The Kingdom Tree
Just a last thought on trees, for now - at least I think it’s the last; we’ll see:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." (Matt.13:31-32)
The great mystery of the Kingdom is that the age to come has already begun in this present age, and, although it is often hidden, apparently insignificant and even despised and sidelined, it is neverthless destined to grow and fill the earth. I live, like many of you, with this fundamental hope, faith and conviction that this spiritual Kingdom we are part of as Christians (through being given new life by the Holy Spirit) is going to completely overcome and transform our world.
I started by looking at the roots of the individual’s inward life - and that is where the Kingdom begins, because it is the quality of the roots that will determine the growth of the tree - but the Kingdom of God is destined to fill and tranform our world in all aspects - personal character, ethics, social and economic structures, worldviews and ideologies, politics, art, education, social policies, law, entertainment, fashion, architecture, medicine, international relations etc. etc. The list could go on - the Kingdom will affect everything.
I am trying to do some thinking and writing about this at the moment - in what ways and to what extent the Kingdom will influence the various worlds within our world. One thing is for sure - we need to believe that it will, and not to get defensive and reactionary when we look at the state of the world as it now is and how ungodly forces seem to gain the ascendancy. We need to stay calmly and confidently resolute - this Kingdom will fill the earth.
We also need to make sure that we don’t allow this fundamental conviction in the conquest of the Kingdom to produce in us a confrontational (though we will have to confront principalities and powers), antagonistic and arrogant approach to our world and even to those who are, sometimes unwittingly, opposed to Kingdom values. This tree is to grow so that the birds can come and perch on its branches - a place of refuge and security. We should simply have confidence in the life in the tree and in the promise of God and get on enjoying the life of God and dispersing the blessing and influence of the Kingdom wherever we go and in everything we do.
Well, enough of trees! But I do intend to have a lot more to say about the Kingdom and how we can influence and impact our world.
September 13th, 2005 @ 4:26 pm
Is that a mustard tree?
September 13th, 2005 @ 10:28 pm
Wow Trevor good to see that your in the blog world, I just came across your site today. Praise God the kingdom is advancing and its so exciting to be alive in days such as this! Its great that God chose us to outwork his kingdom in the world and in all the areas of life today.
September 14th, 2005 @ 11:19 am
I’m sorry to say that I haven’t got a clue what kind of tree it is - though I am pretty sure that it is not a mustard tree!
April 24th, 2006 @ 11:24 am
[…] I have called my blog ‘Planted By Water’ because I believe that our personal and corporate growth depends on us having our roots deep into God, into a dynamic and sustained relationship through Jesus by meditation on his Word and dependence on his Spirit. As I set out when I first began the blog there is a Kingdom tree that will fill the earth, but its roots are in the depth and quality of our faith-relationship with God. If we try to influence the world or even speak out on the issues of our world without these roots, we will be hollow and empty voices, or simply echoes of other people’s ideas. But if we are getting our roots down deep in God, we must believe that this is not just for our own personal fulfilment or for charismatic experiences in church meetings, but so that we can have a truly real, spiritual and tangible impact on our world. […]