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Chapter Five
Spectrum of Meanings of the Kingdom
of
God
Personal
In its narrowest sense, most evangelicals consider it in its sense of
personal salvation where it is assumed that there is a particular
place where people could enter if certain conditions are met. This is
usually called “going to heaven”. All interpretations then are based
on a personal individual level. The basis of this claim is the
statement of Jesus to Nicodemus
Joh 3:3 RV Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man be born anew, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
National
A slightly wider meaning is found in the Jewish aspiration of the
messiah’s coming wherein a period of glorious state of
Israel will be established with all prosperity.
1Ch 16:15-24 Remember his covenant for ever, the word which he
commanded to a thousand generations; The covenant which he
made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same
unto Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your
inheritance: When ye were but a few men in number; yea, very few,
and sojourners in it; And they went about from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another people. He suffered no man to do
them wrong; yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying,
Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm. Sing unto
the LORD, all the earth; shew forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the
peoples.
This shifts the focus from the individual to the Nation, a particular
nation of
Israel.
Abraham as a family, and Jacob as Israel were called to be a
Kingdom
of Priests so that they may declare the faithfulness of God to all the
nations of the world.
But though the Bible - which is essentially the history of Jewish
nation - emphasizes the revelation of God in their history, every
nation experiences this. People as families, tribes and nation are
called by God to be subject unto him. This then is a wider aspect of
the Kingdom of God. Today this calling is experienced by the Church
as a separated entity.
Rule of God on Earth
The concept widens as the
Kingdom
of God is extended to the whole of earth where all will be ruled
righteously.
Exo 19:5-7 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep
my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me from among
all peoples: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto
me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.
Psa 145:9-13 The LORD is good to all; and his tender mercies are
over all his works. All thy works shall give thanks unto thee, O
LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory
of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of
men his mighty acts, and the glory of the majesty of his kingdom. Thy
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth
throughout all generations.
This concept is seen in the Millenium rule of Jesus over the earth
Mat
26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto
you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand
of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
Dan 2:44 And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set
up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the
sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in
pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever..
Dan 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came
with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even
to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the
peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed.
Rev 20:4
And I saw high seats, and they were seated on them, and the right of
judging was given to them: and I saw the souls of those who were put
to death for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and those
who did not give worship to the beast, or to his image, and had not
his mark on their brows or on their hands; and they were living and
ruling with Christ a thousand years.
Broad
meaning:
God’s Bema reign over all creation of both Purusha and Prakriti. This
reign extends not only to earth but to all creations both in heaven
and earth and both organic and inorganic worlds.
Dan 7:27-28 And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of
the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of
the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Rev 21: 1-8 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a
great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples,
and God himself shall be with them, and be their God:
Isa 65:17 For see, I am making a new heaven and a new earth: and the
past things will be gone completely out of mind.
Rom
8:20-23 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own
will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation
itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And
not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
This is the ultimate redemption when even the material realm which is
now subject under the law of order to disorder – the second law of
thermodynamics – will be redeemed from this decay. Then on everything
will go on from order to order and from glory unto glory. This will
be possible only when the Sons of God come into their own.
Kingdom's Coming depends on an attitude of Heart
This Kingdom and this salvation, which are the key words of Jesus
Christ's evangelization, are available to every human being as grace
and mercy. And yet at the same time each individual must gain them by
force—they belong to the violent, says the Lord (Matthew 11:12; Luke
16:16), through toil and suffering, through a life lived according to
the Gospel, through abnegation and the Cross, through the spirit of
the beatitudes. But above all each individual gains them through a
total interior renewal which the Gospel calls metanoia; it is a
radical conversion, a profound change of mind and heart. Pope Paul
VI On Evangelization in the Modern World
Three Interpretations in Time
1. Realized Eschatology – already come.
(C. H. Dodd and John Dominic Crossan)
In this interpretation, it is claimed that the “Kingdom” was fully
manifest in the present teaching and actions of Jesus. Through his
words and deeds the “Kingdom” was brought into the present reality of
Palestine. So Jesus claims in
Luke 11:20, and Luke 17:21 “the kingdom of God has come to you” and
“the kingdom of God is within you”.
The manifesto of the Kingdom of God is given by Jesus in his first
rabinnic explanation of the Isiah’s prophecy.
The gospel of the Kingdom consisted of three aspects
Mat
4:23 And Jesus went about in all Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among
the people.
Teaching
Preaching
Healing
So when John the Baptist voiced
his doubt about the Mesianic anointing of Jesus, Jesus gave this reply
Luk 7:22-23
And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news
preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me."
