I just finished painting our front porch, which has had a dark wood stain for about 20 years. The special paint for this is supposed to be 6 times thicker than other paint, and is supposed to cover in one coat and change your deck in one day! Well, it has taken almost 2 weeks! It required 2 coats, and with just over 100 spindles to paint (and all 4 sides of each spindle), it has been many hours. It is done now, and looks much lighter and quite nice. The color is called “beach”, and makes you think you are sitting on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. (well, not really) The truth is, even though it looks clean and nice, it is still 20 year old deck boards, showing the gouges and occasional warping that comes with 20 year old boards. And in another 10 years or so, even after paint touch-ups, the boards will need to be torn up and replaced with something new.

I think my porch is somewhat of a metaphor for our lives and our world! We baby-boomers know our bodies are slowly wearing down like those deck boards, and even with diet, exercise, and other “touch up” schemes, eventually they will cease to function and decay into dust like those boards. Our bodies, our culture, and even the natural world are contaminated by sin, and we long for something better and lasting! All people want good families, good relationships with others without fear and prejudice, healthy lives, an end to war and injustice and all the other “isms” that plague our world. But as hard as we try to do good and make things right, we always seem to fall short! Today it’s popular to call out extreme groups on the right or left, but that often makes it easy to overlook our own sinful thoughts (and we all have them!). The apostle Paul understand the futility of trying to “do good” all the time when we are under the curse of sin:
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.- Romans 7:14-20 (NIV)

The Bible says God desires shalom for us, which is much more than just peace. It is the “webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight.” Shalom is the way things are supposed to be, the way God created them to be in the Garden of Eden. But, we can never get there on just our own best efforts. That’s like a temporary paint job over decaying boards. Our sin is a violation on shalom. God doesn’t hate sin because he wants to punish us; he hates sin because it disrupts the beautiful plans he has for his people!

It is into this mess that Jesus came to us, preaching the Kingdom of God! His Kingdom is not a self-improvement course, but a total reversal of all that is wrong with this world, and a way to return to the shalom that God wishes for us all! Jesus died to offer us forgiveness for our sins, and the power to reverse it’s effects. His resurrection is a victory over the power of sin, and a beginning of the restoration process to the life and world that we always wanted! It is no longer just a slight improvement to our world, but a new creation, a new Kingdom in which we are also made new. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!- 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) In Revelation 21, the Bible teaches that the Kingdom of God is not an immaterial paradise “out there”, but that when Jesus returns he will build a new earth, cleansing, renewing and perfecting what has been broken by sin!
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”- Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)

So, how are we to live as “Kingdom Christians”?
I will do future blogs in more detail on “Kingdom living”, but here are some basics:
1) Start by joining the Kingdom! (and inviting others to join as well!)
Jesus offers this forgiveness and new life to all, as a gift, but we must willingly trust him with our lives! The Kingdom involves a new, intimate relationship with God, allowing him to lead and control your life. It’s NOT God making your life better so you can run it the way you want.( that’s the definition of sin!) if you don’t want God’s presence in your life, then you won’t want to be in his Kingdom, either, because it will be all-God all the time! Jesus warned that many, possibly the majority of people, won’t accept his offer.
2) Allow God’s Spirit to change your mind, which will lead to new attitudes and actions.
God transforms us from the inside out! When you begin to think like Jesus thinks, you will begin to love others and see the world as he sees it.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. -Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
3) Get involved in your daily world by being “salt and light”, bringing hope and reconciliation to a broken and dying world!
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.-Ephesians 2:14-18 (NIV)
Christians are to bring grace, hope, reconciliation, and love into a violent and divided culture. Are you joining in language that divides or alienates others, or are you speaking in ways that bring healing and reconciliation? Are your actions patient, forgiving, and caring toward others, even those who are hard to love?
The world will not ultimately be changed through government, politics, or education alone. It has already been redeemed through Jesus, and he is beginning the great reversal through his Kingdom followers. Are you part of the team? Why not join today?