Sunday, April 17, 2011
God's kingdom
The sermon this week was really great and really spoke to me. Pastor Steve is going through the Lord's prayer and this week's section was "Your kingdom come." He described God's kingdom as God's reign rather than an actual place and he proceeded to share scripture on some of Jesus' insights on God's kingdom. For some reason, I thought to look at the verses from the point of view of those hearing them for the first time 2000 years ago. Jesus' view of God and God's kingdom was so radically different from the common view. He described the kingdom as being in us and near to us to a people who were waiting for it. Imagine what things would be like if God truly reigned (heaven). God the Just; God who is Good. I began to think about all the good stuff in life and how none of that would be here if God weren't. If we allow God to reign in our lives his kingdom is already here and our job is to share that good news with others - particularly those who aren't seen as successful by the world's standards. And then we are to live for the time when God will reign supreme (heaven). Most of the time I feel like I don't really understand Jesus' message of "good news." All I ever understood it to be was we aren't doomed and separated from God by our sins because Christ died for us and redeemed us (which is part of it). But Jesus was spreading good news before his death and resurrection, and that good news is the radical idea about God's kingdom. So maybe I am starting to get it??
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