Here is the revelation that is shaping my life today – I live not from here.
John 18:36 NLT
[36] Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
Observation
What makes a kingdom? A King, a way of life administered and shaped by the King, and a group of followers. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, it is not shaped by the principles, the framing stories of this world. It is not administered by the ways of this world. It is not defended by the ways of this world. This is what Jesus comes to establish on earth, the bringing of Heaven to earth, the Kingdom of God has arrived and is advancing in and through him.
Salvation is more than forgiveness of sins, it’s more than right standing with God, it’s more than sonship/daughtership in the family, it’s citizenship in the Kingdom, a kingdom that is not of this world. A new way of life is now open to me, new framing stories that shape every aspect of my life. A new lens through which I see and interpret life. Love becomes the foundational focus, others become the priority, intimacy with God becomes the framing influence, non-judgment and complete acceptance of others become the lens I see others. Forgiveness and sacrifice, beauty and joy, rest and peace, these are all the shaping stories that are present in the new kingdom that I can live from.
The challenge is I bring the corruption and pain, my brokenness, from my earthly kingdom experience and I allow it voice and shaping presence in the new kingdom. It’s not that the new kingdom is not fully present and available for me, it’s that I must become fully present and available to it. Like any kingdom, its citizens are shaped by the kingdom in which they live, but there is always rebellion to its ways, even when its ways are life-giving and good. The fullness of the kingdom of God will be realised when Jesus returns and replaces this world with the new heavens and earth and the rebellion will end, not through force but revelation, the pain, and tears will cease and the enemy will be removed, and I will be given a new body that can live in the fullness of the revelation of the King. The kingdom has come to earth, and the kingdom is coming in all its fullness.
Application
I am a new citizen in Jesus of the Kingdom of God. I will continue to see and understand myself from this shaping story. The King is revealing constantly the beauty of the kingdom, I will deliberately walk with Him in His revelation to me. I will seek to interpret the situations of my life with Spirit Kingdom insight.
Response
Thank you that you make me a citizen of your Kingdom. Thank you for the beauty and boldness of Kingdom life. Thank you that I do not have to live in the shaping stories of this world, but you invite me into a new way. I am blessed to be a citizen in the Kingdom of God.
Meditation
Meditation truth – “The Kingdom is not of this world.”
Consider:
How much of my life is shaped by the kingdom of this world, the culture I live in?
Do I access each situation of life from the standpoint of my citizenship in the kingdom? Do I ask, “how would this be lived from the principles and shaping stories of the kingdom of God?”
JOURNEY DEEPER