I recently had one of those moments where something made sense. Sitting in church on Sunday the Kingdom of God seemed to come into clarity. The topic is heavily debated, in particular, Dispensationalists versus Calvinists. To be honest I don’t really care which group believes what as I find myself belonging to neither.
It seems to me in reading scripture as a narratively unified work that the kingdom existed in the beginning. After our sin, we were unable to subsist their any longer. God’s work in establishing Israel was an attempt at re-establishing that kingdom again (hence the reason for the unification of church and state). After Israel failed in accomplishing this, Jesus came proclaiming that he was the way to the kingdom of God and that in him the original kingdom would be established again.
Understanding the Kingdom in this light seems to bring about an even stronger narrative unity within scripture. It seems that what we are to understand regarding the kingdom today is that those who believe in Christ are those who are working to help bring about this kingdom. We should see the fall of Israel as a warning that the same fate is possible with us, though with Christ, we shall prevail where in the past we have failed.
3 comments
This is really beautiful and great reminder for us that we are working towards something even greater than our current reality.
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