A Sojourner's Quest

PA RT I : S E T T I NG Y O U R C O U R S E / 5 7

especially today. And its recent resurgence in the Church is, I believe, one of the most significant developments of this century!

Once you begin to look in Scripture for the theme of God’s reign or Kingdom, it turns up everywhere! Take an example I recently encountered in my own devotional study: All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. This one psalm in fact contains a substantial theology of the Kingdom, stressing God’s sovereign reign, his mighty acts, his compassion and nearness to those who seek him, his righteousness and justice. The Kingdom is such a key theme of Scripture that Richard Lovelace can say, “The Messianic Kingdom is not only the main theme of Jesus’ preaching; it is the central category unifying biblical revelation.” And John Bright comments, “The concept of the Kingdom of God involves, in a real sense, the total message of the Bible. . . . To grasp what is meant by the Kingdom of God is to come very close to the heart of the Bible’s gospel of salvation.” As E. Stanley Jones wrote over four decades ago, Jesus’ message “was the Kingdom of God. It was the center and circumference of all he taught and did. . . . The Kingdom of God is the master-conception, the master-plan, the master-purpose, the master-will that gathers everything up into itself and gives it redemption, coherence, purpose, goal.” True, seeing the Kingdom of God as the only unifying theme of Scripture could be misleading. Personally, I believe the overarching truth is the revelation of the nature and character of God (not merely his existence, which is clear from the created order – Romans 1.20). Here God’s love, justice and holiness are central – the character of God’s person in his tri-unity. Still the reign/rule of God is a key theme of Scripture, for the loving, just, holy God rules consistent with his ~ Psalm 145.10-13 (NIV)