Kingdom Themes

As I read scripture, I keep seeing three kingdom themes that are foundational in shaping the life and theology of believers: salvation, love, and living the fear-of-the-Lord. I want to spend some time unpacking these themes in scripture and exploring their implication for our thinking and praxis.

Before we dive head long into these themes, it is good to get a base understanding of where we’re going in this conversation. Here is a quick overview of the “map” I see for interacting with these themes.

Salvation:
The Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms says this about salvation:

“A broad term referring to God’s activity on behalf of creation and especially humans in bringing all things to God’s intended goal. More specifically, salvation entails God’s deliverance of humans from the power and effects of sin and the fall through the work of Jesus Christ so that creation in general and humans in particular can enjoy the fullness of life intended for what God has made.”

Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, Grenz, Guretzki, and Nordling (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), pp. 105

This leads us to talk about salvation in three ways:

• as verb: salvation is not some object we get; it is the work of God we are invited to embrace.
• as mission: our role in the missio Dei (the mission of God or the salvation work of the Lord); specifically, our part in extending the reality of salvation and inviting peoples, cultures, and all the world to embrace the person and work of Jesus.
• as hope: understanding the assurance of the hope of salvation, the freedom from the effects and power of sin here and now, and the promise of Shalom.

Love:

Love is the mark of the believer: love of God and love of our neighbors. These are two halves of the whole. Scot McKnight brings it into perspective when in unpacking Mark 12.28-33 he says that the command to love God with all one’s heart, mind and strength is fulfilled by following Jesus and loving others. And so, we are learning to love… but it is only because of God’s display of love that we even understand what love is.

So, this gives us some specific’s to look at:

• God’s love of us
• Loving God with all we are expressed by following Jesus
• Loving God with all we are expressed in loving humanity

Love is probably the most complex of the three themes, because a true understanding of it demands that we do reorient our entire life. Love calls us to focus on nothing but loving the Father with all our heart, mind, and strength and to live that out by following Jesus and unconditionally loving our neighbors.

” A scribe asks Jesus about the essence of spiritual formation, and Jesus gives him an old answer with a revolutionary twist: love God and love other, and love God by following me. The scribe realizes that he will need to recenter everything.”

The Jesus Creed, McKnight (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2004), pp. 13

Living the-fear-the-Lord:

I think that cultivation a healthy Christian life begins with the birth of wisdom.

“The biblical word of choice for the term we need (for living appropriately in this world) is ‘fear-of-the-Lord.’ It is the stock biblical phrase for the way of life that is lived responsively and appropriately before who God is, who he is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… ‘Fear-of-the-Lord’ is the best term we have to point to this way of life we cultivate as Christians.”

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Peterson
(Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005) pp.40,41

Now, we can’t very well dictate how to exactly live out the fear-of-the-Lord in each and every situation for every moment in our entire life. However, throughout the Bible the righteous ones have practiced three core disciplines that have cultivated faith and generated personal, holy living within the faith community.

• In-taking the Word: reading, hearing, meditating, and studying the scriptures.
• Conversing with the Word: prayer as talking and listening to Yahweh.
• Responding to the Word: personal and corporate worship.

The exploration of these themes might not be as cut and dry as the above bullet points might lead you to believe. These themes weave together and exist interdependently.

Let me also state this: I am by no means some sort of expert on these themes. I am still exploring their true meaning and their implications, as I think all believers will continue to do until Jesus comes again. These kingdom themes should always generate constant thought and talk in every Christian because they are at the core of our faith. Israel’s formation as a nation was based upon these themes. These are the things that Jesus talked about again and again and again. These ideas are explored in each epistle. In other words, salvation, love, and living the-fear-of-the-Lord are important things we need to take to heart and let shape our beliefs about God, others, and the world around us as we live out this kingdom life.

Other posts you should check out:

1. To What Shall I Compare the Kingdom of Heaven…
2. Thinking about the Kingdom of God
3. Glory on the Mountain and Sleep in our Heads