Epilogue
I began the book Made to Live: The Good News of Kingdom of God with the question: What is the kingdom of God? What follows here is a barebones summary in response to this question. I say “barebones” because there is so much that could be said about God’s sovereign rule over this world and his intentions for us. Not just in terms of the spiritual realm now or a physical afterlife, but in the dynamic of God’s rule and intentions for this earthly life that he gives each of us to live. I unpack this more in the book but in the hope of clarity, I would like to summarize it here.
The kingdom of God includes all of human life
I believe missionary E. Stanley Jones was right when he said the Kingdom is God’s total answer to man’s total need.[1] The kingdom of God includes everything that is under his sovereign rule and realm. We know God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. Therefore, all of it is ultimately under his sovereign rule and will -- his kingdom.
The kingdom of God includes all of human life. That is, no part of life sits outside of the scope of the King’s will and intentions for mankind.
Think of it – love and belonging, entertainment and recreation, work and everyday tasks, marriage and friendship, security and home, income and finances, health and psychological well-being – all of these are within God’s realm and scripted by God in his good purposes for the well-being of mankind.
God’s rule and will are good – very good
Furthermore, God’s will for all and rule over all is perfect. Psalm 19 says it this way:
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.
Genesis 1:31 simply says God’s work and purposes in all of creation are “very good.”
God’s kingdom, his realm, rule and will includes all of life on this earth. And his rule and will are good – very good. If I could shout one thing about the Kingdom, it would be this.
The King is focused on his subjects
The second important thing to know about the kingdom of God is that to God, mankind is a big deal.
As my pastor says, the universe is theocentric. That is, the universe and all reality is centered around God who created it all. We sing “Jesus be the center” in a popular worship song but in reality Jesus already is the center. What is astonishing is that God is anthro-centric. That is, God who is the center of all, centers his focus on the humans he created.
How do we know this? At the pinnacle of God’s creative work, he created mankind, male and female. Of all the things and beings he created, God made mankind alone in his own likeness – in his image. At creation God gave life to all living things, but Genesis 2 says God himself breathed the breath of life into man. Psalm 8 tells us that God made mankind “a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.” Furthermore, God actually put mankind in charge of his creation. Genesis 1:26 tells us: “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” And in Psalm 8:6: “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.” And Psalm 115:16: “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.”
It is evident that God the King is focused on mankind because he took on human form in order to save them. Philippians 2:7 (Phillips):
“For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal.”
God is the center of all existence and yet the center of his focus is mankind – you and me. King David marveled at this, “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them” (Psalm 8:4). In the kingdom of God, the King is laser focused on each of his subjects.
The King did not change his heart, will and purposes for his subjects when they rebelled
A third truth about the Kingdom to latch firmly onto is that “the Fall” did not change God’s purposes for mankind on this earth. Nor did it change God’s heart toward mankind.
We know the full consequence of the first couple breaking God’s one protective command. All creation was impacted by sin. Now there was disease, suffering, death, human conflict, wickedness, and evil thoughts and actions. It soon got so bad that Genesis 6 says, “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.”
In the kingdom of God, mankind had changed and the earth had changed. Mankind was separated from God. Judgment of man and creation had changed from “(he) saw all that he had made, and it was very good” to “the payment for sin is death.” Yet, in the kingdom of God, the King had not changed. And God’s intentions for mankind on this earth had not changed. Neither had God’s heart changed toward them. Because God does not change.[2]
God’s comprehensive “all of life” intentions for mankind in the garden of Eden had not changed. God’s good purposes for love and belonging, entertainment and recreation, work and everyday tasks, marriage and friendship, security and home, income and finances, health and psychological well-being, etc. – all of these remained in place.
This aspect of the Kingdom is important to lay hold of because it means Christ’s salvation is about all of life. Not only does Jesus save us from the penalty of sin and into relationship with him, but he saves us to live every part of life in the way he always intended. Christ does not save us out of this fallen world but saves us to live all of life as he designed and created it to be lived, while in this fallen world. In so doing, the prayer he taught his disciples is being fulfilled on earth as it is in heaven: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”
I cannot finish this epilogue and summary without going a bit deeper on two things. Both relate to this reality that Jesus saves us to live all of life in the way he designed and created it to be lived.
