My Kingdom is not of this world

John 18:28-38

Verse 30 falsely accused Him of treasonous/subversive statements about Roman authority. So, in effect, they were accusing Him of meddling in political matters.

His opponents had tried to get Jesus trapped into taking a position on political questions before but failed. The gist of their question was “Should we co-operate with a government we consider illegitimate or should we resist it?” Let’s read that previous encounter…

Luke 20:20-26 Jesus’ answer demonstrates an attitude towards civil government… the governments of mankind.

What is that attitude?

Government and politics are not the focus or purpose of Jesus ministry. It’s similar to the time when some guy came up to Jesus and wanted Him to judge in a dispute about property or money. Jesus said “I’m not here to do stuff like that. Go figure it out for yourself if it's so important to you.”

Telling people about the Kingdom of God was His focus. Start changing your mind, your attitude, and your actions because the Kingdom of God is coming. If you want to be a part of it GET READY.

How urgent is that? If the average person comes to that realization at about 18-22 then they have about 20,000 days to get ready!

It’s another way of saying seek first the kingdom of God AND its righteousness. Make that quest your top priority. Engaging in worldly politics doesn’t move the ball down the field. At best it’s a distraction… at worst it’s a compromise with damaging results.

So, we render to God what is God’s… we give Him that priority and focus. But Jesus also said something else didn’t He? Give to Caesar [the king, the government, the dictator] what is His.

What is Caesars?

Romans 13: 1-7 I don’t think God hand picks leaders and helps them win political campaigns, or get the upper hand over their opponents etc. If one candidate wins is that God’s decision and desired outcome? No. If the other candidate wins does that mean God prefers them? No. How else do you explain our Hitler’s, Joseph Stalin's, or Attila the Huns?

God has given political power and rule into the hands of humans. Why? To preserve order and prevent chaos. That’s primarily what the record of the flood is about. Before the flood, a world without any government became violent and chaotic. God wiped it out by a flood, preserved Noah, and gave humanity the institution of government. Mankind’s  first charge was to punish [and therefore control] murder and violence. Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man… for humans are made in the image of God.

The record of Genesis then goes on to give some info about the establishment of nations and government. We also get a tiny glimpse into the first government established by humanity… the city of Babel with Nimrod and his dynasty forcing themselves to the top.

Note that their projects and doings were not Godly. The first thing they did was building a tower and rebel against God’s instruction that humanity spread out over the planet. God had to intervene by confusing their languages to disperse them. However, the order and power He instituted in them served the purpose of restraining violence and chaos.

Those things are still in the hands of humanity… they still belong to Caesar.

Question: as part of the human race don’t I then have a God-given part to play in human government… maintaining order and subduing chaos, or unrighteousness, or oppression? Perhaps I can make a difference by voting or running for office etc.?

If you were just a regular person then I say the answer would be undoubtedly YES. But you are not just anybody… you are among those called to inherit God’s Kingdom… to be born into His family with future responsibilities as a judge, priest and ruler all rolled into one… for you the answer is more complex… “seek first the Kingdom of God”

Romans 12:9-21 you are called to live a life that breaks the cycle of negative and destructive reciprocity, the tit for tat, the oppressive injustice built into all human institutions (even American ones) à we must leave room for the just judge… God to deal with the situation.

Objection: but if everybody did that then we’d slip back into chaos. Don’t worry, it won’t happen. On a material level, God’s people are a drop in the ocean. And humanity as a whole is not going to come over to our way of thinking… its possible for them to change, but they are not going to…. a least not until after Christ has returned.

God The Judge

God doesn’t get involved with the operations and decisions of human government unless He deems it necessary… to keep the plan of salvation on course etc. And what you or I might consider absolutely necessary is vastly different from what our creator considers absolutely necessary… unless of course, you have a change of perspective.

What did Abraham want for Sodom and Gomorrah? Justice, fairness… what if innocent people get caught up in the destruction? But Abraham let God judge the situation and deal with it.

If God wanted to overthrow Roe v. Wade it would happen. But that’s not His end game.

1 Timothy 2:1-8 If you want to influence the outcome of the election then pray… PRAY FOR WHAT?...Pray for an outcome that advances the proclamation of the truth, the gospel of the kingdom of God, an outcome that allows God’s people to live in peace and focus on preparing for their role in the coming rule of Christ.

But Be Ready For Anything…

What if God’s purpose is to allow the U.S.A. to pursue their freedom to its logical end, to make their own laws, to decide their own morality, to use their wealth and God-given bounty to create whatever they want… perhaps a godless society. What if He desires to let it happen to make a point about the end game of the human heart? To answer the humanist question: What if only we had a world without that repressive God? Imagine a world without all His weird unnatural rules about sexuality and oppressive demands for obedience? Wouldn’t it be great?

What if God’s purpose is to let the sins of the U.S.A. fill up to the brim so that He might judge them as a warning to all the earth? What if He want’s us to see how unbridled freedom combined with incredible wealth doesn’t bring us the results we expect? Who knows… I do not know what the future holds.

This was the end game for the nation is Israel. They had it all… in a different way from the U.S.A. They had His law, His presence, great wealth but in the end, Israel was destroyed for defying and rejecting God.

The prophets were patriots… they loved Israel. Read what they wrote. Jeremiah saw it coming God gave him words of warning to speak to the nation. Jeremiah was terrified of what he saw coming. He didn’t want it to happen. But God’s righteousness came first.

Our job today is to offer the truth to those who will listen and are willing to change because the kingdom of God is coming and they want to be a part of it.

Isn’t That Just A Defeatist Cop-Out?

Some people think having a spiritual perspective is to transcend the nasty, messy, unjust, violent world we get as a result of the governments of mankind. Most religious teaching like Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians [remember, we’re not like them] teach that the ultimate goal for human beings is to escape this physical world, to go to a better place. But that is not what the Bible teaches.

On a humorous note: atheists teach that meaninglessness and chaos is the logical state of the universe and that whatever order we now experience is some kind of random and unexplainable mistake…

Revelation 19:11-16 What God tells us about the future is not some perfect ethereal existence apart from and separate from the earth/planet/world. His future projection is one where He is fully engaged with this world and will transform it… but on His timetable. First He is allowing mankind enough time to see the fruits of their self-rule, then once that teachable moment is complete. Christ will to return and establish the righteous rule of God Himself for a set period so all might see and compare. Then they will be given a choice.

The point of biblical spirituality is not to run away from the physical world. Biblical spirituality is about taking over and transforming all that we now see and experience and turning it into something new and amazing. That time is not now… if it was nothing would hold it back, as Jesus said… John 18:36

What Does God Want You To Do?

1. Revelation 18:4-5 God’s warning to you is “don’t get wrapped up with the world”. None of these people have and lasting meaningful solutions. They say they have a plan to make everything right but they do not.
2. 2 Corinthians 5:20 think of yourself as an Ambassador in a foreign land. Or as a herald of the righteous king who is coming.
3. 2 Timothy 1:8-14 like him we [the Church of God] are heralds of that coming kingdom.