Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew 6:9-15 Lord’s prayer
Revelation 21 New Jerusalem
John 18:33-37 My kingdom is not on earth
I Samuel 8 We want a king!
While kingdom language may have gone out of style for Americans who celebrate that Washington didn’t want to be the king, it pervades Scripture. We hear of kingdoms in the Lord’s prayer. We speak of the king of kings and the lord of lords. And perhaps most importantly, we speak of on earth as it is in heaven. As Samuel so eloquently and passionately points out, earthly kings aren’t like
heavenly lords.
So what does the heavenly kingdom/commonwealth look like? We have hints and descriptions –cities of golden streets, gates and gems, wonderful gardens, the presence of God. We have Samuel’s very pointed description of how earthly kingdoms work, and frankly, our own cynical experiences of powers and principalities, both historical and present. So Beyond the sense that God’s kingdom is different, how do we put that difference on display to the world? How is it that we exhibit the kingdom of Heaven to the world?
