When Will God’s Kingdom Arrive?
Revealing God Through Your Life
What Is God’s Kingdom?
Growing up in the church, my Sunday school teacher taught me to pray the “Our Father” prayer recorded in Matthew 6:9–13. Jesus shared this prayer with his followers, and it includes the request, “Let your Kingdom come.”
This phrase was confusing, as the idea of a kingdom was foreign to me. When I asked about God’s Kingdom, I was told that it is where God is in charge, God’s will is done, and God’s presence is experienced. My teacher shared that God’s Kingdom would come when Jesus Christ returned to earth or when I died and entered Heaven. Occasionally, someone would share that we can see glimpses of God’s Kingdom on earth. These glimpses come through the lives of those living for God and sharing love and goodness with others. However, they emphasized that God’s Kingdom was in the afterlife.
Maybe it is true that we experience God’s Kingdom differently when we die or when Jesus Christ returns. But, if these options are our only focus, then we have placed God’s presence in a future reality and eliminated the Divine in our life.
Jesus intended a moment-by-moment focus and experience of God’s Kingdom. He was concerned with who we are in the present. In the book of Luke, Jesus states, “God’s Kingdom is within you.” Jesus reveals that part of our identity and purpose is to show God’s reality through our life.
Image of God
In the creation story of the Bible, God says, “Let’s make man (mankind) in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) As the image of God, we are reflections of the Divine. Each one of us reveals something about God and the nature of the Spirit. Richard Rohr describes the image and likeness of God in this way:
“Image” is our objective DNA that marks us as creatures of God from the very beginning. “Likeness” is our personal appropriation and gradual realization of this utterly free gift of the image of God. — Richard Rohr
Remember, the divine image is objectively held by all people, but we each have to choose to grow in our likeness to God. That is our primary task on this earth. …We must discover and accept what unique part of the divine mystery is ours to reflect. All each of us can give back to God is what God has already given to us. We must choose it, respect it, and allow it to blossom. The most courageous thing we will ever do is to bear humbly the mystery of our own reality, to trust our divine image and grow in God’s likeness. It is simply a matter of becoming who we already are. — Richard Rohr
I struggle to see it in myself or others, but every person is an expression and revelation of God. Each of us has the opportunity to reflect and reveal something unique about who God is and about God’s world. It is overwhelming for me to think about how all the people who have ever lived, all the people alive today, and all those who will ever live reflect something new about God. Each person has the opportunity to demonstrate God in a way that no one else ever will, billions and billions of reflections of an infinite God.
Your Uniqueness
You are a beautiful and unique creation of God. Everything about your looks, thoughts, desire, and DNA are all specific to you alone. Consider the uniqueness of your voice. Like your fingerprint, your voice is 100% unique to you. There has never been a voice like yours, and there will never be another voice the same as yours. Due to this uniqueness and the security it can provide, some companies use a customer’s voiceprint as their password for verification when accessing their phone system. When you call, the system will ask for your password, and you can say, “My voice is my password,” and the system will authenticate your account with the unique pattern of your voice.
I remember going to restaurants when my kids were little and how quickly the experience would turn traumatic. We are sitting there, and everything was going great, and then our kids would be screaming and throwing food. I would feel horrible for everyone else in the restaurant. I just wanted it to be over and get out of the building. I would think, “I cannot believe we are spending all this money to listen to our child cry when I can do this at home for free!” Luckily, as young parents, we quickly learned that this was part of the journey and a shared experience for many families.
Now that my children are adults, I think about it differently. I take notice of an infant’s cry or a child’s laugh and celebrate its beauty. A few years ago, that voice did not exist. The universe has waited 13+ billion years to hear this unique sound, and now it cherishes it. One day this sound will be gone and never be heard again. Each voice is a treasure that speaks to life and reveals the Divine. The sound of each voice is life bursting forth with abundance. And, your voice is the revelation, the image, and the likeness of God.
The Golden Buddha
The exact date is unknown, but around the 14th Century in Thailand, a golden Buddha was created that is nearly ten feet tall and weighs over five tons. During the 18th Century, the statue was covered with stucco and colored glass to prevent it from being stolen by invading armies. After the destruction, the figure remained in the temple’s ruins and was considered worthless. Eventually, those who knew about the statue’s secret passed away. The real identity and value of the figure were forgotten and unknown for hundreds of years. While moving the statue in 1955, the plaster was chipped, unveiling the gold. Workers carefully removed the stucco and glass, revealing the beautiful craftsmanship of the figure. The gold is worth over 325 million dollars ($1,825/troy ounce). However, considering its age, craftsmanship, and history, it is a priceless treasure of Thailand and the Buddhist community.
Like the Golden Buddha, God has created each of us as a priceless treasure and expression of the Divine, the very image of God for others to see. Too often, to protect ourselves from fear or harm, we learn to cover our true selves with mud and debris to hide the gold inside and fit into our surroundings. We have embraced our exterior defenses so long that many of us have lost sight of the gold inside. We continue to maintain the mud covering and falsely believe it represents our true identity. When we live like this, we hide the Kingdom of God from other’s sight.
The Arrival of God’s Kingdom
As we recognize our false covering, we can appreciate the protection we thought we needed and realize that it is no longer required to move forward. We can begin to experience the freedom of being our true selves.
The Kingdom of God arrives in the present moment when we express and manifest who we are as a Divine being. The Kingdom of God becomes tangible when we use our unique gifts and talents to bring something of God’s grace and goodness to those around us. We are to love others well and add value to their life.
Often, God’s Kingdom is so tiny that we do not see it or label it as God’s Kingdom. We expect fireworks or thunder and lightning: but it comes as a gentle kindness shared with another person, a glimpse of life springing forth in defiance of all odds, a sharing of a moment with another, a friend’s compassion, or a sighting of love and hope.
You and I demonstrate God’s Kingdom. We each hold the treasure of a unique glimpse of God. When each person understands their Divinity and begins to live out of this reality, we begin to experience the fullness of God. Imagine millions of lives displaying the love and grace of God. Millions of individuals pursuing their passions and dreams for a better world.
Why Were You Not You?
Holding back or hiding your true self does not help the world. You serve others when you express the fullness of who you are and all God has placed inside you. Parker Palmer, in Let Your Life Speak, shares the story of Rabbi Zusya. When Rabbi Zusya was an old man and thinking about the afterlife, he said, “In the coming world, they will not ask me: ‘Why were you not Moses?’ They will ask me: ‘Why were you not Zusya?’”
I imagine the end of my life and someone asking me, “Why were you not Jason?” It reminds me not to withhold the uniqueness of God in me. I am not supposed to be Mother Theresa, Desmond Tutu, or the Dalai Lama, and neither are you! We are to be ourselves, just as they are themselves. As Thomas Merton wrote, “For me to be a saint means to be myself.”
“For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self.” ― Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
Share God Through Your Life
You are the image of God for all to see. The universe has waited over 13+ billion years to hear your voice and to see your expression of God. When you are gone, so is this unique glimpse of the Divine. There will never be another just like you. Your life is precious and a beautiful gift. Do not rob others of seeing the Spirit in you and experiencing God’s Kingdom. With courage, step outside of the protective covering and live in the wild adventure of expressing the flow of Spirit in your daily life.
Don’t forget that God’s Kingdom arrives when you reveal your true self!
May you live more fully into yourself and who God has created you to be. May you be more in tune with the desires placed inside of you so that you may reflect all your beauty and uniqueness. May others see God’s goodness and presence in you!
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