Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Is the "Kingdom of Heaven" Merely "Right Relationships"?


!±8± Is the "Kingdom of Heaven" Merely "Right Relationships"?

The Internet is a blast. Casually searching out the writings of Keith Miller, I came across this phrase: "The Kingdom of God is the kingdom of right relationships."

My knee-jerk response? No way! The Kingdom of God has to be much more than "right relationships", even though right relationships have to be a part of living in the Kingdom of God. This "definition" seemed, well, wimpy because shouldn't the Kingdom of God be defined with words like, "The Kingdom of God is Power! It's dynamite! It's tearing down the Gates of Hell and scattering Satan's dark forces to the winds! It's the Final Triumph of Grace over Sin and Light over Darkness. The enemy sees us in Christ and flees!

But the idea slyly hung about in my mind for a bit, making me reconsider if "pulling down demonic strongholds in the heavenlies" might not actually be the essence of the Kingdom of God.

And in the end, I realized that there's a lot of truth in Keith Miller's statement. And so I have to "travel" to a new place in my spiritual understanding.

Let's begin with my favorite definition for the Kingdom of God: The Kingdom of God is any place in which God rules as King.

It's not geographical but spiritual. It's not located in California, necessarily, but may or may not be located in your heart.

Right in line with Jesus who, when they asked Him where the Kingdom of God was, He said, "It's in the midst of you." And in His sermon on the Mount [Matthew 5-7], He warned that when we all appear before Him at the Judgment Seat, there will be many sincerely, surprised religious people who don't make it. They'll cry out, "But Lord! Lord! Haven't You seen all the wonderful things we did in Your Name -- preaching, working miracles in Your Name!"

But He looks at them all and says, "Who are you people? Go away from Me -- I don't even know you!" But in the verse immediately prior, Jesus gives us a clue about who is welcome in the Kingdom of God. He says, Only those who do the will of the Father will ever enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Can you "do the will of God" if you choose to do your own will? Does God rule in your heart if you override His rule and direction regularly? Is He King if you're stubbornly in charge of your life? Is He the King and daily Commander of your life? Do you call the shots in your life, or does God?

If you call the shots in your life, you're NOT "in the Kingdom of God", since His Kingdom exists only where the King rules!

Let's put that issue behind us -- the Kingdom of God is wherever, whenever and in whoever He rules as King.

One other thing to consider: what is the Will of God? Jesus told us very simply, and then John the Beloved picked it up and repeated it at length in his first letter. In John 13,35f, Jesus told us what God's will is: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

That sounds pretty much like "relationship, to me. And John, in his first letter (second chapter), wrote that whoever says he "knows" Jesus but doesn't obey Jesus' commandments, "is a liar". And in chapter 3, he writes, "This is God's commandment, that we should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He has commanded us. And whoever keepsJesus' commandments dwells in Him, and He in him."

Loving others, "dwelling" in Jesus and Jesus in him -- this all sounds pretty relational!

So -- what about this notion that "The Kingdom of God is the kingdom of right relationships"?
There are three levels of relationships that define the Kingdom of God.

(1) In the Kingdom of God, by faith we are made one with Jesus Christ; He dwells within us un such a manner that He can direct us to live our daily lives under the leading of the Holy Spirit -- indwelling us, communicating spiritual gifts and power as Love in this loveless world.

(2) In the Kingdom of God we are made one with all others who are in Christ Called to adopt the same "mind-set" of humility and honor that Jesus showed us, we have become a people who set the needs and issues of others above those of our own, and our relationships manifest the Love of God for all.

(3) In the Kingdom of God, by the mercy of God we are obligated to spread the powerful Gospel of Christ to those who do not yet know Him -- thereby offering to them the same Love that's been freely given to us, that we might give it freely to the yet unloved.

The Kingdom of Heaven truly is a Kingdom of Power and Might, the pulling down of strongholds, Great and triumphant in the earth -- but it operates through relationships -- Love relationships.

© 2008 by Emil B. Swift


Is the "Kingdom of Heaven" Merely "Right Relationships"?

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