.
Because, according to Jesus, the Kingdom is already in our midst.
But what did He mean by that?
What Does it Mean that the Kingdom is Here?
Last week, I described God’s Kingdom as where God’s rule and Way of life reign supreme.
So, what does that mean for the Kingdom here and now?
Well, a few things.
For starters, it means that there are now people who, via the Holy Spirit, are following Jesus’ example of a “new humanity.”
This is a humanity not built on the enemies of the soul or the ways of greed, selfishness, violence, and so on…
…instead, it’s a humanity who lives according to God’s vision of love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as seen in Jesus (Galatians 5:22-23).
These people, organized in a transnational, transcultural, and transgenerational community called the Church, ultimately influence the world around them based on the person and teachings of Christ.
The regular partaking of the Lord’s Supper is an identity-marker of this new humanity in Christ.
The result?
A small window into the world Jesus will establish when He returns.
And it’s that small window we’re going to spend this week exploring.
Until tomorrow, and, for now, be blessed.
Jon,
Theophilus Newsletter
Enjoyed Today’s Newsletter?
Consider sharing on social media, or with friends and family! Just copy and paste this link: https://theophilus.beehiiv.com/.
You can also support us by donating!