{"id":896,"date":"2009-11-28T20:55:31","date_gmt":"2009-11-29T01:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=896"},"modified":"2009-11-28T20:55:31","modified_gmt":"2009-11-29T01:55:31","slug":"what-kingdom-is-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-kingdom-is-this\/","title":{"rendered":"What Kingdom is This?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was not the way a king was supposed to be born. Kings are born in riches and glory, surrounded by silk, servants, and soft music. All the people in the entire kingdom wait with bated breath to hear the birth announcement.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus was born with none of this. At least, not as expected. Yes, there was music, angelic, heavenly music. But it was sung out in the countryside, at night, to a few, poor shepherds. Yes, there were attendants at the birth, but they most likely consisted of a few relatives, and maybe a donkey or a cow. There was no silk, but instead, swaddling cloth, which was also used for burials. And only one person eagerly waited to hear of the Messiah\u2019s birth, but that\u2019s because he wanted to kill Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>God could have done it a different way, but I believe that one of the reasons He did it this way was to show that the Kingdom of God is based on a different set of standards: Humility, lowliness, and simplicity instead of glamor, glitz, and glory.<\/p>\n<p>So I can\u2019t help asking, \u201cWhat has happened?\u201d Christianity seems to be chasing glamor, glitz, and glory, not humble service and simplicity. How did we go from a hay-lined manger to stained glass and marble floors? When did swaddling clothes become tailored suits? When did kings stop threatening us, and start courting us?<\/p>\n<p>I can hear the objections now: \u201cBut this is what people want! This is what people expect! They want quality! This is one way we attract people to our church!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yes, that\u2019s all true. But my question is, \u201cHow has any of this changed since the days of Jesus?\u201d People have always wanted to join with the powerful, rich, glorious, and famous. That\u2019s why kings and armies of the world have always operated the way they do. But that is not how God operates. That is not how Jesus came. That is not the kind of Kingdom Jesus brought.<\/p>\n<p>So as we look at our churches, our structures, our clothing, our programs, and our budgets, it begs the question: \u201cWhat Kingdom is this anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n<h6><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gracecommentary.com\/bible\/showthread.php?t=36\">This post was based on the commentary for Luke 2:1-7<\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gracecommentary.com\">www.gracecommentary.com<\/a>.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was not the way a king was supposed to be born. Kings are born in riches and glory, surrounded by silk, servants, and soft music. All the people in the entire kingdom wait with bated breath to hear the birth announcement. Jesus was born with none of this. At least, not as expected. Yes, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[20,38],"class_list":{"0":"post-896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"tag-bible-commentary-luke","7":"tag-theology-jesus","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Kingdom is This?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-kingdom-is-this\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Kingdom is This?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was not the way a king was supposed to be born. 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