The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

by Rebecca Bynum (June 2015)

John the Baptist in the Wilderness by Guido Reni

After the crucifixion, Jesus’ Jewish followers continued to believe that he would soon return “in power and glory” to institute the Kingdom on earth and fulfill the traditional role of Messiah. Later, as the gentile Church was firmly established, the figure of Jesus was transformed from the Messiah of the Jews to the Redeemer of the Church. Membership in the Church gradually became a substitute for the spiritual brotherhood of the Kingdom of Heaven. Entry into this man-made institution and conformity to its requirements acted as surrogate for entry into the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven as a real and personal spiritual experience. Intellectual ascent to church doctrine was thought to be prerequisite for salvation. Eventually, those who sought to differ with church doctrine were persecuted and the popular revolt thus made necessary continues to this day.

However it may seem, the Master’s mission has not failed. Jesus lived his life in perfect accordance with the Father’s will and therefore his message is assured immortality. Christianity will never die, though it will certainly transform just as a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. The Kingdom of Heaven is a living reality, not simply an intellectual doctrine. Indeed, the church may be thought of as a cocoon through which the sleeping power of Christ’s word and his powerful symbolism will one day awaken and the Kingdom of Heaven will be reborn in the hearts of men – a social revolution ignited by individual spiritual awakening.

The Kingdom of Heaven cannot be promulgated by force, only by persuasion and the power of the spirit. Jesus demonstrated the nature of God and of the Kingdom by washing the feet of his Apostles. The son of God came to serve man, not to be served by him and certainly not to become an earthly king. Christ was Master and servant at once. He also likened the Kingdom of Heaven to leaven which when mixed into meal leavens it all – the whole man is transformed, and then eventually, the whole society, the nation and finally the whole world.

All creeds, religions and ideologies which are spread by force are by no means a part of the living Kingdom of Heaven. In recent times, Nazism and Marxism, both vehemently anti-Christian and both spread and sustained by force, were uprooted. Nazism is utterly dead and Marxism is yet in the process of dying. The next global crisis will undoubtedly be sparked by the anti-Christian creed of Islam which has already extinguished the Kingdom over great swathes of the formerly Christian world. Seeking total world domination, Islam will continue to destroy until it too is rooted up and cast into the flames, its slaves freed and its memory blotted out, just as many strange and inhuman creeds have perished in the past.

The Father may indeed send another son to help correct the course of this world which is at present teetering on the brink of disaster. No doubt his angels are even now working furiously to prevent the worst, but nevertheless, it is certain that terrible destruction is coming and Western civilization may collapse altogether.

The Real Nature of Religion, published by New English Review Press.

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Rebecca Bynum contributes regularly to The Iconoclast, our Community Blog. Click here to see all her contributions, on which comments are welcome.