The Kingdom as “Now” and “Not Yet”
The Kingdom as “Now” and “Not Yet”
The eschatological framework of the kingdom as both “now” and “not yet” provides further theological basis for our global mission. On the one hand, the “now” of the kingdom as “good news to the poor” is the underlying premise of our entire understanding of the ministry of Jesus: it is thus also the inherent imperative of the kingdom until the final consummation. The proclamation of the good news of the kingdom lies at the heart of everything Jesus said and did; this is the “kingdom proclamation” that he inaugurated.
At the same time, and on the other hand, the fact that the kingdom is still “not yet” does not mean that we simply await God’s completion of what Jesus began. To the contrary, it means that the inaugurated kingdom, the good news of salvation for all that Jesus proclaimed, must be further proclaimed to all “the poor” in every place. This is precisely the intent of Jesus’ own word that “this gospel [good news] of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:14). And this is turn is the reason for the Great Commission given to his disciples by the Risen Lord, to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19).
Our present existence, therefore, is one that is lived out “between the times” — between the beginning and the conclusion of the End. The final consummation, our glorious future, has been guaranteed for us by the death and resurrection of our Lord. But meanwhile, until that future has come in its fullness, we are to be the people of the future in the present age, who continue the proclamation of the kingdom as good news to the poor.