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Christ the King & The Kingdom of God by Reverend Charmaine Braatvedt Sunday 25th November, 2007 As we looked at those images of Christ, I wonder whether any one of them stood out for you as a preferred way of picturing Christ? When you close your eyes and pray to Jesus, what might he look like to you in your imagination? This is an important question because it reveals to us something of how each of us views and understands God. As we saw in the reading from Colossians, Christ is God made visible to human beings, so how we picture Jesus, is how we are seeing God at that point in time. There are clearly many ways to picture or to image Christ. In the Scriptures we find Jesus described as a deacon (servant); a priest; a bishop; a shepherd; a friend; a father; a brother; a mother; a sacrificial lamb and a king. Today we are reflecting on one very important image of Christ as the King, ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’ for today is the feast day of Christ the King or the reign of Christ. In our world, kings and queens are mostly constitutional monarchs as in the case of queen Elizabeth, and very often mere figure heads. They are largely ceremonial figures with little if any real day to day authority. Kingship has become a pretty wishy washy position. All status and no punch. When the Biblical writers talk about Christ being a king, I am pretty sure today’s model is not the model they had in mind. Perhaps we should transport ourselves to another time and place. Let’s go back to Roman times for our understanding of what a king was like back then. In that time kingly rulers like Caesar ruled absolutely with few constraints other than their own wills. They were people to be feared because frequently they would exercise their power towards war, repression, extortion and the hoarding of wealth for their own gain. The proverb that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ would have come out of this context. When the Biblical writers talk about Christ being a king, I am pretty sure this is not what they had in mind either. I believe they were borrowing the term from their culture to describe Christ’s authority and power, but this authority and power works for a value system and life focus that cuts right across the one that prevails both today and the one that prevailed in Jesus time. In the biblical account of Jesus, - he had none of the trappings of royalty. - He was born into obscurity. - He owned nothing at all. - He chose to be a servant instead of surrounding himself with servants. - He chose the weak and marginalised to be his friends - and refused to use his influence and power for his own benefit. - He spoke out against injustice and oppression - and offered a value system that cut straight across the pursuit of power and material gain for its own sake. No he certainly did not fit the worldly model of kingship; neither these days nor way back then in biblical times. The Biblical reference to Jesus as a king is to do with his authority; his relationship with us and the whole of creation; his will and purposes which overarch all things; his ability to govern and hold all things together; his power to save, protect and rescue those who follow him and as we heard in the song we have just played, the central position we intuitively know he ought to hold in the hearts of people in terms of our loyalty and focus. Now every king has a kingdom, a realm, a sphere of influence, an area of control. Jesus spoke a great deal about his kingdom which he identified as the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. - Everywhere Jesus went he spoke about ‘the kingdom of God’ or ‘the kingdom of heaven’. - It was the subject of most of his parables. - When he commissioned his 12 apostles and sent them to preach, the instruction was to preach about the kingdom of God. - When he later sent out his 70 disciples he also commanded them to preach the kingdom of God. - Paul preached this same kingdom of God message everywhere he went. - The terms ‘kingdom’ and ‘kingdom of God’ are found scores of times throughout the New Testament. From the Biblical text we learn much about the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. - In Luke 17: 20 – 21 we learn that ‘the kingdom of God is within you’. - In John 18 we learn, when Jesus stands before Pilate, that His kingdom ‘is not of this world’. - In 1 Cor. 15 we learn that to see and enter the kingdom of God is a spiritual journey, ‘for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God’. - In John we learn through the story of Nicodemus that the kingdom of God is in the sphere of salvation and is entered into through a kind of spiritual rebirth or awakening. - And in the Psalms we learn that the kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal sovereign God over all creatures and things. Psalm 103:19. - Finally we learn from Jesus, that the kingdom of God is both something which may be present here and now within each of our hearts and something which will be a reality at the end of the world as we know and understand it now. That seems to be a bit of a paradox, for how can the kingdom of God be something that is yet to come, as well as something that is also with us now? The Lord’s Prayer teaches us much about how the kingdom of God works. 1. Firstly, we need to understand that the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven exists in a time and place where - God is supreme and where Christ is acknowledged as the centre of everything - where everything brings glory to God and God is given the highest honour.
“For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever.”
