The story of Robin Hood is the tale of one man and his band of merry men resisting the rule of a bad “king” while awaiting the return of the true king. Life under the bad ruler is oppression and tyranny as Prince John’s policies and practices are all about selfish ambition and the accumulation of personal wealth and power. When the true king, Richard, returns, it leads to prosperity and peace for all because he understands that his authority carries with it obligations to use his power for the good of his people. As we have seen, Jesus is the true king and He has inaugurated His kingdom, though its fullness is yet to come. We, as His people, have been redeemed from our bondage to sin and self and are now governed by King Jesus even as we make our way in life through the kingdoms of this world.

So, what does life look like as a citizen of the kingdom of God who is also living as an alien in another kingdom? Scot McKnight continues to give us insight into this question that will be the basis for our next several posts.

First, life in the kingdom of God is spent in opposition to what McKnight calls the lordless lords. These are all those people, systems, and ideas which set themselves against the rule of King Jesus (cf. Psalm 2). Part of this struggle for us is the need to acknowledge and fight against the remaining corruption of sin that still exists in us. We must be putting it to death. But it also points to what Paul refers to in Ephesians when he states that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (6:12).

So, our primary opponents are not other people, who still bear the image of God. Instead, they are the spiritual forces that have enslaved them. Thus, when we engage with others, we see them not as enemy or foe to fight but captives who need to be redeemed by the King through His word and His Spirit. And so we do not use the methods of our opponents. Why? For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

Second, life in the kingdom is one that embodies, or seeks to embody, the kingdom realities about which Jesus and the Bible speak (McKnight). Too many today think of the kingdom only in terms of and limited to the public realm or even more narrowly, the political realm. While those areas are certainly influenced by and under the rule of Jesus, they are not primary. This is because the kingdom is not reducible to policies and procedures but is first and foremost a people. Thus, it is kingdom truths and teachings lived out by kingdom people that serve as a witness to the world about this kingdom.

Third, the dominant note in the kingdom is love. Thus, McKnight writes, Both Jesus and the apostles made the charter of Christian living loving God and love others, so kingdom-mission churches are known for being an ocean of love for God and for one another and for all their neighbors. Love, I contend, needs more careful definition than it often has in our culture:  it is a rugged commitment of presence, advocacy and direction toward Christlikeness. God loves by making a rugged commitment (covenant) to be with us, to be for us and to transform us, and so our love is to be God-like and Christ-like.

Saints, does our life together in the kingdom have an aroma of love? Are we only hearers of the command to love God and to love our neighbors or are we doers as well? Are we living out obedience to the king’s command to love our enemies and pray for them? Are we loving each other well, forgiving each other, encouraging one another, bearing one another’s burdens? And are we growing in love for our God with our entire being? We can only give such love because we were first recipients of the love of our God. We love because He first loved us.