Evil and the Kingdom of God

Evil and the Kingdom of God

A recent set of our SMS messages started with my quote from Luke 17

Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst." (Luk 17:20-21 NET.)

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, "When will the Kingdom of God come?" Jesus replied, "The Kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs. You won't be able to say, 'Here it is!' or 'It's over there!' For the Kingdom of God is already among you. " (Luk 17:20-21 NLT)

I quoted the NET verses, but the NLT translation makes it a bit clearer.

And you ask:

In whose midst [does the Kingdom operate]? Jesus time or ours? What about N Korea, Sudan, Europe, Muslims countries?

And I thought it was all of the above, and you responded with the following messages.

If N Korea is experiencing the kingdom of God- then I'm not impressed- are you?

Or even here in the US for they matter. I saw your Facebook post awhile back complaining about we are being ruled under idiots. Is this the Kingdom of God?

God is a bit cruel then for not striking Kim Kong Ill and his regime dead- who is preventing his people from hearing the gospel. Not to mention hundreds of other evil regimes.

All of that is background for my next thoughts. I put them here because they are too long for an SMS text.

First, what a mess the world would be if God was obligated to administer justice according to our wishes, first yours, then mine, then Tom, Dick and Harry. You talk about God being cruel, what a cruel thing it would be for him to allow each or any of us to create a new set of rules for him to follow. Wow that would be nasty.

If God started eliminating anyone that prevented people from hearing the gospel, that might include you and me – at some point in our lifetime. Nasty!

Second, God is love. If you really stop to think about it there can be no love without a choice. Love is voluntary, it’s a verb, an action, and it cannot exist without a choice. Adam and Eve had a choice about the fruit tree. God has a choice. Without a choice there can be no love.

We, individually, have a choice. We accept God and Jesus or we reject him. Kim Kong Ill has a choice, and during this dispensation God does not force anyone to accept or acknowledge him. But that will change in the end:

So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly agree, "Jesus Christ is Lord!" (Php 2:10-11 CEV)

In the Scriptures God says, "I swear by my very life that everyone will kneel down and praise my name!" (Rom 14:11 CEV)

Someday Kim Kong Ill, Bart D Ehrman, and everyone else will bow down and call Jesus Lord, but thankfully it is not enforced in this dispensation, during the church age. During our time everyone has a choice – because of God’s love. He could make a set of robot-beings that does everything he requires, but if he did the beings would not be free to love him for who he is and not for what he does.

According the Bible the Kingdom of God is not visible to everyone, one must be born again to see the Kingdom of God.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." (Joh 3:3 NLT)

So, yes, God’s Kingdom is operational around the world and those that accept him operate in it. God is in charge of the world and all that happens.

Let’s run your response through its parts:

1 You recognize there is evil in the world, and indeed there is.

2. When you recognize evil, that means you also recognize good. You cannot recognize a crooked line without some knowledge of a straight line.

3. Knowledge of good and evil means there is some kind of moral law, some standard by which to measure what is good and what is evil.

4. A moral law requires a moral law giver – God. When we recognize evil we recognize there is a God.

5. God allows evil because he loves us. If he stomped out all evil immediately, we’d be conformists, not free beings.

So, yes, the Kingdom of God is here operating perfectly, only those born again are experiencing its privileges. It is not visible; it is experienced:

1Co 2:9-16 NLT  That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him."  (10)  But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. 

(11)  No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit.  (12)  And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 

                                                                   

(13)  When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths.  (14)  But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 

(15)  Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.  (16)  For, "Who can know the LORD's thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?" But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

Remember, I didn’t write it, I don’t make the rules! I just report them and believe them.