So for example when the scribe says to Jesus in Mark 12:34 that “the greatest commandment is to love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”, Jesus says to him “you are not far from the kingdom of God”. 2. Secondly Jesus teaches us that the kingdom of God is the sphere in which God manifests His supreme and royal power. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of Conquest. - This was understood in Old Testament times as a kingdom where God would save his people from their earthly enemies. - Jesus lifts this understanding to higher ground and explains that the real mortal enemy of God’s people is a spiritual enemy. The enemy of Sin and Death and Evil. The power of the kingdom of heaven overcomes the power of Satan. The kingdom of heaven is a time and place where Evil has been conquered. - All the miracles and wonders and casting out of demons that Jesus performs are designed to be indicators of God’s power to overcome evil. Jesus uses his divine power in his ministry of miracles to show us that the real battle is a spiritual one. The kingdom of God is the realm where God’s Holy Spirit conquers Evil with good; and hate with love; and injustice with righteousness and Satan is disempowered. - The source of the power of this kingdom is the Holy Spirit. Not only does it set out to conquer that which is evil, but it also liberates, renews, sanctifies the hearts of those who bow to its authority. “Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil”.
3. Thirdly, the kingdom of God is the sphere where God’s holy will is carried out. That sphere where everyone and every thing is in alignment with his holy will, and where the Righteousness of God is the norm. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done!”
4. Lastly, the kingdom of God is a place where God’s blessings which are graciously poured out and received. God is the source of grace and the fountain of blessing for all who turn to him and the greatest expression of this grace is the forgiveness of sin and the salvation we receive through Jesus the Christ for all eternity. “Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins.” So in summary, the Biblical narrative assures us that the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is an expanding sphere and will one day come to include the whole world. - It is that time and place which is described in the book of Revelation when God reigns supreme and every knee bows to his authority and every tongue confesses his supremacy over all. - It is a time and a place where Death and Sin and Evil are vanquished forever and there is no more crying, no more pain, no more tears. - It is a time and place where God’s holy will is readily and consistently carried out and his righteousness prevails. - It is a time and place of grace and blessing, of full and complete healing and reconciliation to God. - It is that time and place where Jesus is King and Lord of all. This is the new order that Jesus promises will one day include the whole world, but it is also the order that he says is at hand, is near and in some cases already here. It is therefore both an external environment that will one day encompass the whole world and an internal state of grace that is available to us here and now! We understand this internal state of grace when we become followers of Jesus, when we allow him to be king of our lives, when we receive his forgiveness for our sins; when we allow his Holy Spirit to transform how we think, what we say, what we do and who we are. Jesus teaches us to pray: “Our Father who art in the kingdom of heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in the kingdom of heaven.” That prayer is answered in each of our hearts every time we do something to alleviate poverty; every time we bring healing to the sick; every time we tackle the problem of crime or violence in a meaningful and constructive way; every time we endeavour to rescue anyone from substance abuse; every time we speak out against injustice; every time we use the gifts God has given us to work for spiritual, moral, economic and social restoration; every time we express love in even the smallest way, we are contributing to kingdom work. God’s kingdom is being established right here where we are on earth whenever you or I do anything in his name that brings glory to him. Whether you are at work, at school, at home, in the community or wherever, - every time you strive help to make peace where there is conflict; - Every time you decide to be merciful and kind to someone who needs your forgiveness or help; - Every time you open yourself up to be inconvenienced or interrupted in order to do God’s will ; - Every time you take a risk in order to do what is right you are entering into the kingdom of God.
And here is the good news: No matter who you are, what you have done, how young or old you are, you have the key to the kingdom of God, for Jesus is the key. In the Gospel reading we find two thieves on a cross. One remains stuck in the values, responses and behaviour of this world, the other turns to Jesus and acknowledges his true kingship. It is this turning to Jesus that is the key for him to enter into paradise, to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says to him: “Today you will be with me in paradise”.
Don’t let’s you and I waste our time here on earth. Let each of us take this opportunity to turn to Christ today. Let each of us acknowledge his kingship over our lives. Let each of us allow his power to break the hold that sin has on our lives. Let each of us submit to his authority in the way we live our lives and let each of us acknowledge the grace and favour and blessings of a heavenly father who loves us so that in our hearts we may enter into the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven today. And then as heirs to that kingdom, let us work tirelessly for the extension of that kingdom in the lives of those we love and those whom God places in our path, by sharing with them also the gospel of Christ the king, the good news of the kingdom of God. Let us pray….. |
