Photo Credit: Tom.Brook via Compfight cc
If I were to ask you what your theology was regarding the Kingdom of God, how would you respond? If you are like a lot of people, you would have no idea what I was talking about. It seems as though we have lots of theology about everything else but not the Kingdom. I find that a little odd. Do you? Maybe we need to talk about why it is important.
As God’s people we seem to spend a tremendous amount of time trying to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong, who’s good and who’s bad, who’s in and who’s out, etc. In one of the King’s stories, He points us to a Day when it will be all sorted out…
The fact that God is beginning to reign in our present time and space is presented throughout the Gospels as good news. And it is indeed good news as God’s reign is the only thing that will truly put things right in our lives no matter how messed up they have been. This good news demands that we respond. In this post we will examine two of the King’s stories that illustrate the joyful response of those who make the joyful discovery of the Kingdom of God.
It never ceases to amaze me how the King could take such simple things from everyday life and use them to profoundly illustrate the Kingdom of God. But that is the true essence of a parable. It takes something ordinary and throws it alongside a spiritual truth in order to make it come alive in the minds of those who have ears to hear. In this post we will look at a picture the King took from the kitchens of the day to help us understand how the Kingdom progresses.
What is our conception of the Kingdom of God? In Jesus’ day the Jews had a rather narrow view of the Kingdom. Some of the stories told by the King were intended to expand their understanding of God’s reign. Besides expanding our understanding, the parable we will look at in the post serves as a word of encouragement as well.
