Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Kingdom
- Kingdom: We live in God’s creation, but it is fallen. We do not yet live in the fullness of God’s Kingdom. But we do know that the Kingdom of God is drawing near. We do get to see glimpses of the kingdom each and every time that God works in us and through us as He tries to demonstrate Himself to the world.
I have
often thought as Job thinks in this chapter.
The wicked prosper. The powerful
oppress the powerless. The masters are
lords over those who could benefit from them.
People steal from the defenseless.
Our world is messed up, and it doesn’t really seem to be getting any
better. In fact, I’ve heard many people
say that our culture is in decline, not improving.
This is
absolutely a pessimistic view of the world.
I think it has merit and is based in truth. But it is admittedly pessimistic. To say that our culture is slipping into
moral and ethical decline is a sad commentary on our culture.
It leads
to the question that Job asks. How can
God stand by and watch? How can God
watch while the wicked prosper? How can
God sit back and deny justice to the righteous?
How can God be king of this kingdom if the people who aspire to know Him
are seldom prosperous and lifted up by the world? If God is king, why do His people not rise to
the top of His kingdom?
I think
there are two answers to this. The first
answer is deeply theological. The answer
is that God’s kingdom is eternal. We
cannot say who really is rising to the top of God’s kingdom until we get to the
eternal. Who are we to say that after a
few decades of living in this world that we have any ability to testify as to
who God is allowing to be elevated?
The
second answer is rooted more in the truth about humanity. In God’s kingdom, who among us is really
righteous? Who among us truly deserves
God’s love more than we deserve God’s wrath?
When I lift up our hand against some injustice done to me, am I really
innocent and blameless? Am I without
sin?
The truth
is that in God’s kingdom we are all there by God’s grace. No human being deserves to be there. No human being deserves to stand in the
presence of God. We will all be there by
God’s grace. What a great day it will
be! But none of us will deserve it.
Job’s
right on one account. The unrighteous
prosper. The unrighteous go
unpunished. People oppress one another. But I’m just as guilty as the next
person. My life is full of sin, too. God has prospered me when I don’t deserve
it.
That’s
what it means to be a part of God’s kingdom.
We see it. We even see injustice
within it. But we are all in it by God’s
grace.
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