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WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

By Ramon Mayo Leave a Comment

kingdom

I remember watching Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome for the first time at the age of seven and being totally freaked out. If that is what the future will look like then I do not want to keep living. Nuclear holocaust, anarchy, and limited resources are definitely not great motivators for long-term planning. Most of us have an idea of the future. We have seen many movies where the future is a place where things have grown decidedly dark and worse than they are now. There have also been films where everything seems perfect in our future society, except that there’s really a catch. Films like Demolition Man or Minority Report depict a human made utopia but there is always something that makes happily-ever-after not so happy. Either people are too strict or controlling or someone is oppressed in order for everyone else to have perfect lives. The funny thing about these movies is that they not only portray the future, but they also tell us something about the present. As much as we would desire a certain political party or a particular way of life—urban, suburban, green, liberal, conservative—to be the status quo, there is always a catch. Someone is always coming out with the short end of the stick and not everyone will be a part of the status quo. One thing that these films about the future and our present aspirations tell us is that we all long for a time and a place where everything will be put right. We all long for the day when there will be no more sickness and war, disease and death. We all long for a day, as Bono from U2 sings, when “All the colors will bleed into one.” That is what the Bible is talking about by the phrase “the kingdom of God.”

This “kingdom” is the rule and reign of God; the extension of himself on earth. The kingdom of God captures the future reality when all things will be put right and connects it to our present aspirations. In other words it is both a future and present reality. It is now and not yet. It is the new beginning in the midst of the old. When Christians use the term “kingdom” they are not talking about a magical place in a fantasy world like Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The “kingdom” is what God has begun to do by transforming lives spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically. That’s the now part but there is more. There is also a not yet. Even though the kingdom has been inaugurated and we see people’s lives being changed, we still wait for its completion. We still see the evils of the world doing their damage on a global and a local scale. The not yet aspect of the kingdom of God promises that there will be a time when the evils of this world will cease; a time when God will turn this upside down world right side up. It will be a time when there will be no war, no sickness, no famine, no oppression, no poverty. In short, God will create a new heaven and a new earth where he will rule and reign. You can’t go wrong with that.

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Filed Under: Grow, Jargon Tagged With: Issue 5

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Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on ou Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on our own is in vain. We can never hope to achieve the same level that Jesus was on while we are still here on Earth. We’re like little kids, struggling just to walk. But that’s why Jesus gave us an example of redeemed followers in the form of the Apostles, who were his close group of students here on Earth. He chose a group of broken, sinful men, and ultimately shaped them into the group responsible for continuing his ministry here on Earth. ⁠
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✍🏽: Tim VanDeWalker in "Running By Example" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's th "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." –Desmond Tutu
The Bible tells us to live in the world, but not t The Bible tells us to live in the world, but not to become like it. The New Living Translation puts it this way, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Rom. 12:2a). Some have interpreted this as an instruction to reject anything that isn’t explicitly Christian. But I don’t think that’s what this verse is getting at. I think it means much more.⁠
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✍🏽: Lindsey Beharry in "Choosing Wisely" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
If you desire to serve, seek to form groups withou If you desire to serve, seek to form groups without age distinction. Maybe you want to form a group in your church. Avoid just inviting members from your age group. Seek out people older and younger than you to invite to meet together. Find that person who sits alone and talk to her or him. Instead of a focus on building groups that have the same characteristics to “relate” with one another, you center your discussion in the work of Christ. He will bring the group together. ⁠
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✍🏽: Russell Almand in "Community and Age Diversity" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
"If we put our faith in temporal things, they will "If we put our faith in temporal things, they will inevitably let us down. They were never meant to be enough for us. Not alone. When Barnum finally does hit bottom, he recognizes that his heart has been led astray, fooled into thinking that fame or fortune could satisfy him."⁠
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"Porn. We are only now beginning to realize the ex "Porn. We are only now beginning to realize the extent of its effects on the brain, relationships, and society at a time when sexually explicit content is just a click away. Christians have recognized pornography’s negative impact for decades, yet it is still often considered a “male” problem within the Church. This can leave women who struggle with porn addiction feeling isolated and alone. The organization SheRecovery (formerly Dirty Girls Ministries) aims to change that and has become a resource for women with porn addiction. You can read more about their ministry at the link in our bio. ⁠
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"The presence of my sin reminds me of my great nee "The presence of my sin reminds me of my great need for grace, and good works are the outpouring of a grateful heart; being a good child is not a means of earning the favor of God."⁠
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Often I picture Jesus telling us to love others an Often I picture Jesus telling us to love others and not to judge. I forget that when he said, “Come follow me,” he wasn’t just inviting us to a strict set of rules but to a real and exciting life whether you turn out to be a pastor, a doctor, designer or simply “Dad.” Sometimes I forget one of his main messages was that he came to give us a better life than we could ever dream of—life to the fullest. Jesus wasn’t locking us down to a vocation or job title. It’s as if he was saying, “Real, vibrant life is available to you now. Following me, loving me and living like me is your real calling…the rest is just there to aid you in following, loving and living.”⁠
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Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” There is yet another parallel between the Christian story and The Matrix, simultaneously the most foundational and the most captivating. It’s that something which is missing, something which is not quite right with the world. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know that it’s there. At the outset of the first film, Neo is searching for it. Trinity asserts that “it’s the question that drives us.” Morpheus claims that “you can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes.” The question is: What if I’ve only ever scratched the surface of all that life has to offer? What if there is a deeper, truer current of reality, ever-present behind all of my life’s experiences, to which I might awaken at any moment?⁠
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