Two Kingdoms

A number of years ago I drew a chart with which I was trying to show the difference between God's kingdom and the kingdom of this world. I no longer have one of those around, but I often wish I had. Sometimes a simple chart is easier to read than a lot of verbal explanation.

There really is no simple way to describe either kingdom. Concerning the Kingdom of God, Jesus said: "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." At His trial, Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." In the book of Romans God's kingdom is described thus: "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." The kingdom of the world is best described by just reading or hearing the news. The kingdom of the world is referred to in Scripture as all that opposes God and His kingdom, and which is controlled by Satan himself, and which is set on destroying all who are subjects of God's kingdom.

And so just living here on earth one becomes aware of what is going on in the world's kingdom(s). What's going on in God's kingdom is best determined by what's going on the lives of God's people. That would not necessarily be the church, as "church" and "kingdom of God" are not synonyms as many portray. Those who are members of God's kingdom are those who have committed their lives to following the King of this kingdom, Jesus, no matter what comes. They are those who seek to pattern their lives after Jesus' teachings and example. These people may be a part of the "church" or they may not. Regrettably we cannot automatically identify church members as kingdom members. Likewise we cannot rule out people who are following Christ and not members of a local body of believers as members of God's kingdom. Am I making sense?

In other words when I want to know what's going on in God's kingdom I simply need to look for what dedicated followers of Jesus are doing. And there are many, many good things happening in the lives of those people. I will not name those for you but simply ask you to look around at what you can see, in your church, other churches, or simply in the lives of people who are living Christ-like lives.

The words of Revelation 11:15 tell us what the end of these two kingdoms will be: "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." Let us all continue to live in the NOW of God's kingdom as we wait for the NOT YET of God's kingdom that is to come. "May thy kingdom come, may thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Pilgrim on the way