The Good News of God’s Kingdom

The good news of Jesus is not about us going to heaven but about heaven coming to dwell with us. First, Jesus came. Then, the Spirit came. Now, Jesus will do it again. He will come and dwell with us in the New Jerusalem on Earth. We will reign with him in resurrection bodies: physical yet incorruptible. As we wait, we refresh ourselves and others with God’s word and build for his Kingdom. Let us pray incessantly, enjoy our blessings gratefully, serve others selflessly, treat others justly, forgive the inexcusable, defend the weak, heal the sick, and offer grace relentlessly.

 

God created humans in his image. As his excellent image-bearers, God appointed them stewards of his good creation. He gave them authority over all his creation. The first man sinned, but instead of acknowledging and taking responsibility, he accused the woman who tempted him. The woman, in turn, accused the devil who tempted and deceived her. God exiled humans from the garden, but the devil continued to enslave them, and hence, the creation using the authority he usurped from the humans. Thus, sin, guilt, the devil, and death reigned over humanity. Death was a result of sin –God said so!

 

The devil shared his power with those who would worship him, that is, those who would deny God as King or creator of the cosmos. He deceived human hearts and made them slaves of greed, lust, and idolatry. His followers craved power just like him. They bullied, accused, stole, and oppressed the creation and all other humans. God wants an organized world. So, he has given humans the ability to create structures and hierarchies to order it. However, the way they do it has become out of order. People did it with wickedness, deceit, greed, lust, and oppression instead of goodness, faithfulness, sharing, justice, and serving. 

 

People remained exiled and alienated from God despite his repeated attempts to reclaim them. Eventually, God washed off his wicked creation with a flood, but it did not wash away the wickedness of their hearts. So then, God revealed his long-term plan by choosing Israel, Abraham’s children. They were a prototype of humanity through whom he would reclaim the whole creation. Israel went through the stages of receiving God’s law and covenant by his grace, sinning and rebelling against God, and being exiled from the promised land like the first humans. Finally, he sent his son Jesus as Israel’s representative to end their exile by taking their punishment like a sacrificial lamb. 

 

When Jesus, humanity 2.0, arrived on the scene, Satan was disturbed. Jesus claimed to be the son of man (the ideal human one) of Daniel 7 and the son of God (Psalm 2). Satan tried to allure Jesus to worship him, promising him all authority over the creation. Jesus declined his offer. He announced that God’s reign was being re-established through him by setting things right. His acts of justice, kindness, and goodness aligned with God’s promises to Israel of his return as –The good shepherd. Indeed, through Jesus, God was renewing the creation as prophesied by Isaiah. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and forgave sins –the works that would typically happen in the temple, where God and people would meet each other. Was Jesus the actual temple? Perhaps he was. 

 

He acted as the prophet Moses had foretold by preaching from the mount, doing power by calming storms and feeding people in the wilderness. Next, Jesus laid bare his claim of Davidic Messiahship, claiming to be a Shepherd–like David (Ezekiel 34) and the son of God (Psalm 2 and 1 Samuel 7). The title Son of God was reserved for anointed kings in Israel and taken by the Roman emperors. Thus, Jesus claimed to be the promised Davidic King whose reign was superior to all emperors and would have no end. He further asserted his claim by cleansing the temple (like Solomon, who built it, and Davidic kings who renovated it). 

 

So the devil attacked him with all his might. Yes, he, the accuser, lured the hearts of wicked men of Israel and had them accuse Jesus of the wrongs he did not do. The charges his accusers laid upon Jesus were their own crimes. For instance, they accused Jesus of acting against the Jerusalem temple. Jesus did announce the temple’s destruction and, as a prophetic sign, cleansed it. However, as they had alleged, he was not an insurgent or a rebel. Instead, he was pointing to them, prophetically, of the imminent future of Jerusalem at the hands of Rome unless they repented or changed their course. The rebellion against Rome, which the temple-centered Jews were planning, would eventually destroy them and lead them to exile.

 

The Jews successfully accused and charged and handed Jesus over to the Roman authorities for crucifixion. The one who did not sin became the bearer of all evil. The one who was the actual image of God became the picture of sin and evil at its worst. Jesus died. Death and grave swallowed him like the fish that gobbled up Prophet Jonah. The devil must have celebrated along with his depraved human friends that night. But his party did not last long —God, the ultimate and just judge, saw how the accusations against Jesus were false. Death could not hold him down, for he was not guilty. Since the charges were fraudulent, God vindicated him and raised him from the dead, as prophesied, on the third day.

 

Like Prophet Jonah in the fish’s belly, Jesus was in the womb of the earth. The fish could not digest Jonah, God’s anointed prophet. Similarly, the ground could not decay Jesus’ body. As David prophesied, God’s holy one did not see decay, but he destroyed the sting of death and corruption by rising from the dead. The fish threw up Jonah. Likewise, the old creation could not keep the new from bursting forth. The devil had no hold over the resurrected Jesus, humanity 2.0. Jesus accepted death on behalf of humankind to reclaim the authority usurped by the devil and thereby redeem the cosmos in him and through him. Thus, he became the first fruit of the new creation. 

 

Jesus ascended into heaven and sat at God’s right hand of power, crowned the King of the cosmos. All authority over heaven and earth belongs to Jesus. King Jesus shared his authority with his friends who believed in him. He gave them the right to become God’s children and heirs through his Spirit. But Jesus is a king of a different kind. He did not use brute force to fight the devil when he faced false accusations and death. Instead, Jesus did what the first humans must have done–shepherding the creation. As a good shepherd, he took people’s punishment on their behalf and laid down his life for his sheep, humanity. Jesus forgave his killers, offered blessings and paradise in return, and refused to rebel against God even at the peak of his suffering. 

 

Jesus calls his friends to be kings of his kind. He empowers them to bring justice, do acts of mercy, serve other humans, and be the stewards of God’s good creation. Jesus wants them to endure unjust sufferings patiently, return good for evil, forgive those who hurt them, love those who seem unlovable, and cling to God even when God has forsaken them. When we live for ourselves, sufferings always seem intolerable. But if we live for others, God’s will, or a higher cause, our minds always seem to find a way to endure suffering willingly. 

 

Therefore, let us fix our eyes on the cross, trusting God to take care of our resurrection. One day, Jesus promised he would reappear and set all things right. But, until then, we have a mission to complete –to announce Jesus as King of all and Lord of creation to reclaim spaces and people that the devil has usurped. To bring justice to the oppressed, dispense kindness to the weak, speak truth to power, and restore the beauty of the creation. That is what God’s reign looks like, and what about those who bring God’s Kingdom? They look like the mourners, the peace-makers, the persecuted hungry for justice, and the meek people –the servant kings– of the beatitudes.