The Kingdom: Already! But, Not Yet!

There is a sense in which God's kingdom is already in force. In Hebrews 2:8–9 we read, "At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death" In this passage, we have a "now" (we see Jesus crowned with glory), and we have a "not yet" (not everything has been subjected to Christ). Jesus is the King, but His kingdom is not yet come, nor is it of this world. John 18:36 says, “36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

We exist under His Lordship (Whether we want to be or not). We have an eternal destination (Heaven or Hell). We are loved by Him – he died for all… (None should perish)

Jesus came to die… To pay the price for us… For those who have surrendered to Jesus and submitted themselves to His Lordship, in 1 John 3:2, we read, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Again, we have a "now" (we are the children of God), and we have a "not yet" (our future state). We are children of the King, but we must wait to see exactly what that entails.

The paradigm we discover here is that of “Saved Sinners who are Suffering Saints.” Romans 8:30 says we are "glorified" and Ephesians 2:6 says we are seated with Christ "in the heavenly realms" as if these were completed acts. We don't feel very glorified, most of the time, and our surroundings do not much resemble "heavenly realms." That's because the present spiritual reality does not yet match up with the future, physical reality. One day, the two will be in sync.

Jesus Resurrected – Already

            Conquering Death, Hell, and the Grave

            Establishing His Power and Sovereignty

We Exist – Already

            Under his Redeeming Blood

            With a Hope of the Future yet to come…

            His power (indwelling Spirit) to aide us on our journey…

Jesus Kingdom – Not Yet Come

            It is coming with Him when He returns…

Our Future Existence – Not yet Come

            Will be with Him forever in Glory

That is the KINGDOM to COME!!!

That is REAL!!!

That is HOPE!!!

That is JESUS!!!!!!!!