Jesus preached a lot about the kingdom of God, or the rule of God. For me, in the teaching of Jesus the rule of God boils down to love. That is, love God, neighbor, enemy, and self. For me, it is in that order for before I can love myself I believe I must love God and others. Is that because of low self-esteem? No, not for me. That is because of what I see as the model of Jesus' behavior that expressed the love of God at its highest point when he gave his entire life for love. He healed the sick, raised the dead, hung out with those that society rejected, and this radical behavior cost him his life. Somehow or another because of that fully expressed love of God alive in Jesus that love sets us free to love.
What I believe is that solely because of what Jesus did I am set right with God. Yes, that is for sure. Yet, at the same time because of that "setting right with God" act in Jesus I am called to strive at living a holy life. This, for me, is more like the striving, the journey toward holiness, godliness, a sinless existence. Do I even have a sinless existence? For me, it is a now and then, here and there experience. That is, when just for a moment -- a site -- all is right with 'the world'.
As I am wrestling with Jesus for those moments when all is right with the world I read his demanding "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew, chapters 5-7, where he says, "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect".
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