There's a village in south Lincolnshire called Threekingham. Legend has it that there was a battle here between the Anglosaxons and the Danes, in which three Danish kings were killed. Three kings, three kingdoms; three kingdoms, three kings. The story is almost certainly not true and seems to have been started by a monk many centuries later; the origin of the village's name can be explained in much more mundane terms. However, there were battles between Anglosaxons and Danes in this area and these battles were between kingdoms ruled by kings. Very rarely was a women in charge, although occasionally that was the case.
Of course we are now in the UK indeed ruled by a queen. Queen Elizabeth II has been in our thoughts and prayers over the last few days because of the death of her husband, Prince Phillip. Whatever you think of the monarchy as an institution, she is a brave lady and has suffered a great loss in her old age. Apart from our sympathy for her as a person, though, it can also turn our thoughts to the kingdom over which she reigns. Certainly in a relatively few years it will again have a king and he will inevitably change the nature of the monarchy to some degree. May the Queen live forever!
So you and I live in a political kingdom which is coming to the end of an era, but it will continue and we shall remain subjects of the United Kingdom. If we are British and live in Great Britain we have no choice in the matter. We are, though, also citizens of another, spiritual kingdom and in that case we do have a choice: we can be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, or citizens of the Kingdom of Darkness. The King of Heaven is God and the King of the realm of Darkness is Satan. If you have not chosen to commit your life to Jesus, the human face of the triune God, then you are automatically in the Kingdom of Darkness.
This might seem a bit melodramatic. Most people in this country are not Christians and it doesn't resemble Hell, so Satan can't be ruling here is the obvious conclusion. However, think about how society is and how you would like it to be. Yes, most citizens here have enough food and drink, a roof over our heads, sufficient access to warmth and clothing, supportive friends and family much of the time. Are you happy, though, with the amount of injustice, the unnecessary suffering that goes unalleviated for political ends, the waste of resources, the destruction of the planet's environment, the hedonistic lifestyle adopted by a significant proportion of society? I could go on. Of course, the questions become even more intense if asked of other countries where even access to essential provisions is not guaranteed. And, ultimately, do you know what's going to happen to you when you die? Hell is a reality and Satan isn't worried if life here seems pretty good so long as we are distracted from thinking about God and giving our lives to him.
Whatever its friendly face, the Kingdom of Darkness is about immorality, impurity, indulgence, occult practices, hatred, strife, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, disunity, contention, envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like (Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 5, verses 19 - 21) and a future in Hell (Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25, verse 46). Apart from the last in the list, we certainly see a lot of that around us every day. However, there is a way to live differently. The world around us is so caught up in the types of behaviour listed above that they start to seem normal; they are definitely portrayed as such in the media. Being truthful all the time is hard, so is being kind all the time, keeping our behaviour pure, holy and ethical, being content with what we have. Is it surprising that we all tend to fall into the opposite behaviour so easily? Well, actually, no. Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome explained that, however much we want to behave better, there seems to be almost a law that we will do the opposite and fall short (Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 7, verses 14 - 24). That is the Law of Sin and Death. Paul goes on to say that it is through Jesus Christ that we have a way out so that we can be changed into people not subject to the Law of Sin and Death (Romans 7:25 - 8:2) - that is, not subjects of the Kingdom of Darkness but of the Kingdom of Light (Peter's first letter, chapter 2, verse 9).
The Kingdom of Heaven is about love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, patience (Galatians 5:22,23), putting others first, worshipping God (Mark's Gospel, chapter 12, verses 28 - 31). It is possible to live like that consistently only through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us once we have rejected our old way of living, turned away from it and committed our lives, our whole lives, to Jesus, the Son of God, who died to deal with sin and destroy the power of death (Romans 8:3-13).
So there are three kings, three kingdoms; three kingdoms, three kings. We are subject to two of them: Queen Elizabeth and God in the UK and the Kingdom of Heaven, or Queen Elizabeth and Satan in the UK and the Kingdom of Darkness. We can choose only one of the two options. Transfers from the latter to the former are free. Find our more here.
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