The Unstoppable Kingdom
In the Bible, there a hundreds of references to the Kingdom of God. Whether you find it in the allusions of the Old Testament, the proverbs of Jesus, or the questions of the disciples, understanding the importance of God's Kingdom in Christianity is vital. To be too simplistic, the Kingdom is the sphere of God's reign; it is the very place where his power, glory and grace are present. The Kingdom of God is what we are after. It is at the heart of our prayer. It is our deepest longing. Namely that Jesus, who we do not yet see reigning in all things (Heb. 2), would come to reign over all things.
What is important however about this Kingdom is that it is never described as fully here. Yes, it is present here and now, but not yet in it's fullness. Yes, there is evidence that God reigns in some areas, but like a King who has conquered a foreign land and has yet to fully exert and influence his control over the existing culture, we still encounter the consequences in this world broken by sin and death. We still see injustice, poverty, disease, and selfishness.
This can give way to misunderstandings however about this Kingdom, for just because it's full influence and power are not yet established, many believe and confess that the Kingdom is inferior or failing. You hear it all the time in the negative way we talk about our churches, the bitterness evident towards our family in the Lord, the disdain towards our leadership, or even our lack of engagement with evangelism. Sometimes you get the picture that Jesus is this snot nosed pre-teen taking his dad's car for an ill advised midnight joy ride. Unable to reach the pedals and likely to crash this vehicle called church.
This could not be further from the truth for not only is Jesus capable, He knows exactly what he is doing. He actually set it up like this. And isn't it just like God to use weakness to reveal strength. To use unproven, immature people to display his greatness.
So we've got to watch out for pride because it is always the threat to this growing, advancing Kingdom. Demanding the Kingdom's fullness before it has developed; creating a culture of doubt and insecurity.
But, the Kingdom of God is never at rest. It is always advancing. It is relentless and I believe unstoppable. Nothing could be more secure than a Kingdom build upon the power, glory, goodness and grace of God the rock.
John said the Kingdom is advancing and the violent will take it by force. Matthew spoke of the Kingdom like a seed, growing and maturing and becoming like a tree. Daniel saw this Kingdom like a rolling stone cut from the rock, utterly destroying the glory of every earthly Kingdom, and eventually growing to fill the earth. And finally, Jesus said, that the Kingdom is inside of us.
So let's remember what has happened to us at salvation. The advancing, unstoppable Kingdom has conquered our hearts. Jesus the King now reigns in us, over us and through us with unlimited power, goodness, mercy and grace by the Spirit. And the nature of His Kingdom in us produces momentum. We just cannot help but be caught up in it. We just cannot help but be changed. For the purposes of God to restore, repair and reconcile everything through Jesus will not be stopped. You need to settle that in your heart. And then start rolling with the Kingdom.
The Goodness of God
I believe there is nothing more vital to maintaining a proper understanding of God than believing in His eternal goodness. It is the bedrock of His character. It is the foundation of Christian theology. It is what sets God apart from all others. It is the basis of the gospel for which we give our lives.
If God is not good, how could we ever trust him. The whole message of His grace and His incredible love towards us in the gospel crumbles under it’s own weight, if God is not good. Accordingly, we must NEVER entertain thoughts that are contrary to this.
And yet His goodness is often open for debate in our lives. Not however, in the abstract doctrinal way, but in the painful moments, where in our loss, in the stress, in the transition we often so easily question his heart towards us. This is where the battle is. For as it says in Psalm 51, “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place”. When truth is established in our hearts, it is strength. And His goodness is an anchor we cannot survive without. The storms of life were never meant to be experienced apart from the hope of His coming peace. His goodness is an astounding promise to our heart's dark nights. And embracing Jesus' 'once and for all' victory over sin, death and Satan at the cross is our daily act of trust to declare to this world not yet at right, that His goodness is stronger than any temporary problem, failure or pain. His goodness reigns forever over everything. Your goodness God, reigns in my life and over my family. Remember eternal things are eternal and temporary things are temporary. God is good.
