“for He is the living God and endures forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever.” Daniel 6:26

The Kingdom of God

Dominion – We live in a world of practical atheism.  Many proclaim the reign of God, but live as though He has nothing to do with “normal” life.  We may acknowledge God’s rule in the “spiritual” realm, but our world is carefully compartmentalized, keeping God in His box inside the church while we act as if He has nothing to say about the rest of life.  But this word from the lips of King Darius exposes the lie of our atheism.  God’s dominion covers every aspect of life and extends from the beginning to the end of our days.  To live as if God has no authority over your work, your hobbies, your recreation, your family, your finances, your marital intimacy, your friends or any other part of who you are is idolatry and blasphemy.  The world is judged because it refuses to become a viable citizen of the only kingdom that ever mattered.  And without respectful citizenship, no amount of good actions, higher values or gracious behavior will make any difference at all.  If God doesn’t rule all of your life, you don’t belong in His kingdom.

Somewhere along the way we came to believe that once we accepted Christ as Savior, we got a “get-into-heaven-free” pass.  We mistakenly thought that the goal of the spiritual life was the destination called “heaven”.  Just like the Monopoly game, we thought we could save the pass until we needed it, but until that time, we just went on playing the game by the old rules.  We believed a lie.  It was a convenient lie, but it was false nevertheless.  The purpose of salvation is not to provide you with a free pass.  It is to usher you into a new kingdom.  It is to invite you to become citizens of a world under the authority of God.  And in this new world, nothing is played by the old rules.  When you get this entry card, you have to throw away the Monopoly board.  There’s a new game in town.

Life on earth is practice and preparation time.  Stop focusing on the destination.  Pay attention to the process of bringing every old way of acting, thinking and being under the dominion of the eternal kingdom.  Wherever you find behavior that still looks like something from the compartmentalized life, you should see a warning sign.  God’s dominion leaves nothing untouched.