Jesus, God's Kingdom, and the Church, Pt 1

Jesus, God’s Kingdom, and the Church

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is

                                                                                               on me,
                                                                                         because the LORD has anointed me
                                                                                         to proclaim good news to the poor.
                                                                                  He has sent me to bind up the
                                                                                                    brokenhearted,
                                                                                         to proclaim freedom for the captives
                                                                                         and release from darkness for the
                                                                                                     prisoners,
                                                                                          to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor….

                                                                                                        Isaiah 61:1-2, NIV

        In a number of NT passages, it is Jesus who—by his proclamation of the Good News of God’s Kingdom; his performance of signs and wonders; his miraculous healings and exorcism of demons—is shown to be the fulfilment of OT prophecies regarding “the Servant of the LORD,” who is also Reconciler, Liberator, and Healer (cf.  Isa. 61:1-4 and Joel 2:28-32 with Lk. 4:1-44; 7:1-30; Matt. 11:1-14; John 3:31-36; Acts 10:24-48).  Yet many in Jesus’ own day refused to recognize this.  For instance, Jesus tells the Pharisees, when they accuse him of being an emissary of Satan and doing miraculous works in his power: 

                             “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed…And if Satan is casting out Satan,

                      he is divided and fighting against himself.  His own kingdom will not survive.  And if
                      I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists?  They cast out demons, too,
                      so they will condemn you for what you have said.   But if I am casting out demons by
                      the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you” (Matt. 12:25-28,
                      NLT).
                   
So it is clear that God’s kingdom has begun with Jesus life and ministry, breaking into and challenging the predominant powers of this Present Evil Age.
        Yet at the same time, Jesus also teaches that God’s kingdom, or reign, is not fully manifested and consummated until the end of history.  This future manifestation and consummation is spoken of in a number of Jesus’ teachings on God’s kingdom, such as the following:

                            “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns,

                     but you won’t see it.  People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’
                     but don’t go out and follow them.  For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from
                     one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes.  But first, the Son
                     of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation…And the world will be as it
                     was in the days of Lot.  People went about their daily business—eating and drinking,
                     buying and selling, farming and building—until the morning Lot left Sodom.  Then fire and
                     burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.  Yes, it will be ‘business
                     as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:22-30, NLT).