Wow that sounds like a Star Wars image or something a bit sci-fi doesn’t it? The idea of a new world order is kind of strange to say the least. It’s scary to some and exciting to others. For most it’s future oriented although in some people’s minds it’s sooner than we might want. But rarely do we consider a new world order a present reality or even an old world reality, but that’s kind of my perspective.
Ok so let’s be a tad less cryptic here. I think the life of the follower of Jesus should be, although often isn’t, an example of a new world order. Jesus peppers the New Testament with references to this new world order. They’re everywhere in the gospel accounts. Admittedly, Jesus doesn’t call it the new world order but that’s what it is. Jesus uses the phrase Kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven. This in many people’s minds is a new world order that one day will be a reality.
Unfortunately this is a short sighted view of what Jesus is actually talking about when he references the Kingdom of God. Jesus doesn’t use the phrase Kingdom of God in the future tense. He doesn’t say that it one day will be here. Instead when Jesus refers to the Kingdom of God, he does so in the present tense, as if it’s already here? How can this be? How can this Kingdom of God thing be here when life looks the way it does? Can this new world order be a present day reality?
It seems that’s the way Jesus was teaching. He was trying to get the people of his day to see the potential to have a different kind of life than they were living. The Jewish nation knew hardship, but Jesus wanted them to see beyond the hardship to the life God desired for them. From captivity to exile to enslavement to living under the thumb of oppressive rulers these people knew what it meant to have a bad day! They wanted out of this way of life pretty much at all costs.
Enter Jesus saying The kingdom of God is at hand. That didn’t mean it was around the corner or coming tomorrow. It meant that it was within reach. And to be honest it still is within reach. The Kingdom of God is ours today just as much as it was theirs when Jesus first uttered the words. But they, and we, have a problem. We don’t believe it, or at best don’t live like it.
The people of Jesus’ day complained more about the bad than they claimed the kingdom realities in their lives. Jesus was telling the Jews of his day that a new kingdom, new world order, had made its way into their lives already. That new world order was far more than a religious approach to life. As a matter of fact, and we’ll address this in a future post, Jesus didn’t enter the scene as a religious leader necessarily. He was addressing far more than mere church membership and attendance. He was driving at the heart of humanity from a political, economic, health care, environmental, friendship, family, society level.
The new world order is here. The kingdom is here. The kingdom was just as present in World War II Germany as it was Jesus’ day. This kingdom was there when the towers fell and when covid rampaged the world. It was there when your political party won or lost. It was there when the hurricane flooded much of Florida. It was there when your loved one fought through their final moments with cancer. It was there when your spouse chose someone/something else over you. It was there when your child rebelled. It was there when your church had to close. It was there when you lost your job.
The kingdom of God, aka new world order, isn’t about getting the good things right now. It’s about living a different way regardless of how things go right now. Jesus was far more concerned about how we treat the poor and disenfranchise than how much is in our bank accounts. He cared more about the orphan and the widow than preserving the freedoms of the Israelites. The kingdom of God is less about you and me and more about the people with whom we interact daily.
You see the long and short is the Kingdom of God is already here. It is a new world order. Not one built with power and prestige and centralized rulers, but with service, love and humility. It’s time that we start living the realities of this New World Order, and there’s no better time to start than today.
