“… The
kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, Lo, here! Or,
Lo, there! For behold the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luk 17:20-21)
It means that the Kingdom of God is in between
us, it is the fabric of our relationships based upon mutual love. It cannot be
seen. It cannot be touched. It cannot be measured in this world. It is not a
perfect, harmonious social order, though. It is not a peace of mind, either. It
is a unity of souls attuned to God. You cannot be sure if there is a unity,
because peace, harmony, and beauty in outward appearance do not necessarily
correspond to inner communal peace, harmony and beauty. A perfect social (political)
order, if such one could ever be built in this world, has nothing to do with
the coming of the Kingdom of Christ, but, rather, perhaps, of an antichrist.
The Kingdom
of God comes at the end of the world. “At the END” means when the world is no more.
When the world ends, the Kingdom of God comes. Therefore, invocation, which is
said in one sentence, “Thy kingdom, come!” means that we long for this world to
end sooner for us, because we look beyond this world and forward for God’s
Kingdom to come, not in this world but after this world is done and no more. It
is a statement of us readily waiting for the end of this world and the coming
of the world to come.
“Thy will
be done, as in heaven, so in earth” is another sentence which means that we
long to have God’s will being done in this world in the same way and manner as
it is being done in God’s Kingdom, which is not of this world. It is more about
HOW the will of God is being done, rather than WHAT God is willing to be done
here in this world as opposed to Heaven. In this world the will of God is being
done forcibly, because people mostly resist the will of God, either out of
ignorance or because their flesh is too weak to do God’s will and/or accept it
when the will of God is being done. In Heaven the Will of God is the only thing
there is and it is being done through and accepted by angels and human souls
seamlessly, so to speak, most naturally and effortlessly. Any resistance or
rejection, or rebellion, or discomfort puts you out of that realm, into that
situation you feel most at home with.
In this
world we tend to impose our will upon others, and encourage others to do the
same. In the Kingdom of God, in Heaven, the will is being accepted
unconditionally in any form or kind, because there is only one Will, that of
God. We most often do not see the Will in general, or any will or wish, or
intention, as coming always and exclusively from God here in this world and
that is why we do not have the will of God being done in earth as it is being
done in Heaven. That is what we ask for in that sentence.
The Will of
God is made manifest through the Holy Spirit, indeed. The Holy Spirit, as one
of the three persons of the Trinity through which God has made Himself manifest
to us, does not come to heal the world. He comes to heal us!! The Holy Spirit
comes to guide, to instruct, and to strengthen us in this hostile world in
order to prepare our souls for eternal life in God’s Kingdom. Jesus Christ did
not come to make this world better, or to heal it. He came to save us from the
carnal influences this world has upon our souls. This world is mortifying our
souls and is making them unfit for the Kingdom of God in the world to come.
This world lives by its material physical laws. Competition of egos and
resistance to the outer willpower, coercion and forcible imposition of one’s
willpower upon others are the order of the day in this world. That is how the
physical world works and even when there is agreement in smaller things it is
only to accumulate strength to resist and compete on a larger scale. It is not
so in the Kingdom of God. Loving and humble acceptance of all manifestations of
the outer will, which in turn itself is a manifestation of loving and humble
acceptance of another’s, is how it works in the Kingdom of God.
“And all
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath
given to us the ministry of reconciliation…” (2Co 5:18)
Reconciliation
is of us to God, our Heavenly Father, and not of us to this world or to one
another, through Jesus Christ. It is for us to prepare for eternal living in
the Kingdom of God in the world which is to come, not for a temporary dwelling
in the carnal one.
“The one loving father or mother more than Me is
not worthy of Me. And the one loving son or daughter more than Me is not worthy
of Me. And who does not take up his
cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. The one finding his life shall
lose it. And the one losing his life on account of Me shall find it.” (Mat 10:37 - Mat
10:39)
“Do not
think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a
sword. I came to divide a man against his father, and a daughter against her
mother, and a bride against her mother-in-law.
Ones hostile to the man shall be those of his own house.” (Mat 10:34 -
Mat 10:36)
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