I came across John 18:36 the other day and I have been thinking about it ever since. Jesus is on trial before Pilate when He says,
“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
Jesus uses his servants as evidence that his kingdom is otherworldly. He doesn’t talk about his miracle-working power, sacrificial love, or self-denying humility, he talks about the actions of his servants. We are to be the evidence that Jesus’ kingdom is different from anything on Earth. We must live in such great contrast to the world that people notice.
God uses his people to reveal his kingdom to the world. We are his hands and feet created to do the good works God has prepared for us (Eph 2:10). There is a call here to live as though we belong to God’s otherworldly kingdom. A kingdom where the last are first, where joy is eternal, and where sin is met with mercy. If we conform to the kingdoms of Earth, how will anyone see that our God is different?
Our father wants the whole world to know him and we are his plan to make that happen. When we love, serve, and give, people see God. This verse just gives me a fresh urgency to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We are the evidence that God’s kingdom is not of this world. We are God’s plan to share the gospel with all people and we must fully commit to it. I don’t want to make excuses as to why I am not all in. I don’t want to try to justify my sin so I don’t have to give it up. I don’t want to live another day with half of my heart in the world and half of it with God. I want to be all in because it matters, not only for me but also for the people in this world that God wants to reach.
We cannot be evidence of God’s kingdom unless we have God in us. Surrender fully to his ways, be washed by the blood, renewed by the Spirit, and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Be people that point straight to Him.
God,
Thank you for your kingdom. It is beautiful, perfect, and far more than I can comprehend. Thank you for making a way for me to be a citizen of your kingdom through Jesus Christ. Though I am waiting for your kingdom to come, I belong to it completely. Help me to live like the foreigner I am, in such stark contrast to the world that it is abundantly clear I belong to something greater, to you.
Amen