The Kingdom is in our hands?
I believe it’s important, when reading Scripture, to remember the Bible is a continuous story. Like a story, everything written links to something else in the story. It’s all relevant and should be read in a way that connects. The Bible is NOT meant to be read in pieces with moral lessons.
The God of the Universe has created humanity to partner in ruling and managing. What’s more, he began by creating humanity in His image. “God created humanity is His own image, in the image of God He created them, male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27).“ Jesus was the first member of the Kingdom of God. He suffered until death and then was glorified and ascended to the right hand of God. He set the mold. His death and resurrection made Him King and inaugurated His Kingdom. God’s purpose in all this is to return humanity to the divine inheritance He intended.
C.S. Lewis writes a series of letters from a demon named Wormwood to his nephew, regarding the destruction of humanity. In one of the letters he writes:
”One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself–creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct.”
The Prodigal Son is humanity‘s story. Humanity demanded their inheritance by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and bad. They couldn’t wait for God to impart wisdom in the cool of the evenings while walking with Him in the garden.
In the same way, we see something as good in our eyes and take it. Our example should be Jesus living for others, not ourselves. We are to love mercy and act justly for the benefit of one another. This is the only way the world will find peace. It’s our responsibility in order to manage and rule with God. We have been created in God’s likeness to rule and manage an Eden with God. This is only possible through sacrifice and faithfulness. The faithfulness, or trust in God and his commands. His wisdom brings life. We must deny what we see as good and embrace the Father’s definition of good.
We come to know this wisdom through the hard fought lessons taught in Scripture. We must follow and meditate on Scripture to understand the wisdom of life. Creation cries out as humanity learns its mistakes. The world is counting on our faithfulness to bring the Kingdom of God to earth.
Don’t you think it’s time we left the pig troughs behind and allow God to elevate us to glory with Him? The world is literally counting on us. So, when we make decisions in our lives, I pray we seek the wisdom of God through Scripture. Meditate on it, write it on your hearts, creation holds its breath in anticipation.
May His Kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven.