As a pilgrim on the journey of faith in Christ, I am captivated by seeing life through the perspective of the Kingdom of God as taught in the New Testament. In the posts that follow, I will not comment on contemporary issues in society. However, where Scripture read within the context of the Kingdom of God addresses contemporary issues in this world, it will most generally emerge by implication in my exposition of the biblical texts. Where that occurs, I am unapologetic – regardless of how that strikes at the reader’s philosophy, worldview, political affiliation, values, etc. Those are but constructs of this fallen world and are essentially corrupted and have little value to me.
Readers will not find a topical devotional guide in these posts. Instead, I write reflectively about the teaching of Scripture regarding life of a believer in the context of the Kingdom of God. In lieu of general exhortations and encouragement, believers should anticipate their lives (and mine) and manner of thinking about life and the world to be challenged by the biblical text.
I am not selling a product, promoting a business, preparing a book, nor am I striving for popularity and expanding the number of readers of this blog for recognition. In truth, my writing in the following posts are probably more for me. Should a fellow believer feel kinship enough to read the posts because it resonates with his or her pilgrimage, that would be most satisfying.
What do I mean when I use the phrase the Kingdom of God? It is a phrase used in the theological discussion of eschatology (doctrine of last things) that defies a simple dictionary definition. In fact, Jesus didn’t define it in a sentence but used analogy to define the Kingdom of God (In Luke 13:18, when teaching through various parables Jesus asked multiple times, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?). Nonetheless, I will hazard to offer an imperfect definition for general context: “the realm in which God completely rules and reigns which is inverse to our time bound existence on earth.” The following posts will add more nuance to this rudimentary understanding of the Kingdom of God by providing perspectives from different vantage points in varying biblical texts.
One final point of context: my earliest Christian faith was nurtured in the 1970s in the midwestern United States by listening to radio Bible teachers/pastors and reading Good News for Modern Man and the Christian allegory written by John Bunyon, Pilgrim’s Progress. This was the foundation of my nascent faith after my conversion to Christ as a self-proclaimed atheist over 45 years ago. I learned from Bunyon, that Christian faith is a journey, and I am but one of many pilgrims making my way from the “City of Destruction” to the “Celestial City.” The complete title of the 1687 book is The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come, The complete title sums up the overarching theme of my thinking – living in the contrast between “this world” and “that which is to come” (the eschatological Kingdom of God).
Where do I start in this first post? Not at the beginning (Genesis), nor at the “blessing” of those who seek the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). Instead, I start at the end (Revelation). In the closing verses of the book of Revelation, we find on display the passion that drives those who long for the Kingdom of God:
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20; NASB 1995).
In this verse, there seems to be an allusion to 1 Corinthians 16:22 in which the word “Maranatha” (Come Lord Jesus) is used. After the elder Apostle John records the horrible events of God’s judgment juxtaposed with human arrogance and rebellion, he conveys to his readers the sights of the new heaven and new earth where the dwelling of God is with humans. In the tension of the present moment of the persecution that John’s readers were facing and the coming judgment on the earth described in his revelation, this passion for the second coming of Christ and His Kingdom emerges. It should not be overlooked that the words of the risen Christ are equally filled with passion – “yes, I am coming soon.”
This passion for the second coming of Christ in which He will establish His rule and reign is a cry not only from those suffering during persecution, but of the whole of human suffering since the fall in Genesis 3. Since that event, sin has been maturing, expressed in every generation in the evil that humans do to each other, violence, injustice, vile debauchery – debasing of others and self. Additionally, since the fall, innocent souls experience unexplainable suffering that cannot be traced to a human act as its cause. The natural world equally bears the fruit of the fall (e.g., the man born blind in John 9). It weighs deeply on the hearts of empathetic believers so they cry out, “come Jesus come” – end the suffering, make all things new.
