The Kingdom Imagination

“Imagination is evidence of the divine.” —William Blake

I  grew up in a Christian culture that talked a lot about Heaven and Hell, and what you needed to do to avoid going to Hell so that you could spend eternity in Heaven.  

The problem for me was that, as a kid, although I didn’t want to spend eternity doing laps in the Lake of Fire, I really didn’t resonate with the visions of Heaven I was given.  

I was taught about streets of gold, mansions with ornate decorations, and never-ending worship services.  For someone who was bored out of their skull during the roughly two hours of Sunday morning worship services each week, the thought of doing that for all eternity seemed more like Hell than Heaven.  

Real talk: It still does.  

Since that time, I’ve come to envision heaven very differently —more down-to-earth, if that makes sense.  This is what Jesus taught after all: that the kingdom of God was coming and is now. He even taught his followers to pray to God, “Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.”  

Imagining a world made right, where God’s peace permeates every part of Creation and all that is good, true, and beautiful remains forever, is not a pipe dream; it’s part of what it means to be a Christian who sees the potential for a new world in the one we inhabit.  

That’s the power of imagination: it lets us see what God sees, even before it’s visible.

Before God created the world, there was imagination—the holy vision of what could be. The story of Scripture begins not with rules or rituals, but with divine creativity. And when Jesus came proclaiming “the kingdom of God is at hand,” He invited His followers into that same creative imagination: to see the world not just as it is, but as it is becoming.

To have a kingdom imagination is to view reality through the eyes of resurrection. It is to look at despair and envision restoration, to look at conflict and imagine reconciliation, to look at scarcity and picture abundance. Jesus told stories—parables that invited people to see differently. 

A mustard seed becomes a vast tree. Yeast transforms an entire loaf. The small, the hidden, and the ordinary reveal the extraordinary possibilities of God’s reign.

Faith is not the absence of doubt—it’s the presence of imagination rooted in trust. 

Isaiah dreamed of a world where the wolf lies down with the lamb, where children play safely, and where the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord. That wasn’t fantasy; it was prophetic imagination, envisioning the peace that God intends. 

Every act of compassion, justice, and mercy we perform becomes a brushstroke on that divine canvas.

In a cynical world, imagination is an act of faith. It says, 'I still believe God can make all things new.' When we lose imagination, we lose hope; when we rekindle it, we participate in the ongoing creation of the kingdom. 

To follow Jesus is to live as if His dream is already breaking into ours—to build tables instead of walls, to love enemies instead of fearing them, to plant seeds in soil that looks barren.

The kingdom imagination doesn’t ignore reality—it expands it. It opens our hearts to what’s possible with God. And when we live with that vision, our lives become signposts pointing toward a better world—the one God has always imagined.

The first act of creating a better world is to imagine it with God.

Prayer

Creator God,
open the eyes of my heart to see the world as You see it.
When cynicism clouds my vision, restore my holy imagination.
Let me dream with You of peace, justice, and joy—
and give me the courage to live today as if Your kingdom has already come.
Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. What images or stories of the kingdom of God stir your imagination most deeply?

2. Where might God be calling you to dream beyond what seems possible?

3. How can your daily choices—words, relationships, generosity—reflect the world God imagines?