Day 13 of 14
Living in the Kingdom Now
Citizens of a kingdom that has already begun
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Colossians 1:13-14 and Romans 14:17. Paul tells the Colossians: "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son." To the Romans he writes: "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Reflection
The kingdom of God is not only a future hope. It is a present reality. Paul uses the past tense: God "has delivered" us, "has transferred" us. The kingdom is not something we are waiting to enter. We are already in it.
Colossians 1:13-14 describes a radical change of citizenship. Believers have been taken out of one realm — "the domain of darkness" — and placed into another — "the kingdom of his beloved Son." This is not a metaphor. It is a declaration about where our true allegiance lies, whose laws govern our lives, and whose authority we recognize.
Vaughan Roberts draws the practical implication: "Christians are not just waiting for the kingdom. They have already been transferred into it. We live under a new king, with new values, in a new reality — even while the old world continues around us." The challenge is that we live as citizens of the kingdom while still surrounded by the old order. We are dual residents — in the world but not of it.
Romans 14:17 describes what the kingdom looks like in practice: "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Notice: the kingdom is not about external regulations or dietary rules. It is about the inner transformation that the Spirit produces — right relationships, reconciliation, and deep gladness.
Wright sees this as the shape of kingdom community: "The kingdom of God, present in the Spirit, produces a different kind of community — one characterised not by power and status but by righteousness, peace, and joy." The church, at its best, is a colony of the kingdom — a place where the values of God's reign become visible in how people treat one another.
This is not triumphalism. The kingdom is present, but it is also contested. We experience righteousness alongside ongoing sin. We know peace in the midst of conflict. We taste joy while still groaning for the redemption of all things (Romans 8:23). The kingdom is real — but it is not yet complete.
Going Deeper
How does your daily life reflect the reality that you have been "transferred" into the kingdom of God's Son? What specific practices help you live as a citizen of Christ's kingdom rather than conforming to the patterns of the surrounding culture?
Key Quotes
“Christians are not just waiting for the kingdom. They have already been transferred into it. We live under a new king, with new values, in a new reality — even while the old world continues around us.”
“The kingdom of God, present in the Spirit, produces a different kind of community — one characterised not by power and status but by righteousness, peace, and joy.”
Prayer Focus
Ask the Holy Spirit to produce the fruit of the kingdom in your life: righteousness, peace, and joy. Pray that your community would be a visible sign of God's reign.
Meditation
Paul says the kingdom is 'righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.' Which of these three is most needed in your life right now?
Question for Discussion
Paul says the kingdom is 'not a matter of eating and drinking' -- meaning it is not about external markers. How do our churches sometimes reduce kingdom living to visible behaviors and cultural markers rather than the deeper reality of righteousness, peace, and joy?