Humans are not alone in suffering since the fall, Paul says in Romans 8:22 that all creation “groans and suffers” with us, eagerly awaiting the final redemption of humanity. Indeed, creation bears the mark of the fall of humanity, not just as a result of human abuse and neglect, but in the transition from its “good” nature at the time of creation to the universe under the “curse” of the ground in Genesis 3:17. Nature cooperated with humanity in the original created order. After the fall, it became antagonistic toward humanity, exhibiting its own violence in storms, earthquakes, extreme temperatures, etc. This phenomenon was extended to animals as well as those determined to be “good” at creation became “predator” and “prey.” So that in Isaiah, the plan of God’s finished work in the age to come is described as:
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. 7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9: NASB 1995)
I have found myself taking in all of the rancor of this world, the suffering of the innocent, the groaning of humanity and creation, and I begin to desperately desire to experience the reality of Revelation 21:5: “And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” In eschatological terms, it is the passion of those in “this age” longing for “the age which is to come.” It is John’s “Come Lord Jesus,” in Revelation 22:20. It manifests in an unquestionable knowledge that this is not the way the universe should function. It results in an estrangement from “this world,” recognizing that this world is not home. It whispers “this reality is not all that there is.” Without being persecuted for my faith, I still have sensed that passion that seeks something “other;” something beyond the best of human accolades and accomplishments.
I discovered in Scripture that this longing, this sense of estrangement, is not a neurosis for which I need medication or therapy – it is based in a biblical reality. “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14). “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. . .” (Philippians 3:20). In the New Testament it is clear, the longing for the “other” reality, the estranged feeling from this world, is actually normal for the believer in Christ. The Christian whose life concentrates on the here and now, is abnormal – in fact, it may reveal that he/she is not actually part of the Kingdom of God: “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4). “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15).
The contrast (conflict) between the Kingdom of God and “this world” is critical to a believer’s faith and worldview but it is not something that will seem reasonable or logical to those who are not people of faith. Back when I maintained social media accounts, a Christian friend of mine posted something referring to the difference between this world and the kingdom. Her “friend” (perhaps a co-worker) was aghast at such language and with arrogant derision ask, “you don’t actually believe” in the difference between this world and some other non-worldly place do you? Jesus did. “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36). Non-believers cannot see beyond this world, so they long only for the perishable things of this world. (1 Corinthians 2:14: “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”).
Passion for the Kingdom of God can manifest as weariness caused by living and seeing this broken world. Longing for the coming of Christ and His Kingdom is not only the norm for a believer in Christ, it is holy – not something shared by all of humanity, but only by those “born again” or “born from above” (“Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3). As I mature in faith, this holy longing for the Kingdom of God to come and for the old heaven and earth to pass away should grow exponentially and I should begin to feel even more like a “sojourner and exile” in this world (1 Peter 2:11).
Passion for the Kingdom of God is not for material things and prosperity in this life. “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2). Believers are not only to avoid seeking for things in this life, we are to refrain from worrying about them. “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.” (Luke 12:29; cf. Matthew 6:31-33). Kingdom priorities are radically different from the priorities of this world – Christians would do well to avoid teachers who teach contrary to the principles and priorities of the Kingdom of God.
My prayer is that the posts that follow in this blog will be driven by passion for the Kingdom of God and that it will even intensify so that this world and its priorities fade and I look to see everything in the eternal context of the Kingdom of God. In Revelation 22:17, the readers are invited by the Spirit and the Bride (the church or believers) to come and encounter the Kingdom – if they are thirsty, they are invited to come and “take the water of life without cost.” Given the passion of the Lord Jesus to return, to complete His Kingdom plan, to heal, to restore all things, I share the passion and accept that invitation of verse 17. As a pilgrim, on my journey away from the City of Destruction, I want to feel more estranged in this world and long for that which is to come. The contemporary Christian song by Stephen Mcwhirter catches this holy longing, the passion for the Kingdom of God:
Come, Jesus, come
We've been waiting so long
For the day You return
To heal every hurt
And right every wrong
We need You right now
Come and turn this around
Deep down I know
This world isn't home
Come, Jesus, come
Come, Jesus, come
Come, Jesus, come
Maranatha!
Thy Kingdom Come 
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