Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents
Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 3 – Dancing in the Kingdom– Chapter 19 –The Story of the Kingdom Revisited
Unleashing the Kingdom
[Bible references: Exodus 31:1-6; Isaiah 56:1; Matthew 6:10; 28:16-20’ Acts 2:3-4; Romans 12:9; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:9; James 1:27; 3:17]
After Jesus ascended to heaven, he told the disciples to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus began the work of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. That work would now be carried on by the disciples who would now be empowered by the very Spirit of God that empowered Jesus.
While we wait in this in-between time, God is at work through the Holy Spirit, continuing to bring people to Himself, continuing to build His kingdom. The task that lies before us is to join Him in His work. The prayer He gave for us to say says, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This prayer asks that His kingdom be brought to earth, the Kingdom of justice and mercy. Empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is our opportunity to do our part, with whatever ability He has given us, to work with Him in bringing His justice and mercy on earth: to look after the widows, orphans, the helpless, and the marginalized; to have compassion; to not lie about others; Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts; bringing the good news of Jesus to all. This is simply doing the task assigned to us from the beginning: to fill the earth and subdue it as his co-regents, to take care of the earth as farmer-priests representing Him on earth.
In the now-broken earth, many people think of human civilization as a corruption and pollution of the earth, that the earth was only meant to be pristine – as it was before humans started to mess it up. While we certainly have abused the earth in many ways, that does not mean all aspects of human civilization are inherently bad. When we use our God-given capabilities to join God in His kingdom building, that is good. Many things that we design, create and build are inherently good. The problem lies in our corruption and the world’s corruption that causes us to misuse every good thing[1].
“There are two ways in which God imposes his law on the cosmos, two ways in which his will is done on earth as in heaven. He does it either directly, without mediation, or indirectly through the involvement of human responsibility … entrusts to mankind the tasks of making tools, doing justice, producing art and pursuing scholarship … The effects of sin touch all of creation; no created thing is in principle untouched by the corrosive effects of the fall. Whether we look at the state or family, or cultural pursuits such as art or technology, or bodily functions such as sexuality or eating, or anything at all within the wide scope of creation, we discover that the good handiwork of God has been drawn into the sphere of human mutiny against God.”
When we were charged with filling and subduing the earth, it did not mean that we were to simply expand the Garden of Eden. God had given us many gifts to use, including tremendous creative abilities. We were given various spiritual gifts for the purpose of building one another up; we were given artistic gifts to make articles for the Tabernacle and Temple; we were given gifts of singing, making musical instruments and craftsmanship, hunting, trading, sailing – in general, making the things of civilization.
It is undeniable that, despite the corruption we see, God has provided us an abundance of creative skills for displaying His transcendence and glory in our art, technology, engineering and sciences. He has also given us social and political skills to create human public and private institutions that can organize our abilities to do good.
It does not take much observation to notice the corruption that has permeated our society. It can seem hard to determine if we have misused more than we properly used the gifts and abilities God has given us. Nevertheless, as God’s co-regents we have been given a sacred obligation to join God in His restoration of the earth.
[1] Wolters, Albert M. Creation Regained: Biblical Bases for a Reformational Worldview. William B. Eerdmans Publishing 1985, 2005. eBook
Dancing In The Kingdom 