The Kingdom, Part 3

In Part 1, I asserted that the kingdom of God is central to Jesus' ministry. If we want to understand Jesus (and our role as Jesus-followers), we need to understand the kingdom.

In Part 2, I defined the kingdom of God as anywhere God reigns as king. It's where our way of life matches up with the way of life God desires for us.

And ultimately, the question is: is God the king of your life? Because if God isn't king, then you're not fully living in the kingdom.

Part 3: So What Does the Kingdom Look Like?

As a minister, I get asked all sorts of theological and Biblical questions. One of the more common ones is: "what is heaven really like?" Is it a bunch of clouds with angels and harps? Is it a city paved with God? Is it an all-you-can-eat buffet? (Is it all of the above?)

People love to dream about heaven (myself included). We imagine everything that heaven could be. And our imaginations usually focus on one singular idea:

"Heaven is where I get everything I want."

But if we look in scripture—if we study the kingdom of God—we discover that the Bible has a different description of heaven:

Heaven is where God gets everything God wants.

When we try to imagine heaven, we should probably think less about streets of gold and more about the teachings of Jesus. How does Jesus teach us to live? Remember that Jesus is not just telling us how to live on the earth. Jesus is trying to prepare us for life in the kingdom.

Imagine for a moment that you grew up in Great Britain. You speak English, you're used to colder weather, and you're immersed in British culture. One day, for some reason, you decide to immigrate to Brazil. That's not an easy transition! You'll need to learn the new culture, the new laws...and a new language! (Você fala Português bem?) Oh, and you'll need a new wardrobe, because the temperature in Rio de Janeiro is 21° higher.

If you're going to immigrate to a new country, you need to be prepared. Throughout his ministry, Jesus is helping prepare us for our life in a new country...life in the kingdom of God. We're not trying to be nice people long enough to get into Club Heaven. We are training ourselves for kingdom work and kingdom life.

Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ (Luke 10:9 NIV) 

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:34a NIV)

What does the kingdom look like? It looks like the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus.

To be continued in Part 4