KINGDOM VIEW OF THE WORLD.
As followers of Jesus, God expects us to develop a "world view" regarding His Kingdom principles, and how we can help them to be established in the world. We understand from (Isa 9:6-7), where we read the promise of the future coming of the One who will one day rule the world forever. We know this to be Jesus Christ, and the NT gives us the history of His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. So we know that Jesus was "born to reign"! And from (Rom 5:17) we learn that we have been "Born again" to "reign with Him".This is both a tremendous privilege, but also a tremendous responsibility! Many followers of Jesus do not realize that this applies to us now in this
present age, because they have been taught that the Kingdom age is yet future, and won't begin until after the church age ends. But the truth is that the Kingdom came from heaven to earth with the King at His first coming as the Babe in the manger. So we are now living in the time of "the Kingdom now", although it is invisible at the present time, and will be fully manifested when Jesus comes for His second appearance in the clouds of glory, as stated clearly in various scriptures.
So what this should mean to us is that all spheres of our society should be under the control and influence of the Kingdom! This would include individuals, families, churches, governments, judicial systems, education, business and commerce, media and arts, entertainment, etc. We know that at this present time in our 21st century. this is certainly not the case. Why is this so? And what can we do about it? The "Church" that Jesus has been in the process of building, from "born again" believers over the past 2000 years, is His chief instrument that He desires to use! We are meant to infiltrate all segments of society, and be the "salt and light" that will keep the society from becoming completely corrupt! We may think it couldn't become any worse than it already is, but I'm sure that from God's perspective He sees things differently!
As representatives of the Kingdom of God on earth, or "ambassadors" (2 Cor 5:20), we have our work cut out for us! We have the responsibility and calling to reproduce the Kingdom of God in every area of society. Jesus expects more from His followers than just being a faithful attender of some "church", He expects us to do our part to act as the conscience of society, to act as a restraint against the misuse of governing authority, we should hold the government morally accountable to live up to its delegated authority from God. Here is a quote from George Ladd "The Kingdom of God is a dynamic concept which refers to the kingly reign or rule of God which broke into history decisively in the incarnation and will come to its fulness at our Lord's return.". The Kingdom of God is transcendent and immanent-- past, present, and future! As followers of Jesus, it is essential that we understand this fact!!!
Sincerely submitted,
Dave Jamer
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