During some of my early years, my family lived in a neighborhood in Indiana that contained several homes that were under construction. Due to the construction process, there were numerous fairly high dirt piles that were situated on various lots. As you can imagine, these dirt piles represented a playground utopia for the neighborhood kids. The most popular game utilizing the dirt was "King of the Hill," a game that had the sole purpose of determining who was the greatest in that particular dirt kingdom. The rules of the game were quite simple: try to get on top of the hill and then remain on top by pushing everyone else down the dirty slope. It truly was an exhilarating feeling to be the one who was able to conquer the hill and remain in power for an extended period of time!
Unfortunately, this game closely reflects our desire as humans to live in such a way that we believe we are actually in charge. Our pride often rules the day; then, we forget about God's Kingdom and we fail to remember that God is the true Ruler over all. When Jesus came preaching the Kingdom, he was clearly stating God's supremacy over all else in the world. He was proclaiming himself to be the King. Even the prophecy surrounding the coming of Jesus Christ foretold the nature of this King and the nature of God's Kingdom:
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end. (Lk. 1:32-33)
One of the characteristics of God's Kingdom--the reign of God--is that it has a now ("already") reality and a later ("not yet") fulfillment or consummation. In other words, God's rule is definitely in effect now, but it will one day in the future be experienced in its fullness. We are living in the present tension "between the times." In Luke 17, the Pharisees approached Jesus and asked him when the kingdom of God would come. This question reflects the anticipation of the Messiah, the Son of Man who is prophesied to establish God's Kingdom. Theologian John Bright, in his book, The Kingdom of God, writes:
But if Jesus be indeed the Messiah, that confronts us with a further question: what is the nature of his Kingdom? It is a question that follows inevitably. To acclaim anyone as Messiah is to announce in him the coming of the Kingdom of God, for it is precisely the business of the Messiah to establish the Kingdom. Messiah cannot be separated from Kingdom....when Messiah comes, the Kingdom comes. If Jesus, therefore, is in any sense the Messiah, then he has come to make actual the victorious rule of God over his people which Israel's faith had long awaited.
Therefore, in the coming of Christ is the coming of the Kingdom, and Jesus speaks of this truth when he said to the Pharisees, "...the kingdom of God is in your midst" (Lk. 17:21). Jesus is the embodiment of the Kingdom and he was standing right in front of the religious leaders who failed to recognize him as Messiah, and, consequently, failed to recognize his kingdom authority.
Since we are living between the now and later aspects of God's kingdom rule, one of the questions we often ask is: "How long?" This question gets fleshed out in many personal ways:
"How long must I live in this pain?"
"How long until the wrongs of the world are set right?
"How long must I live with tears, mourning over the effects of sin and evil that I see all around me?"
The Psalms in the Old Testament contain several references to this "How long?" question. Here are a few examples:
"Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?" (Psalm 6:2-3)
"How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?" (Psalm 13:1-2)
The "How Long?" question is even posed in Revelation 6 by the martyrs who are wondering when they will finally be vindicated:
They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. (Rev. 6:10-11)
There are a couple interesting aspects of this passage. First, the martyrs are given white robes. According to many scholars, the robes represent justification by Christ as the martyrs await the final judgment. In other words, the robes are a "now" experience of justification as they wait for the "later" fulfilled justification. Second, the martyrs are told to wait a little longer. Even though our seasons of waiting may seem to be extremely long, we need to remember that from God's perspective, it's just a little longer. No matter what you are going through that's causing you to cry out, "How long?", you can know that you won't be waiting forever. It's a temporary season of waiting that will one day come to an end and these words will be fulfilled:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Rev. 21:4)
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