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I follow the Daily Wire, a conservative news source driven by Christianity’s political protagonist Ben Shapiro. I’m subscribed, so I get their news in my inbox daily. Here are the headlines I have been reading in the past seven days:
“Rioters Set Fire To Home With Child Inside, Then Block Firefighters’ Access”
“Raw Video Of Girl Crying Over Sister’s Death: ‘A Protester Shot My Sister, Not The Police!'”
“Rioters Hurt 50 Secret Service Agents. Lincoln Memorial Vandalized, Church Burned, American Flags Burned”
“Rioters Destroy Minneapolis Police Building, ‘170 Businesses'”
George Floyd’s death sparked a wildfire. Our nation’s behavior testifies that we need a solution to the chaos, violence, and injustice that we are currently witnessing. We are glaring with desperation, self-destruction, and I’m inflamed with sorrow and anxiety . . . but I’m not hopeless.
My sights are set on God’s promises and the restoration of our world; that is, God’s kingdom. The Bible demands attention to the kingdom, which Jesus spoke of more than anything else. For Jesus, it was central to every action and teaching.
The Kingdom of God
Jesus inaugurated God’s kingdom with his first appearance on earth. He brought into view God’s character and plan to rescue his people, and gave hope to those who needed healing. His presence was the embodiment of the kingdom.
In other words: God’s rule and presence were flawlessly active in the life of Jesus as he brought healing to the sick, order to the chaos, and light to the darkness.
When Jesus came, heaven and earth collided. He announced the kingdom had come, and that it was “good news,” or as we often translate it, the “gospel.” The good news for us is that God is getting back his people by changing their hearts and adopting them as sons and daughters.
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done
Our nation’s behavior testifies that we need a solution to the chaos, violence, and injustice that we are currently witnessing. God’s answer is his kingdom. It’s God’s kingdom that comes to us in Jesus, and Jesus builds and advances his kingdom by forming a new kind of people who participate, experience, and seek that kingdom. Thus, fulfilling God’s will on earth.
We are the participants. We live not like the world, but in a way that reflects God’s character, putting everyone else’s needs before our own, treating everyone with great value, dignity, and respect, and by laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters as Jesus did for us.
The call to live for God’s kingdom is the call to dethrone ourselves from our own little kingdoms, align ourselves with God’s purpose and plan, and seek the upside-down values that Jesus taught, calling us to die to ourselves and live for him.
In his great wisdom, we find God’s Kingdom is one of
order, not chaos
love, not violence
justice, not brutality
The hope we have is that God’s will be done on earth, through us, and that one day we’ll live the reality of his kingdom forever: in peace and order, love and justice, and perfect submission to God’s rule that gives us freedom from sin and life as it was meant to be.
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