Kingdom Pictures: 5 Ways to See the Kingdom of God预览

The Kingdom of God Is Like New Creation

The biggest feast in the Christian calendar is Easter week, with the climax of Easter Sunday. We need to understand what happened historically on Easter and why it is so incredibly important; that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Paul says that if the resurrection did not happen, our faith is meaningless. The early Christians had one big hope, where they placed their faith. They trusted that what God did with Jesus on Easter, he will one day do with the rest of humanity and creation. A new heaven and earth. No more war, no more hatred, no more fear. No death, no pain, no suffering, no injustice, no one is taken advantage of. Everything that sin and evil destroyed was put back together—a beautiful mosaic made from a pile of broken pieces.

This is what got started on Easter. A new world. A new creation. It is what we celebrate each year. What was supposed to happen at the end of time happened in the middle of time. In his account of the resurrection, John repeatedly compares what happened at Easter with the creation story. It is not an accident that Mary mistakes Jesus here to be the gardener. He is the gardener who starts with a new creation. The resurrection shows a new world is dawning.

By faith, the first disciples and all of us are invited to believe that what God did with Jesus, he will do one day with us and with all of creation. And guess what? He has already started. A new creation is breaking through. It is why the resurrection is not only the central point of Christianity but of the whole world. Without Easter, there is no hope that good will win in the end, that death, pain, and tears will be transformed into joy. Without Easter, there is no hope that love will triumph over hate, that forgiveness will triumph over revenge. Without Easter, we have no real hope.

With Easter, we know this is not the end of the story! We believe what God did with Jesus, overcoming death, evil, and pain, he will do with us and the rest of creation. Don't give up hope. The last word has not yet been spoken. Hold on, even when it's hard. A new creation is breaking through.

It is why Jesus says the kingdom of God is here, but not here yet. We can experience glimpses of the kingdom, but it will take Jesus coming back again before the new creation (the kingdom of God) is fully established in all its fullness and beauty.

What is one thing you are looking forward to as part of this New Creation?

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