Where Heaven Meets Earth

I don’t quite know how to say this, but when Jesus went around telling people, “I have good news”, He didn’t normally follow that up with “here’s how you can be sure of having an enjoyable afterlife.”

He did eventually get around to telling people this, but most commonly, he was talking to people who probably weren’t all concerned at that moment about an afterlife.

No, they were more worried about the day-to-day… providing for their families; limping through life with deep sadness, major illnesses, or physical limitations; living under a government they didn’t agree with. 

Business problems. Family problems. Planning for the future. Dealing with situations that they simply. couldn’t. control.

But Jesus told these people that He had good news for them. And that this good news was “near”.  

Not “don’t worry, you’ll be dead soon and free from all this suffering” near, but reach out and touch it near. And when He shared this good news with people, they usually didn’t roll their eyes at Him. No, they went and got their friends, and wherever He went, the crowds followed.

His message? “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

What was the good news? “The kingdom of God has come near.” And what did He want them to do? Repent and believe it. In other words, change your attitude towards God and trust that these things I’m telling you are true.

Now to be fair, they all thought He meant that He was going to overthrow the oppressive Roman government. But that’s another story.

The real story is about what the Kingdom of God (also referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven) actually is and why this is such good news.

The Kingdom of God

Kingdom refers to two things: the realm and the rule of a king.

By rule, we mean that the king is in charge. He has a vision of what he wants life in his kingdom to be like, and he has the authority to try to make this vision a reality. And he has a certain way of doing things that reflects who he is. He makes laws. He rules.

The other half of this is a king has to have a realm to rule in. He has to have a domain to be in charge of! If you have a kingdom, then you have both the authority to rule and a realm to rule in.

So what about God’s Kingdom?

First of all, He has a realm. A couple of realms actually: the spiritual realm and the physical realm. The world is God’s realm. Psalm 89:11 proclaims, “The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it” (NIV). It is not our realm. We do not own it. It is not Satan’s realm. Satan does not own creation. God does. This is God’s world.

He, however, chose to allow a man and a woman to rule over the physical realm. (Gen 1:26) And He gave them the freedom to choose, to will, how they would rule.

Let’s take a second to let that really sink in.

They could run with God’s vision for His realm and still point to Him as the ultimate ruler, as the One who would influence how we rule…or they could “have it their way.”

Under God’s ultimate rulership, the physical realm was a place of life, peace, health, joy, abundance, and God’s presence. It was a “good” reflection of its ultimate ruler – God.  As long as Adam and Eve ran with the Creator’s vision of what He wanted life in His kingdom to be like, the Kingdom reflected the ultimate King, and the state of His heart.

There are all sorts of ramifications to Adam and Eve deciding to let Satan’s voice speak into their lives. Just to name a few, death entered the picture, while peace, health, joy, and abundance all left. Self became the ruler as influenced by Satan with self-ishness the primary rule.

And so the battle between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan occurs in the area of ruling. While Satan does not own the realm, he does have the power to rule “in the hearts of the people and in the life of the world” through those whom he rules (Webber, Ancient-Future Faith, p. 54).

When Jesus proclaimed His Kingdom, He was calling people to turn the rule of every area of their lives back over to God. He was saying, “The ruler of the universe has come to rule in your life. Turn away from other demands for ownership of your life. Enter into my reign. Let me rule in the life of the world through my rule in you” (Webber, p. 54).

Let Me rule your home through My rule in you.

Let Me rule your business through My rule in you.

Let Me rule your community through My rule in you.

Let Me rule your nation through My rule in you.

Let Me rule the world through My rule in you.

Your Kingdom Come

What was the good news? That because of Jesus and all that He was going to do (and has now done), we can be ruled by God and live in His Kingdom, not just in the eternal life sense, but now.

He was asking people to decide that they no longer wanted to be ruled by self-ishness and sin but to choose Jesus to be their King instead.

And how did He do this? The Ruler walked His realm…

And He brought peace to people in distress.

He brought healing to those who were sick or struggling with physical difficulties.

He freed those who were held captive by demons.

He turned mourning to joy.

He turned five loaves and two fishes into an abundance of food.

He turned death into life.

And much, much more.

He made His Kingdom a reality to people.  He asked them to believe in Him and follow Him.

But He didn’t stop there. Then, He started delegating authority.

In Luke 10, Jesus appointed 72 disciples to go ahead of Him into “every town and place where he was about to go” and He gave them authority to “overcome all the power of the enemy”.

Jesus’ instructions were very simple. They were to go straight to their destination and bring peace to the homes that they entered. In other words, they were to bring evidence of the Kingdom with them to that house. Then, they were to heal the sick people in the town. Now the Kingdom is not a matter of words but of power. As or after they demonstrated the power of the Kingdom, they were to announce “the kingdom of God is near you.”

But He still wasn’t done.

Jesus suffered to the point of death living out the vision, the rules, the laws, of His Kingdom. He could have stopped it by going against these laws. By sinning. But He didn’t.

He was that committed to it. He was that committed to us. For it is that death that bought us life…when He conquered death. And not “just” eternal life, but a life that embodies the ways of His Kingdom now.

The moment we choose to believe in Jesus and make Him our King, our Ruler, we begin to dwell in His Kingdom…from now and into eternity. Not because we can even possibly keep all the laws of the Kingdom, but because He did! Because of His grace.  Because of His unmerited, unearned favor.

And that is the best news I could ever think of.

A Place Where Heaven Meets Earth

And so here I am. At home. Working from my laptop, teaching my children, doing the laundry, washing the dishes, settling arguments, wiping little faces and little rear ends, putting girls to bed and then back to bed and then back to bed again…day after day after day.

This home, this family, whose address is in God’s realm, whose leaders claim to be ruled by the King…shouldn’t all who cross or dwell within its threshold be experiencing even just a taste of the Kingdom of God? Of the Kingdom of Heaven? Of this glorious, glorious place where life, peace, healing, joy, contentment, and God’s Presence abound. Where crying is transformed into dancing and despair is turned into praise.

This home that I enter and exit several times each day…am I bringing peace to it?

This home that I awake in each morning…is it full of joy?

Those tears that sometimes seem to be the soundtrack of each day…are they being dried by comfort?

Will I let Jesus rule over my heart and over every aspect of my life? Over my home?

It isn’t easy. Jesus suffered for it. We will too. It’s about becoming His student, and letting His Spirit live in us until our lives overflow with Him. For the Kingdom of God isn’t about our own power – it’s about His.

And His amazing, amazing grace that allows us to wake up each day and start anew. 

This blog is a chronicle of my desire to proclaim, make memorable, pay attention to, celebrate God's Kingdom in my home. To Celebrate the Holy. With enthusiasm! Join me?

If you liked this, you might enjoy my Kingdom Cheat Sheet