Six Kingdom Questions: Part 6

throne-of-godWe now come to the last kingdom question: How does the kingdom reconcile creation to the creator?

As we saw in part four of this series, the purpose of the kingdom of God on earth is to reconcile the four separations that occurred as a result of the Fall of Man.

Reconciliation begins with one’s reconciliation to God. This is the linchpin of all reconciliation that follows.

When a person is reconciled to God, he becomes a new creation; all the old things have passed away, and all things become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17. This supernatural event brings with it the real possibility of transformation and reconciliation in the three other areas of separation.

The new believer is reconciled to himself. Those areas where he suffers from emotional separation, guilt, insecurity and other results from the Fall of Man, are all candidates for being remedied.

The Holy Spirit will also began to convict the new believer regarding broken relationships. Where forgiveness is needed, the Holy Spirit prompts the new believer to solicit it, or where necessary, to give it.

Reconciliation with regard to the first three separations is a lifelong process. Some move faster than others through the process. However, it all begins with man’s reconciliation to God. It is the linchpin without which reconciliation in the other two areas is not possible.

Reconciliation in the fourth separation—man’s separation from creation—is a different story. The tainted fruit of this separation includes disease, a corrupt animal kingdom which preys on one another, natural disasters, and every other thing in the natural world which prevents it from functioning the way God created it to function.

It is in reconciling this fourth separation that even non-believers can lend a hand. God allows for wheat and the tares to grow together because the tares are useful to the purposes of the kingdom, that is in reconciling creation to man and God. Matthew 13:24-30. Believers work with non-believers to find cures to disease, create systems of economic order that provide prosperity and abundance, and mitigate against or overcome the other adverse consequences of sin in the natural world.

This is how the God uses the kingdom of God to reconcile or “sum up” all things in Christ, to remake the world into the place God intended it from the beginning. While there will be progress as the reign of Jesus spreads like leaven throughout the world, this new creation will be consummated on the return of King Jesus to receive the kingdom He has entrusted to His followers.

So, there you have it—the who, what, when, why, where, and how of the kingdom of God. GS

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