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The Kingdom of God: What Is It?

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Reference to “the kingdom of God” (also known as “the kingdom of heaven”) appears throughout the Synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark, and Luke — and carries largely the same relevance to the disciples of Jesus’ time as it does to us, as Third Millennium Christians. The kingdom of God throughout Scripture has an almost dualistic meaning, speaking to both a present reality and a future consummation.

The present reality of the kingdom is spoken of in Luke 17:20ff: “The kingdom of God is within you.” This speaks of a heavenly reality — focusing on a kingdom viewable via faith rather than sight (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:18 and Hebrews 2:8-9). Even Paul speaks of this presently come kingdom, saying that even now we are raised up and seated together with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). And the author of Hebrews claims that we, by our faith, are already come to the Holy City and the New Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22).

By this understanding, the kingdom is already come and its ruler is Christ: the Davidic Messiah who rules over the throne of David forever (cf. Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 28:18, Revelation 19:16, and especiallyColossians 1:13). We see the fruit of the kingdom in our lives everyday. Christ’s reign in our lives, His power and grace to changes lives, and the dwelling of His people, the church of the firstborn (Hebrews 12:23), as “strangers and pilgrims” (1 Peter 2:11) in this earthly land all speak to the fact and the glory of His arrived kingdom.

The future consummation for which we hope is that promised return of our King at which point, the heavenly kingdom, once see by faith alone, will thence be seen by sight. In all promised glory, Christ will return and establish forever the visual fulfillment of His heavenly rule. The old heavens and earth shall be done away with and shall be replaced by the Kingdom Eternal, begun at Christ’s advent through faith and founded at His return in vision ever glorious!

These two understandings of the kingdom are both truly taught by the Word of God and coexist in a type of already/not yet reality. They are so interwoven that to refer to them as separately is a misstatement; rather, we ought speak of the two aspects of the kingdom as truly a future kingdom that has penetrated the present.

Taken from the BLB archives where we provide thousands of free resources to aid in your regular Bible study. Please considering supporting us.

Comments

  1. I enjoyed the explanation of Kingdom of God. I wanted to ask about people making the statement about “going to heaven”, is that correct statement if I am correct in saying that the Kingdom of heaven is to come to earth.

    • As we know by the Word that our last breath here will be our first breath in the presence of the Lord.And Heaven and earth shall pass away; thus there is a Heaven beyond the expanse above us.We live by Faith not by sight.Stay blessed!

  3. Matthew 5:10 Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

    Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of GOD and HIS righteousness and all these things shall be added to you

  4. Beautifully portrayed!! King Jesus resides on the throne of our hearts by faith and one day we will see Him face to face on His eternal throne in heaven. Amen!!

    • Yes indeed! Our King in enthroned forever upon our hearts which is the faith-seen reality. Our King will physically reign in His coming Kingdom and we shall behold His Glory with out eyes. Thus, true we walk by faith and not by sight, yet in that day our faith shall become sight. That is truly beautiful.

  5. How is inheriting the Kingdom of God related to salvation? Specifically, how is it related to salvation concerning a professing Christian who attends church, takes communion and steadfastly refuses to repent, choosing instead for 10+ years to live with someone outside of marriage? (Heb 13:4)

    9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

  6. Jesus came to his own, the Jews, working miracles as written in their scriptures. He was despised and rejected according to the prophesies, Pilate, a Roman, being the only one to call him the King of the Jews. God’s chosen people rejected their king and his kingdom on earth. By faith in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and savior,Jesus, Our God has provided a path of salvation for gentiles as well as jews. We are called members of Christ’s body, the children of God and joint-heirs with Christ. Nowhere in the epistles to believers saved by grace are we referred to as subjects of his kingdom. The Lord taught his jewish apostles to pray…thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. He will come again to claim his kingdom.

  8. It is true that the “Kingdom of God” has more than one meaning. The Kingdom of God means the literal rule of Christ on earth as King, spoken of in the prophets. The Kingdom also means the “Dominion of God”. Now this dominion of God in our lives begins when we submit to Him – when we surrender to Him. That’s one way that the “Kingdom of God” is within you – by His Dominion in your life – His rule in your life.

    But now the “Kindom” as spoken of in the propehts, as Christ the King on earth, does not fit with the parables of the Kingdom as Christ taught. Consider this: when we speak of the animal kingdom or the plant kingdom, we are referring to the life existence of that species. In the same way, the “Kingdom of God” as taught by Christ is referring to the life existence of God. That is, the Kingdom of God in the parables means the eternal life existence of God. What Christ is teaching us about through these parables is God’s gift of eternal life. That is why the man, when he found a treasure in a field, sold everything he had and bought the field – it was that precious to him. In the same way, God’s gift of eternal life is to be the most important treasure of our life – so that all else is secondary to the pursuit of that life – that Kingdom. The good news is that God sent His Son to free people from sin and give them eternal life. Read the parables again, substituting the thought “eternal life” and you will gain a deeper appreciation for the love of God. And then remember Christ tells us to repent and believe the Gospel.

  9. John 10:6 Go not into the way of the gentiles…But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
    The King is among you. A kingdom is no kingdom without its king.
    The rule of God was there for them to acknowledge.
    Mark 1:15 And saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand…
    The time is fulfilled, the prophecies of the messiah is realized, the King is before you, among you, But he came as a servant to deal with sin first, Mark 1:15…repent and believe the gospel.(of the kingdom, their messsiah, the son of God) Read John 11:25-27. The gospel of grace was not yet possible before Jesus’ crucifiction and resurrection Read Luke 18:31-34
    This is the King and Kingdom spoken of by David in the Psalms, in his lineage, Jesus will come again to rule in His earthly kingdom. Read 1Cor 15:1-4, the gospel of grace requires faith the gospel of the kingdom for the jews under the law require repentence then belief. I hope this helps.

  10. Great insight on the Kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God. It is among us because Jesus and His Spirit is among us. It is coming in the literal sense. Today it is not visible, we can feel it and see it with our spiritual eyes but that will not be the case when Jesus returns; every eye will see Him in His glory and every eye will know He is the King. Today we struggle to tell people how He is king including some in our fellowships, but then everything will be clear. What a glorious Christ we have! And He is among us.

  11. It’s interesting that Jesus when teaching the disciples at the Sermon on the Mount started his teaching with what we call the Beatitudes. He bracketed the Beatitudes with who the Kingdom belongs to. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. With the Beatitudes he presented the progression of a believer who begins with a poor spirit and develops all the way to someone who can bear the persecution. Entry to the Kingdom begins with faith that is as small as a mustard seed but grows to something that can move mountains.