What Theonomy Gets Wrong | Kingsmen

The Upside-Down Nature of the Kingdom of God

Well, what's interesting about the kingdom of God, Jesus comes in and says, I know, because you have to understand when Jesus is talking to Israel, they're in captivity to Rome. They are not they're not they don't have their own king.

They don't have their own say. And so Jesus is starting to talk about a kingdom again who's sitting on the throne of David, and they're getting excited. Like, yeah, yeah, let's get this done. I don't want to be under Rome anymore.

Let's be a powerful nation again. And Jesus says, no, the kingdom is upside down. It's reversed in nature than what you think. This is Luke 17, verse 20. He says, being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered, the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that you can observe.

Now, this is important within Christian nationalism and theonomy. There's this push and a drive to where we'll be able to see the actual physical changes of God's kingdom coming down onto Earth. Now, some could argue, well, John, you know, that was before Jesus rose from the grave.

Nope, because the Apostle Paul and the disciples keep the same mentality. We'll see this here in just a little bit. And that doesn't mean that the kingdom of God isn't here.

It's here.

The Spiritual Presence of the Kingdom in the Church

But the location is a little bit different. Typically, a kingdom, you have to have a king, you have to have people and you have to have a location, right? That's the kingdom. Well, we have that. And this is how Jesus describes it.

This is Luke 17, 21. Nor will you say nor will they say, look, here it is or there. For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you or within you. The point of it is when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, we become the representation of the king to the people and the kingdom, the people are Christ church.

We we are a part of this kingdom. Now, the spiritual nature of it is definitely present here. But the world can't see it. I mean, literally, Jesus says, unless you're born again, you will not see the kingdom of God.

So when you're trying to prove to people that you're a part of a king, with a king and a part of the kingdom that they should see and respect, they're not going to because they can't see it. It's a spiritual kingdom.

Sojourners and Exiles in a Kingdom of Darkness

So this is why Peter in 1 Peter chapter two, one of Jesus's disciples, which I think continues to carry on the idea that our kingdom is not physical yet. It's not come to consummation. It's not fully here in the ways in which we think it will be in the new heavens, the new earth.

So 1 Peter 2, 11 says, beloved, I urge you, I implore you. I push you as, listen to this, sojourners and exiles. So he's, this is after Christ's resurrection. OK, he's talking to the church and the mentality they're supposed to have is that the world they live in is not their home.

But sojourners and exiles means that you're living in such a way where you're a citizen of somewhere else. So we literally live in the sphere of two kingdoms. I'm the king lives within me. I'm a part of his kingdom.

My citizenship is not here. But yet I am physically still in the kingdom of darkness. And because of that, listen, now he finishes his verse to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against the soul.

So our allegiance to Christ and understanding his kingdom is going to cause an automatic fight and war within us. We're going to have an adversary, kingdom of darkness versus kingdom of light. So first of all, we have to understand the upside down nature of the kingdom.

And we definitely have to understand the spiritual nature of the kingdom, being that it is within us. It's a part of us. We are a part of the kingdom now. We're not waiting to be a part of it. It's now, guys.

It's so good.

The Church’s Mission Under Christ’s Present Rule

Look, we aren't left without a purpose and a mission. Our king says, I am with you and I lead you and I'm among you. And this is where the word of God becomes powerful for us. Super powerful for us.