With an expectation that God’s kingdom will grow, what can we do to help provide the best ‘soil’ in which that growth can take place and how can we prepare for further growth?

God’s people have always been, in large measure, how the world knows about and experiences God.

Life under God’s reign is being free from the trap of accumulating material possessions and therefore being free to generously provide for the needs of others.

This is what life under God’s reign looks like: people rejoicing in all God has done for them and relating to other people in a similar manner.

Life under God’s reign is a life of growth. Whether that looks like expansion into new opportunities or a quieter advance in godliness.

Living under God’s reign requires trust. Trusting that obedience to him is the wisest and safest way to live and that he is worthy to be obeyed, whatever that may lead to.

There is no darkness in God’s reign; he is pure light. His people have come from darkness into light, our mission is to bring that same light into the dark places of the world.

Peacefulness and joy are evidence that God’s reign is bearing fruit in someone’s life, a foretaste of the perfect peace and endless joy we will experience forever in his eternal kingdom.

God has given everything in His son Jesus and has also given us gifts as His children. One of the ways that we worship Him is to use these gifts in service to others.

The gospel of the Kingdom starts with the personal but then it goes on to bring God’s government to influence the community and influence the nations.

Those declared righteous are now in a favourable relationship with God, and this righteous standing translates to decisions and actions that line up with God’s righteous character.

Because God is perfectly just, it follows that his kingly reign is one of justice and that the people who acknowledge him as king should be characterised by justice in their way of life.

While we are to pray for God’s kingdom to fully come, another major reason for prayer throughout the Bible is for God to be glorified and for his reign to come in our world.

In this magnificent vision the reign of God is no longer challenged but is perfectly expressed by the total presence of God and the total absence of evil.

Just as Jesus has made the invisible God visible, John Calvin said it is the task of the church to make the invisible kingdom visible.

The parables of Matthew 13 tell us that having God as king is the greatest treasure, that his reign is growing and that both God’s and Satan’s kingdoms coexist until the day of judgement.

The culture of the kingdom of God is defined by the fact that God reigns; and Jesus embodies uniquely and completely. So, what did Jesus say and what would Jesus do?

While the fullness of God’s kingdom awaits Jesus’ return, a decisive unveiling of his kingdom and demonstration of it has now arrived in the ministry of Jesus!

Isaiah 61 is part of Isaiah’s vision of a post-exilic future for God’s people, a new Jerusalem headed by the Servant-Messiah-King.

So how are God’s people to live in these in between times, when the kingdom of God has come but not fully, when the clash of kingdoms continues?