The Presence of the Kingdom and the Life of the Church -- By: Robert L. Saucy

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 145:577 (Jan 1988)
Article: The Presence of the Kingdom and the Life of the Church
Author: Robert L. Saucy


The Presence of the Kingdom and the Life of the Church

Robert L. Saucy

Professor of Systematic Theology
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La Mirada, California

In recent years the concept of the kingdom of God has come to the fore as the rationale for the mission of the church in the world. God’s kingdom is seen as the basis for calling the church to a wide range of activities, from political action, including revolution, to miraculous healings. The theme of the World Council of Churches Commission on World Mission and Evangelism held in 1980 in Melbourne was “Your Kingdom Come.” Included among the many references to the kingdom in its report was the following statement:

The worldwide church is itself a sign of the kingdom of God because it is the Body of Christ in the world. It is called to be an instrument of the kingdom of God by continuing Christ’s mission to the world in a struggle for the growth of all human beings into the fulness of life. This means proclaiming God’s judgment upon any authority, power or force, which would openly or by subtle means deny people their full human rights.1

Though cautioning against any attempt to establish a theocracy now, Pannenberg similarly writes, “The future of the Kingdom releases a dynamic in the present that again and again

kindles the vision of man and gives meaning to his fervent quest for the political forms of justice and love.”2 Moltmann, whose theology has contributed to the thought of liberation theologians, sees the church, in light of the coming kingdom, as leading a new “exodus” of the last days, an “exodus of the people out of captivity, poverty and inhumanity into the freedom, the glory and the righteousness of God’s new man.”3

Some evangelicals similarly see the kingdom as having present sociopolitical effects. Scott, of the World Evangelical Fellowship, states that “the risen King…has called into existence a community, the community of the King, to work with him to establish justice on the earth.”4 Even more optimistically Gary North, who is associated with the Reconstructionist movement, advocates a religion of dominion. “We need to know,” he says, “if we are expected to bring the kingdom into visible power by our efforts, under God’s directing sovereignty…. We need to know whether God really expects us to win, just as He expected and commanded the Israelites to win, when they entered Canaan.”You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe

visitor : : uid: ()