Resurrection People

Resurrection People

Easter was nearly two weeks ago. At my house, the Reese’s peanut butter eggs and jelly beans are nearly gone (a good thing!), but I can’t seem to steer my focus away from the significance of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (another good thing!).

Our risen King has defeated sin and death with His life and with His love. He has ascended on high and reigns as King, having been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

What John writes in the book of Revelation has come true, is coming true, and will one day be completely and utterly true.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever.”

The inauguration of Jesus as King has taken place. He is reigning forever and ever. While it is true that His Kingdom is still yet to come in all its fullness, the fact remains today, right here and right now, that by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus has been enthroned as the eternal King.

At our home, my daughter, Reese, often prays for meals. She always ends her prayer by saying, “Help us to listen and obey so that your Kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven.”

What an amazing prayer! It sounds just like what Jesus taught us to pray.

Jesus wants us to learn to live as though He is King, and when we do, when we follow Jesus as King, God’s will and God’s Kingdom and God’s rule shows itself on earth as it is in heaven.

In other words, the Kingdom of Heaven means the sovereign rule of Heaven. This sovereign rule of Heaven, which has come and is still coming, will one day come to earth completely and finally through the completed work of Jesus Christ and Christ alone.

We need to think of the Kingdom of Heaven as the reality that is coming to earth right here and right now through the power of the Holy Spirit who has been given from our risen Savior – a risen Savior who is now enthroned at the right hand of God in heaven with all authority.

You can’t have the resurrection without the kingdom. The resurrection was the inauguration of Christ’s Kingdom on earth as in heaven.

But of course, Jesus’ Kingdom is a different sort of kingdom than we’re used to. Jesus replaced the ordinary sort of kingdom with a quite different sort.

He said, “If you want to find your life, then lose it. Anyone who loses his life will find it” (Matt. 10:39; 16:25; Mk. 8:35; Lk. 9:24; Jn. 12:25).

 

He said, “If you want to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God, then become the least. Become a servant to all” (Matt. 20:26; 23:11; Mk. 9:35).

Leadership in the Kingdom of God is not defined by power in the way in which leaders direct others. It means service and caring to the point of being a slave to those who are being served.

Jesus is risen from the dead and has ascended on high, having been given all authority both in heaven and on earth, and He will one day return to make that rule complete.

So as the sugar of Easter fades away, don’t let the significance of the resurrection of the King disappear.

The good news is that the living God has defeated all the evil powers of this world through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, in order to establish His rule of justice and peace on earth as in heaven.