It’s here! The time is fulfilled! The Kingdom of God is at hand!
He’s here! The Messiah has come! The King of kings is at hand!
This is the message of Advent and Christmas, the message of the New Covenant, and the message of our lives.
Sometimes we seem to believe only in the eschatological coming of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. We know that Jesus will come again, and we know that He came and lived on earth for about 33 years. But then we seem to think that He isn’t around anymore. While it’s true that He sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to be His presence among and in us. Oh, and by the way, what is He doing at the Right Hand? Ruling over His kingdom!
Jesus Christ came as a man that He may dwell among men – and not just for 3 short years, never to be among us again. Immanuel: God is with us. This is not only an Old Testament prophecy that was fulfilled but a present reality for every true Christian.
Dallas Willard, in his Divine Conspiracy, sees the Kingdom of God as meaning essentially the rule of God in our lives. God’s ruling power is now available to mankind, through Jesus Christ who became man. Our kingdom, Willard says, is the range of our effective will. It is the realm of choice that we have and is related to our being made in the likeness of God. It is our ability to go and take dominion over the earth.
But this Kingdom of God was invisible for so long and burst forth only at key moments, it seemed, in the Old Covenant. The rule we were supposed to have in union with God was taken from us so that we became ungovernable and used our God-given powers for our own selfish purposes.
But when Jesus Christ became man, was baptized, and began His public ministry, all this changed. The King of kings descended and become man, and now man was able, through Jesus, to once again rule over creation with God.
That the Kingdom of God had come because the King had come is clear from Mark 1, for what do we find there? We find that Satan is defeated in the first fight between Jesus and Satan (he also loses the rematch at Calvary), that Jesus gathers disciples who will follow Him, that these disciples will make other disciples, that demons are cast out, people healed, and the Kingdom of God preached. All in Chapter 1. I told you Mark was like a literary John the Baptist!
The Kingdom of God is here!
But if the King is here and God now dwells with man, then we should find man ruling with God again. And we do. We find it in Jesus’ calling of His disciples. Now that the King has come and has brought His Kingdom with Him, the first thing He does is share it with man. So he chooses four fishermen to be His disciples. Those who used to feed off earthly food now seek the heavenly food which is Jesus Himself. Because they have accepted the rule of Jesus in their lives, they immediately leave their fishing nets and fathers, follow Jesus and begin the life of a disciple.
More than this, they are elected to spread the Kingdom of God by making disciples themselves. Those who before only caught fish were now commissioned to catch men, to bring them under the rule of the King of kings.
The Kingdom of God was therefore manifested especially in the lives of people who submitted to the rule of the King and to those who have given up their own petty and selfish kingdom and have bowed the knee to the King of kings. When we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” we are praying that God’s kingdom will come because His will is being done. That is the measure of where God’s kingdom is at: it’s wherever His rule is accepted.
The spread of the Kingdom begins with us, but we must all be faithful disciples who then spread His Kingdom by making disciples of others, that is, by bringing their lives progressively under His rule. We are all called to be fishers of men.
You have heard the call of John the Baptist: now hear the call of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is at hand! It is here, among you, within you, by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, live as if you are in the Kingdom of Heaven – because you are! Repent from your sins, that God alone may rule in your heart again. Believe in the gospel, a belief you will demonstrate to the world both by what you say and by what you do.
Be a disciple! But being a true disciple requires that at some point you will also be manifesting God’s kingdom by making more disciples.
The Kingdom of God is at hand! God has come to rule among His people again. This Advent, make it your goal to accept the rule of the King of kings by being His faithful disciple. Since He lives in you, go out and make other disciples.
But don’t worry, the One who is asking you to be a faithful disciple is also the One who reigns in you and will shower you with every gift necessary to do His loving will.
Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us or trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Do you believe that the Kingdom of God is here? Spend some time today cultivating an awareness that the Kingdom of God is within you and around you because the King is here.
2. As you prepare for the day, remind yourself that you are living in the Kingdom of God. Imagine the decisions and actions you will take today and how they can be brought under the rule of God.
3. Meditate on how much of your life has been brought under God’s rule. Examine one area which you have not surrendered to God, and carefully consider what steps you might take to surrender it to Him.
Resolution: I resolve today to meditate on the meaning of the Kingdom of God already being here because the King is here.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
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