The Time is Fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at Hand
Posted by Pastor Pat on March 21, 2009
Read Mark 1:14-15
All of Scripture points to this singular idea: God reigns over all He creates. There is no area, anywhere, at anytime that does not fall under His reign. Although this reign shows itself in various ways, there can be no question that He reigns. Often we are found struggling against the idea that God’s kingdom is present. Our Lord offered a simple prayer to guide His disciples in prayer, “Our Father who is in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth even as it is done in heaven.” Such a request suggests that there is a kingdom that is yet future. If future, then it cannot be present. This thinking, however, diminishes the “already-not yet” theology of the New Testament.
The Gospels clearly portray Jesus Christ as king and His kingdom as present. His miracles and teaching all speak to this idea. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ secured for Himself the citizens of His kingdom, and His rejection and death did not stop the kingdom from existing. The kingdom Jesus brought still exists today. It looks differently than it did before Jesus came, when Jesus came, and will look differently when He comes again, but there is still a present kingdom.
