The Conflict Between Kingdoms

What if I was to tell you of two kingdoms? They are usually in conflict with one another. They have different kings and yet they are trying to conquer the same place.

The original ruler was a just king that wanted to care for everyone, create a land of bounty and even share his leadership. But someone used what the just king entrusted to him to try to take the land for himself. This person became a rebel and gathered more and more against the just king. Eventually, this rebel group became so prolific that it was hard to see what the original kingdom was like. Instead, it looks distorted and morphed. Justice doesn't seem to exist, the bounty is lacking as people are scared and greedy for everything, and everyone is at odds with one another.

This is one of the dramas underlying the story of the bible.

You will remember that God created everything. He is Lord above it all. Yet he gave us dominion and leadership to tend the garden, yet we wanted to be God defining evil and good for ourselves. We became greedy and jealous. Humanity looked a lot less and less like God. We tried to set ourselves up as our king. Even God's chosen people demanded a king rejecting God. There may have been a faithful few but more often this world looked like anything but God's kingdom.

Now God in Jesus our true Lord and king has come. He has shown us what it means to be true kings and queens (it is not what we thought). He has shown us who our king is. He has shown us the kind of kingdom he is creating. The drama as Jesus tells us God's kingdom is close at hand is, will we reach out to grab it; will we be willing to live in it by following our true king?