God's kingdom

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to speak about something I've been soaking in for quite a while: God's Kingdom and my (your) relationship to it. Luke 5 provides a picture of what God's invitation to us can look like by describing how he invited Peter to follow him and become a "fisher of men."

I started by characterizing the Kingdom of God. It's another one of those phrases that cloys many Christian listeners--so much so it has almost lost meaning. But it's not just a nice metaphor. God actually has sovereign rule over all that is his. And we live in a unique period in history, in that his kingdom as actually begun taking form (this happened when Jesus came to the world). Yet we do not yet see "all things put under his feet" as it says in Hebrews. Somehow, the kingdom has begun, but it's not complete or perfectly fleshed out. This is my understanding of what theologians refer to as the already-not yet eschatological tension.

My primary argument is Christians struggle to recognize the bigger picture of God's kingdom. A good example is the doctrine of personal salvation, which in many Evangelistic circles seems to be the point of every discussion. This can result in a shortsighted worldview, since salvation appears to really only be one part (though an important part) of God's kingdom.

Fortunately, God reminds us many times through Jesus' teaching in the gospel accounts that he is all about his kingdom. Jesus said in Luke 4:18 it was for this reason (to preach the Kingdom of God) that he was sent. Moreover, in Luke 5, we see an example of Jesus inviting Peter into the work of the kingdom. Encouraging and very relevant stuff for someone like me, who for the last couple of years has been completely frustrated with every aspect of my life.

There are 3 assertions about God we can draw out of this story.

1) Again, God is about his kingdom.

2) He is the inviter.

3) He goes before us (recall Jesus' words to Peter in the Matthew version are "follow Me")

And, primarily regarding the first and second assertions, there are 4 implications for us, the invited:

1) The invitation always involves helping build his kingdom.

2) We have to RSVP to the invitation.

3) We must watch for the kingdom to converge on our world.

4) God gives us our job.

The 3rd assertion about God (He goes before us), is not a subpoint: it's everything. This is the basis for every work and every miracle of the kingdom.

On Sunday, I tried to explain this concept by means of Augustine's notion of prevenient grace. I believe prevenient grace (grace that goes before, prior to salvation) is an example of how we follow God's leading. I must attribute my own knowledge of this concept to Mark Rutland, president of ORU, whose message on the subject I just recently heard.

The superlative example, however, is the resurrection of Christ. It was by his resurrection that the power of God's kingdom was unleashed on the world, and it is because of his resurrection that our faith, and the works we do for the kingdom, are not in vain (1st Cor 15). When we follow Christ, we get to share in the hope of our own resurrection, and we also get to enjoy the restoration of his kingdom as we beginning fleshing it out in the here and now--this time of already-not yet tension. NT Wright gives a full discussion of this concept in his book Surprised by Hope. A great read.

Hope anyone who reads this finds encouragement and peace. I know what it is like to "toil all night" without seeing the eternal value, and I think this is a good framework to begin understanding how God invites us into work with him.

Jeff