The Unkingdom

Read: Genesis 6:11-22

Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. Genesis 6:11

IN WORD

This isn’t what the Kingdom was supposed to look like. Eden hadn’t looked like it very much either, but that’s only because the mission hadn’t been carried out yet. At least Eden was a reflection of God’s goodness. But after the Fall, centuries of human history went in exactly the opposite direction of the Kingdom because its stewards were negligent, unequipped, and downright rebellious. The result was tragic, even devastating. Corruption and violence are not at all a picture of God’s nature.

This is still the general condition of our world today. We can see places where the Kingdom of God has created a haven from the fallenness of the world, and some places where Kingdom values have drastically upgraded a culture’s well-being. But even the havens and the cultural improvements mingle in a society made up of imperfect human beings, and our imperfections taint everything. In this age, we see a unique mixture of influences in which the true colors of the Kingdom are muted by the unKingdom and the true colors of the unKingdom are brightened up by the Kingdom. Some people see a bland mixture with little distinction, but our eyes are more discerning. We know where this is headed.

IN DEED

The contrasts will grow clearer as time goes on, and the choice between kingdoms will become more obvious. But in the meantime, our job as restored stewards is to paint the colors of the Kingdom everywhere we can and heighten the contrasts for others to see. The mission that was lost in the Garden has been given back to us along with the authority we once had and then squandered. The “second Adam,” as Scripture calls our King, has secured the keys of the Kingdom for us and recommissioned us as His agents. That means a world that is corrupt and full of violence has a viable alternative. The days of the unKingdom are numbered.

ADDITIONAL READING: Matthew 28:18-20

The more seriously we take the future promise of God’s kingdom, the more unbearable will be the contradictions of that promise in the present.

JÜRGEN MOLTMANN