Jesus, the fullness of the God of the universe, fully immersed himself into the identity and life of humanity — so that humans could have the possibility of being fully immersed into the identity of being children of God. It is his immersion into our world and his invitation for us to be immersed into his identity that we find true life, fulfillment, fullness, and restoration of who we were meant to be.
What does it mean to pray, “Your Kingdom come”? What is it we are actually asking for to take place on earth, as it is in heaven? What was Jesus proclaiming as he announced the Kingdom of God was at hand and in our midst? In this message we explore seven realities we see about the Kingdom Jesus brought with him and what it means to live in those realities.
God’s people had been waiting and holding their breath for the promised Messiah to come and rescue them. They all had different expectations of what to look for. When he finally came into the world, many could not see him because they were searching for something else. Yet, Jesus came just as promised. What are you looking for? What do you seek? Are you able to see the real Jesus and find the hope, joy, peace, and rescue you need?
Daniel is given a message not for himself, but for the people of Israel in the coming years. It is confusing to Daniel and he has questions, but he doesn't necessarily get answers. Instead, he's told to pass the message on for those coming later and to go on his way. Go live your life in Babylon, Daniel, as a faithful representative of God's kingdom, just as you've always been commanded to do. We can learn so much from this. We won't always understand God's words or His ways, or how He is at work in His world, but we are called to trust Him and go on our way. Keep living your life in this world as a faithful representative of God's Kingdom until Christ returns.
In chapter 8, Daniel switches back to writing in Hebrew to give the people of God a little more insight into what God had shown him through his dreams during the reign of Babylon. Other kingdoms would come after Babylon; Media/Persia, Greece, and so on, but they would all fall short of what humanity was intended to be. Daniel is troubled by this vision, but Gabriel, God's messenger of good news, arrives to interpret for him that there is hope: one day these beastly kingdoms will be overthrown.
Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful person on earth while he was the king of Babylon, but all that authority had been given to him by a much more powerful King. Still, he would need to have it all taken away and be humbled to the lowest point possible before he would realize the King who truly has power, authority, dominion, and glory over all the earth forever.
In Luke 22 and 23 we see a number of different types of people as they participate in or look upon the death of Jesus. Some of them are calling for Jesus’ death, many attest that he is innocent, but two see him in light of the kingdom. Luke tells us that Joseph of Arimathea and one of the criminals on the cross next to Jesus were looking for the coming kingdom of God and saw Jesus as one entering into that kingdom. It seems most others in this story were looking to some other kingdom. Which kingdom are you looking to?
Chapter 21 of Luke shows us Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem, the week of his death. Everyone he is with is enamored with the beauty of the temple, but Jesus is not impressed. He is more concerned with what is going on inside of the temple and inside of the hearts of the people within it. He is more concerned with creating a new temple for him to dwell in. He is more concerned with establishing a kingdom and a throne that will last forever.
A simple question, 'when is the kingdom coming?', has sparked all kinds of debate and confusion. Jesus addressed two different groups as he answered this question; the pharisees and his followers. At the heart of his response we see the same message to both: don't miss the kingdom of God by building your own.
Long thought of by many as a depiction of the afterlife, Jesus once told a fictional story that had much more to do with how God's people were living their current lives on earth, and how they were treating others made in God's image. The call of God's people has always been to use their blessings to be a blessing to others, inviting all into the loving community and kingdom of God. The main audience for this story Jesus was telling had lost that calling. What about us? How are we living out this call?
What does prodigal mean? The reckless and extravagant use of resources.
Jesus once told a story of two brothers; the younger who ran away from home and squandered his father’s inheritance, the older who stayed home and squandered his father’s presence. But the story is really about the father, who lavishly spent all of his resources to bring both of his sons into his loving arms.
What is the Kingdom of God about? Luke seems to think Jesus was breaking it down very simply for us: love God, love people, be with the King Jesus. In chapter 11, Jesus teaches us how to pray for the way of the kingdom, and at the heart of the prayer is a reshaping of our own hearts toward loving God, loving people, and being with the King.
This concluding doxology chimes in exactly with the message of the prayer as a whole: God's kingdom, God's power, and God's glory are what it's all about. To pray this prayer is to pray that God's kingdom may be seen in all the world as they see the glory of Jesus the Messiah. It is because God is King, and has become King in Jesus, that we can pray this prayer with confidence.
Daily needs and desires point beyond themselves to God's promise of the kingdom in which death and sorrow will be no more. The promise of the kingdom includes our daily needs and desires, and this prayer asks for our desires to be satisfied in God's way and God's time. This prayer urges us to pray with the wider Christian family, and human family, standing alongside the hungry and praying on their behalf. It is a prayer for the complete fulfillment of God's kingdom: for God's people to be rescued from hunger, guilt and fear.
The second main petition of the Lord's Prayer rules out any idea that the Kingdom of God is a purely heavenly reality. "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." When we pray this Kingdom-prayer we are praying, as Jesus was praying and acting, for the redemption of the world; for the radical defeat of evil; for heaven and earth to be married at last; for God to be all in all. We pray this for the world, and we pray this for the church.