Challenging Status Quo
Well it's been awhile since I blogged here (the opening line of every uncommitted lazy blogger) and thought I'd share some of the ideas we've been working through in our community at Grace. I can honestly say it is the most challenging, rewarding and exciting thing when you are challenged as a community to follow God in a deeper way and you begin to see a group as a whole, choose to respond together. There is just something about stretching your corporate faith that releases a fresh energy and passion to pursue Jesus. I cannot help but be inspired as I see, hear and experience the cry of a group of people desiring to give everything up to follow Jesus. It is the most beautiful sound when wholehearted worship is offered to God from honest hearts. Jesus must love that.
On that note, we recently had the honor of hearing Bob Gladstone speak at our annual church conference and I believe the outcome of his teaching and wisdom spoken to us will lead to a real transformation in our community if we allow it.
So, as a way to recap and here are my big take-aways in bullet form from the weekend :
#1: God is asking us to "Seek His Face" in the midst of real life. How will we respond?
#2: The Spirit of God is equated to the face of God. So, "Seeking His Face" means honoring the Holy Spirit.
#3: To experience the community transformation of diversity into unity, we must speak the language of the Spirit. (*Note: this thought more fully developed means that as a community we speak the truth in love empowered by faith in God. This in turn creates life, which turns around and reproduces more life and more fruit and eventually extending the Kingdom)
#4: God is best revealed through human flesh. And as he lives in us, we cannot help but become people who love to bring restoration, extend ourselves sacrificially, and seek His Kingdom first.
#5: Don't build the church, extend the Kingdom. Bam.
In His Hands
Hello and welcome to the first entry in the Pastor's Blog for Grace! This is meant to be a place for us (Mike & Tony) to share some devotional thoughts and encouragements from the word! This is the first entry for our new blog and my (Mike's) first attempt in the blogosphere! So here goes....
Last week at Consumed I was sharing for the third week in a row on the cross and specifically from Isaiah 53, where the sacrifice of Jesus and his death is recounted in detail. It may be one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible, simply for the way it declares the heart of the good news. It reminds me a lot of scriptures like Exodus 34 where God unveils his character to Moses on the mountain, or like in Psalm 103 where David is declaring God to be the gracious and compassionate God of the Covenant. And the reason these verses are such good news is that they always connect the unveiling of the character of God to the invitation of God. So whether it’s Moses receiving the divine law, David rejoicing over the faithfulness of God to his covenant with Israel, or Jesus’ submission to death on the cross for our sins, the picture we see is a God unveiling himself in extravagant and steadfast love towards his creation.
So when I come to Isaiah 53, I can literally feel the heartbeat of the Father as I work through each of Isaiah’s conclusive declarations. In verse 4, it pronounces that SURELY, he has carried our sorrows, surely, he has borne our grief, surely, he has been wounded, been crushed, received beatings, endured oppression and affliction on our behalf. SURELY, he is the sacrificial lamb that without a word, submitted to an unjust death when we were the ones deserving of wrath. SURELY, he is the perfect Son, who despised glory in exchange for a humble cloak of humanity. Yes, truly He was that kind of man. Truly, He is that kind of God. A God of invitation, who extends himself for our highest good.
And yet, it is not solely the work of the Son, but we see that the cross was only accomplished with the full endorsement of the Father’s will and pleasure. Who, “Out of the anguish of his soul, shall see and be satisfied; [and] by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous”. Out of his pleasure. And His divine will prospers in the hands of his Son.
So, the challenge to me is that if we are going to be Christ followers, we need to be continually acquainted with the invitation of the cross. And, more accurately, the invitation of the cross to give Him the brokenness, pain, weakness, disappointments and sinful habits of our heart. We need to actually give him our burdens. We need to bring him our daily afflictions. We need to place our sickness in his wounded hands.