44 Days Through the New Testament – Day 11

Luke 17-19

I love passages where Jesus talks about the kingdom of God. An amazing passage is found in Luke 17:

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20–21, ESV)

Tim Timmons has a song with the key line, “Everywhere the King is, there is the kingdom!” I love that line. Where is the kingdom of God? It is wherever the king is. Jesus is the King Forever! When we acknowledge Him and invite Him into our everyday lives, we become aware of the kingdom of God. When we try to live apart from the King, we fool ourselves and miss the kingdom. Not that the kingdom of God is not always around us. It is! The King is always present through the work of God the Holy Spirit. But that reality does not always affect our lives in the way that it should.

God is always and everywhere present. But we are not always living with the awareness of His presence. The kingdom of God will not come in the ways that we tend to think of it coming. It is already here in the midst of us. 

Father, open our eyes to see the kingdom and rightly acknowledge the King.

Luke 20-22

God is always and everywhere present, but a day is coming when the King Forever will physically return as the Great Redeemer and Glorious Savior. We see a glimpse of what that day will be like in Luke 21:

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:25–28, ESV)

We can choose whether we live in the reality of the kingdom of God right now, but a day is coming when there will be no avoiding the truth. The Son of Man will be coming in a cloud with power and great glory!