Kingdoming Well Part 3
We started our series by setting up a working definition of the Kingdom of God which is the authority, the rule and reign of God. We also talked briefly about the idea that the Kingdom is here, but not fully here, an inaugurated Eschatology. The Kingdom was inaugurated when Jesus came the first time, it will be consummated when He returns. We live in a tension between the now and the not yet. Last week we talked about the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of darkness. The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the evil one are not in any way equal. God is and always has been all powerful. He is omnipotent. Even though the evil one rebelled against God, he was never any sort of real threat to all powerful all mighty God. God just kicked him out of heaven in a flash.
Since being kicked out of heaven, our adversary wants to steal, kill and destroy. To keep people from experience the full and abundant, now and forever life that we were originally created for.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NIV)
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The character of this Age is evil, reflecting the (little g) god of this age, the evil one.
Ephesians 2:1-2 (NIV)
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
This Age is in direct conflict with another age which in the Bible is referred to as the Age to come.
21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
A reading of Matthew 24:3 shows us that these two ages are separated by the Second Coming of Christ.
Matthew 24:3 (NIV)
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
More information is found in Mark 10:17-30:
Mark 10:17-30 (NIV)
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!” 29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields–and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
In this passage we can see a link between eternal life, the Kingdom of God, salvation and the Age to Come. The Kingdom of God belongs to The Age to Come and is in sharp contrast to This Present Age. The two ages are not on the same level. They are not on equal planes. This Age is evil, The Age to Come will witness the consummation of God’s kingdom, the restoration of everything that has been destroyed because of the fall. To illustrate this concept we will change our graph by putting the Age to Come on a higher level than This Age.
Galatians 1:4 (NIV)
4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Jesus rescues us from the present Evil age by the power of The Age to Come which has reached back and projected itself in Christ into the present Evil Age so that we, may be delivered or rescued from this present Evil Age.
Hebrews 6:5 (NIV)
5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
We have tasted the power of The Age to Come.
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world(age), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
In Christ, we live in a tension between the now and the not yet. We can experience a transformation made possible by the power of the Coming Age breaking into the present Age at the cross. While the evil Age goes on until Jesus comes back to consummate the Kingdom, God has made it possible for us to experience in part the life transforming power of the Age to Come so that we can live for Him.
