The Kingdom of God

The New Testament contains numerous passages where Christ informs us that, with his arrival into our world "the Kingdom of God has come upon you." (Matt 1:15, Luke 11:20, Luke 10:9, numerous others).  What exactly does this mean for us?  The "good times" have arrived?  "Let the party begin?"  "No more sorrow, no more woe?"

Unfortunately, no.  With His death on the cross and resurrection to new life, Christ gained the upper hand over pain, suffering and death.  Those who are convinced that in Him and through Him, access to life, real life, eternal life, life of joy and fulfillment in the presence of 
God is now available to all who come to Him seeking exactly that, receive it.  And He bestows it freely to anyone asking of Him.

But that new life is not now.  It is not yet.  We still live mired in this world. We still live with illness, suffering and death; our own and that of those that we hold dear.  It is incredibly hard to hear of people that we knew well having "passed".  It is incredibly hard to know close friends who are dealing with illnesses that will almost certainly lead to death in the months to come.  We have great hope for the future but how are we to deal with the tragedies that we face now?

Look at how Christ dealt with them.  

""On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.  Prompted by her mother, she said, 'Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.'  The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John's disciples came and took his body and buried it.  Then they went and told Jesus. (Matt 14: 6-12.)

This was John the Baptist, the last of the great prophets, the man who had baptised Jesus, Jesus' cousin.  How did Jesus respond?

"When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place."

(Matt  14: 13a).  No doubt he grieved, he cried, he sobbed, he looked to heaven and grimaced.

Then he got up and went back to finish the work that God had given him to do.

This is likely a good pattern for us to follow when we lose someone very close to us.  We go off by ourselves, we grieve, we cry , we sob, we look to Heaven and cry "why!?"  Then we return to the work that God has given us, knowing that, because Christ completed His work, a much, much better day , brighter day, happier day, is coming for us all.