The essence of the King’s will for his subjects
The first is to look for the essence of God’s design for living. Life is complicated so what is the essence? The Westminster Catechism says that the chief purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But this still leaves us to define what it means to glorify and enjoy God.
For me, the essence of God’s design for our lives boils down to three things: our place before God, our mission in relation to others, and our purpose in relation to this world.
#1 Fear and love the King
In terms of our place before God, Jesus said it was to “love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” Matthew 22:37). I find that the starting point for this is acknowledging who God is in relation to who I am. The biblical concept that best describes this is to fear God. That is, to know and have deep respect and awe for God and who he truly is. The Bible commands us to fear God over 300 times. Paradoxically, this is the foundation for knowing God’s love in a profound way. The prophet Micah figured this out and penned “what does God require, but to walk humbly with him.”[3] If there is one thing that is at the threshold of God’s good design for all of life, I suggest it is this: to cloak your soul and being with the reality of God and every aspect of his greatness. This is also the most liberating concept to be grasped because it reminds us we are not the center of the universe and of our existence. God is.
#2 Seek the King’s intentions for others
What is the essence of God’s design for all mankind in relation to one another? It is found in Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself. This is the second most liberating concept we can hold on to because it ironically puts us in the driver’s seat of human relations. Not in the sense that we can control others but in that we hold the steering wheel of how we will relate to others. If you’ve read Made to Live, you know that I define the essence of love as seeking God’s intentions for the other. This is also liberating because it elevates love above a feeling. If someone is my enemy, I may not feel love toward them, but I can pray and seek God’s intentions for them – intentions which are true and just and good and right.
#3 Rule over the things of life
Thirdly, what is the essence of God’s design for our lives in relation to this world? I have already mentioned this but will elaborate. God’s command is straightforward. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” The King James version says, “have dominion over.” This word dominion gets a bad rap today but I like the depth and breadth of it. This command is also the third most liberating concept we can hold to because it tells us that God’s design and will for us is not fatalism, fear, confusion, and resignation. It is to rule or have dominion in life. That is, to the best of our ability God commands us to make this world a better place. Heal the sick. Pick up trash. Make your bed. Eat good food. Do good work. Psalm 8:6 says, “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.” In the last chapter of the Bible this command is also our end state: “They will rule for ever and ever” (Rev. 22:5 NIRV).
The King gives his Spirit to his subjects to help them live as he created them to live
I said that I cannot finish this epilogue and summary without going a bit deeper on two things. Both relate to the reality that Jesus saves us to live all of life in the way he designed and purposed it to be lived. The first thing was to reflect more on what Jesus saves us to. That is, what is the life Jesus saves us to live here on this earth? I believe God’s design for our lives covers everything – our relation to God, our relation to one another, and our relation to everything else. And the essence of his design boils down to: fear God, love others, and have dominion – and all that these principles entail.
The second thing is to look more at how Jesus saves us to actually live out this life. The truth is that it’s easy to say fear God, love your neighbor, and have dominion. But these are all extremely challenging to do in everyday life in this fallen world. Even when our spirit is willing, our flesh is weak, and we fall short of God’s intentions.
But here, Jesus saves us through his atoning death and resurrection in part so that he can give us his indwelling Spirit – the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given to us for this reason. The Spirit helps us in many ways but one key way is to help us live life as God created it to be lived. In Isaiah 11:1-3 we see that the Spirit does this by giving us wisdom, understanding, encouragement, power, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Our role in this is simply to want and ask for his help. In this way Jesus saves us to manifest and live the kingdom life now.
This is the kingdom - God’s total answer to man’s total need.
[1] Jones, E. Stanley, The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person, 1972, Abingdon Press, p.22
[2] Numbers 23:19: God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Malachi 3:6: “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
[3] Partial quote from Micah 6:8