The Kingship of Christ

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 14 Paul is speaking of the reign REIGN of God, not the REALM of God. We tend to think of a kingdom as a place. You see,  for Jesus and for Paul it almost never has that meaning. Rather it means the reign or the rule of God. You can see that here: Where the Holy Spirit is bringing about righteousness and peace and joy, the kingdom (that is, the reign of God) is being manifested.

Fred Beuchner  points out that “IF WE ONLY HAD eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born both within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don't know its name or realise that it's what we're starving to death for. 

The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realise it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it.” 

It is not what we do that matters, but what a sovereign God chooses to do through us. God doesn't want our success; He wants us. He doesn't demand our achievements; He demands our obedience. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of paradox, where through the ugly defeat of a cross, a holy God is utterly glorified. Victory comes through defeat; healing through brokenness; finding self through losing self.

Oh Jesus,

You are the King of Glory, 

You are the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.

And we pray that your Kingdom will reign forever in our hearts and in this world.

Lord, thank you for being a different kind of King.

Thank you for your goodness and kindness in our lives.

Thank you for your generosity.

Thank you for loving us.

Thank you for your Kingdom that is unlike any

Kingdom in this world.

Lord, we pray for your Kingdom to come here now, 

bringing a kingdom of justice, righteousness, hope, love, 

peace, mercy and grace for all.

Lord, we ask that you rule in our hearts, 

lead in this world and govern over your kingdom. Amen