The Kingdom

Last night I went to the third Perspectives class, and the topic hit me in a new way. It was like 'duh' but 'wow.' So, if you'll permit me, I'd like to share it here.
BTW, the full name of the course is "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement." (I decided not to go to grad school after all...)
The topic was the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is His rule, reign, and unchallenged authority over all the universe. In the beginning, God was confronted with two different rebellions. Before the first rebellion, Lucifer (whose name literally means bearer of light) was the highest ranking angel. But, he wanted to become God, to usurp His position. This was a political rebellion. Lucifer (who we know as Satan) gained one third of all the angels on his side, in a clash over who will govern the universe. The second rebellion was of man and woman. In contrast to the political rebellion of Satan, this was a moral rebellion; they wanted to become god of their own lives.
These are two separate issues.
So, God creates a plan to deal with them separately.
His plan for the first rebellion is to re-establish his unchallenged authority. He will crush Satan and his hosts. His plan for the second rebellion is to redeem a people for himself. He will restore them to eternal life and fellowship with him.
Various texts in the Old Testament foretell how this will take place. God makes a covenant with King David, promising that through him would come a king whose kingdom would never end. God makes a covenant with Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him. The Jews looked forward to a Messiah, someone who would come and save them. However, Isaiah holds two seemingly contradictory prophesies about the Messiah. In chapter 9, the Messiah appears as an eternal ruler. In chapter 53, Messiah looks like a suffering savior. Confused? So were the Jews.
The 2-fold plan comes together in one unique person -- Jesus. He was the son of David. He was the son of Abraham. But in order to fulfill both prophecies, in order to take care of both rebellions....the king has to come twice! Because the issue is two-fold, the solution is two-fold.
He came the first time to pour out his love to humans by sacrificing himself, and redeem as many of them as would receive him. When he comes the second time, he will be the conquering king doling out justice and crushing the political rebellion of Satan. Why is he taking so long to come back, and restore everything? Why is he allowing evil to exist in the world? He is not willing that any should perish. He is giving mankind as much time as possible to turn to him.
When he comes back....
time's up.
As the speaker from last night put it: When the king returns, his justice and power will destroy what his love did not win.
Make no mistake, the Kingdom of God is here and now. When Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago, he brought the kingdom with him. It came quietly, without much fanfare, but it came. The power of God is here. Even though some days it doesn't seem like it. Even though it looks like Satan has the upper hand. After all, we are caught up in a great war: the conflict of the ages.
Whose side are you on?