Week 4: Glory, Worldview, and the Kingdom of God

Last week was another exciting week with lots of new information and revelations. So, be warned, this blog is longer than my previous weeks. I truly believe the information I learned last week is vital to living as a follower of Christ. I pray that you take the time to read over some of my notes and if you have questions, I am happy to attempt to expand on my understanding or I can put you in touch with the speaker.

Last week our speaker was Don Stephens (the Kingdom Don, not the Mercy Ships Don for all you YWAMers). He shared incredible insight on God's Glory, worldviews as well as the Kingdom. I am going to focus most of my blog this week on the Kingdom, because it is a totally new concept to me.

I will start with the Glory of God. This is a Christian phrase that is used constantly in conversation, prayers, songs, etc, but I have never really understood what the Glory of God is. My NIV concordance defines glory as: the grandeur and majesty of God. That definition feels like more arm waving and not a whole lot of substance.

Don summed it up as "God's glory is His invisible character made visible." citing Romans 1:20

Everything is about God's Glory! Don explained a Circle of Glory.

1. God creates man for his glory. "... those whom I have created for my glory." Isaiah 43.7
2. Man discovers God's creation to the glory of God. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; but the glory of kings to search it out." Proverbs 25.2
3. Man imitates God through creative activity (for the glory of God.) "Make tunics, sashes, and hats for Aaron's sons to express glory and beauty." Exodus 28.40
4. Man's creative activity fills the earth with more of God's glory. "Whether you ear, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." I Corinthians 10:31

As a visual person, the diagram helped me to understand it better.

The Glory of God is written on our hearts. That is why we enjoy the things we do: children playing, fairy tale endings, beautiful sunsets, loving relationships, etc. They all reflect the Glory of God.

Suddenly it everything matters. When I make my bed in the morning, it's aesthetic nature will reflects the Glory of God's beauty. When I help the elderly woman over the rocks into the ocean, that loving interaction of community reflects the Glory of God's relationships. WOW! Our role is to restore and reflect the Glory of God.

Now, I understand also, why I cry during the love scene in a movie, or at a beautiful orchestra concert, or am stopped in my tracks at the sight of the sun setting over the ocean. All of these things reflect God's Glory. And the most fantastic part is that when we recognize and respond to beauty, then we see more beauty. And seeing more beauty is recognizing more of God's Glory all around us! INCREDIBLE!

Here is an example of a loving relationship that entirely reflects Jesus' love for us and his constant desire to bring us back to his loving arms and relationship. This clip is taken from the movie Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio. Warning: you may need a Kleenex for the next two minutes; I definitely did.

OK - I could go on for pages more, but I want to get to the other gems from the week:

WORLDVIEWS: Why are worldviews important? Because ideas have consequences. Worldviews are formed without us even knowing it, so we are often unaware of the ideas we believe and therefore also unaware of the consequences we are heading toward.

Jesus wants us to see the world as it truly is. Don used a great visual to help us understand. As a person who grew up attending Buddhist Meditations, I received a tint of New Age Worldview to my glasses. I also am part of the Post-Modern Generation, so I have an additional tint to my glasses. All of the media, books, newspapers, church, school, family and friends that I am exposed to through my life tint my glasses too. So, what I am left with is a skewed vision of the world. Jesus want me to remove my glasses and when I refocus my eyes, I will see the world as he desires: the Kingdom worldview.

Don was great with sharing video clips to demonstrate the points we was making. They impacted me so strongly, I wanted to tell you about them too. I couldn't find this exact clip on youtube but maybe you will have better luck. Check out the scene in The Truman Show when Jim Carrey's character is on the boat and comes to the edge of his world. There is such a strong statement about our "reality" which can be said as the tinting on the glasses that we see the world through.

THE KINGDOM: During class one day, Don asked us what we believed was Jesus' main message was while He was on earth. What is the central theme to the four Gospel books in the Bible? My response - LOVE. Other responses varied from forgiveness to truth to repentance.

Then Don got out his stats and blew us all away.

These are some of the the typical responses Don hears from people when he asks them the same question. Each word is followed by the actual number of times Jesus used the word in the New American Standard version of the four Gospels.

• Born again: 2 times
• Salvation: 8 times
• Sin: 17 times
• Forgiveness: 24 times
• Truth: 28 times
• Satan/the Devil: 28 times
• Money: 29 times
• Love: 43 times
• Heaven: 71 times
• The Kingdom: 117 times - (The Father: 226 times!)

Jesus' first message preached is recorded in Matthew 4:17.

"From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Jesus is telling us to take off our "glasses" and smash them. Everything is changed (Jesus dying for our sins) - come see the world the way I see it!

The notes in my NIV study bible describe the Kingdom of Heaven = Kingdom of God as:

"the establishment of God's rule in the hearts and lives of his people, the overcoming of all the forces or evil, the removal from the world of all the consequences of sin - including death and all that diminished life - and the creation of a new order of righteousness and peace. The idea of God's Kingdom is central to Jesus' teaching and is mentioned 50 times in Matthew alone."

That description is still very abstract to me. Our speaker put it into words that my mind can grasp.

What is the Kingdom of God? “May thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

• It is every place where God’s will is being done.
• It is everything gone wrong in the fall being made right again in Christ.
• It is God’s dream for His creation.
• It is the Father, Son and Spirit extending His life into all of creation.
• It is the “perichoresis” the circle dance of the Trinity embracing the human
race.

The Ways of the Kingdom:

The purpose of the Kingdom is the glory of God.
The constitution of the Kingdom is the Word of God.
The ruling principle of the Kingdom is love.
The language of the Kingdom is story and picture.
The reach of the Kingdom includes all of the universe.

What was the “Gospel of the Kingdom” that Jesus preached?
(From Darrow Miller: Discipling the Nations.)

• The Kingdom of God is revealed in a person. Col. 1:19
• God's rule is here and now. Now, and "not yet." Matthew 6:10
• The kingdom is comprehensive, touching every area of life. Col. 1:20; Rom.
8:18-23
• The kingdom is open to all. John 3:16 Matt. 5:3-10
• The kingdom of God sanctifies the common. 1 Cor. 10:31; Zech. 14:20-21
• God's kingdom is unshakable. Heb. 11:10
• The kingdom of God is offensive. It assaults the gates of hell. Matt 16:18

A Different Kind of Fairy Tale
It is a world where terrible things happen
and wonderful things too.
It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil,
love against hate,
order against chaos in a great struggle
where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side
because appearances are endlessly deceptive.
Yet for all its confusion and wildness it is a world
where the battle goes ultimately to the good
who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody,
good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name.
This is a fairy tale of the gospel with, of course, one crucial difference
from all the other fairy tales,
which is that the claim made for it is that it is true,
that it not only happened once upon a time
but has kept on happening ever since
and is happening still.
~Frederick Beuchner