That much of the prophecy had been realized in Jesus’ life time. Was
that all to it? Why were those elements important?
Some who believe that Jesus failed in his mission to bring in the
expected
Kingdom of God think so. But Jesus’ parables show a much wider view
of kingdom to come including an apocalyptic coming of the Kingdom and
a world to come. In the present aspect of the Kingdom, until death is
destroyed, the healing processes and bringing health to life was the
nearest approach to the Kingdom of God. But that was only the
beginning which is fulfilled and completed when our mortal bodies are
transformed and cosmos is beyond decay and death. In the following
verses
Kingdom
of God is practically equated with Life and of course we are talking
about Life Abundant
Mark 9:43-48 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is
better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go
to hell, to the unquenchable fire….And if your foot causes you to sin,
cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet
to be thrown into hell…And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it
out; it is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one
eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does
not die, and the fire is not quenched.
Matt 18:8-9 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it
off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life
maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the
eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and
throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than
with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Thus this healing process started here and now.
Healing included casting out demons
as the following passages indicate.
Matt
12:22,28
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to
Jesus, and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the
crowds were stunned, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of
David, can he?" 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God,
then the
Kingdom
of
God
has come upon you.
Luke
11:14,20
14 And he was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had
gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. 20
But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the
Kingdom
of
God
has come upon you.
Luke 17:20-21 Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was
coming, he answered them, "The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs
to be observed
(meta paratêrêseôs).;
nor will they say, 'Lo, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the
Kingdom of God is in the midst of you
(entos humôn).”
2. Wholly futuristic kingdom –
olam haba,
"the world to come",
(Albert Schweitzer, Rudolf Bultmann, Norman Perrin and Johannes Weiss)
In this approach Jesus is considered as an apocalyptic preacher who
wanted to bring about the Kingdom on earth. When he did not see the
end of the cosmic order coming Jesus embraced death as a tool in
which to provoke God into action. The wheel was given an impetus by
Jesus hurling himself into the wheel of history thus making it start
its rotation. Jesus thus started this process and it was the duty of
his disciples to give additional impetus to bring about the final
restoration of the cosmos.
This again sees only the part of the whole picture. Surely Jesus
embraced death. But was it unexpected? Certainly not. He knew it
was coming and it was part of the plan. There was a new dimension of
the Kindom which went beyond which lie in the resurrection of which he
was certain. The plan of the ultimate Kingdom of God goes beyond the
decaying material history into the glorious liberty of the children of
God into the state when the whole cosmos changes into a state where
everything goes from glory to glory instead of decay and death. Thus
not only that the Kingdom is here and now working in the hearts of
those who have accepted Jesus, it is in the making evolving into a
glorious state for all creation. Hence the great commission was to be
proclaimed to “all creation” not just Israel or even mankind.
3. "inaugurated eschatology"
(N.T.
Wright and G.R. Beasley-Murray
)
In this interpretation, the Kingdom is a present reality and also a
future manifestation.
The Kingdom is in a process of “in-breaking” into the present and
will be fully realized in the future
It is previsioned in Jeremiah as a new covenant written in the hearts
of men (Jer. 31:31-34).
The future fulfillment is evidenced in the visible descent of Christ
through the clouds, comparable to the account in the first chapter of
Acts of his ascension into heaven (Acts 1:6-11).
"the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 24:30),
Jesus also gave vivid accounts of the final days as the "wars and
rumors of wars" when ‘’nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom" and other forms of evil and turmoil will give warning
that the end is near
(Matt. 24:1-35; Mark 13:1-31; Luke 21:5-36).
“Paul speaks several times of "inheriting the kingdom of God" as a
future experience (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; 15:50; Galatians 5:21; cf.
Ephesians 5:5), and otherwise indicates by his language that he thinks
of it as realized only at the end of the age (1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2
Thessalonians 1:5; Colossians 4:11; cf. 2 Timothy 4:1, 18). When Paul
wants to focus on the present manifestation of the kingdom, he tends
either to introduce the term "justice" or "righteousness" along with
"kingdom" (Romans 14:17) or in place of it (Romans 1:17; for the close
association of the kingdom and the justice of God, see Matthew 6:33),
or (alternatively) to connect the kingdom with Jesus Christ rather
than God the Father (Colossians 1:13).” J. Ramsey Michaels, "The
Kingdom of God and the Historical Jesus," chapter 8 of The
Kingdom
of God in 20th-Century Interpretation,
edited by Wendell Willis [Hendrickson, 1987], page 112)
Scofield summarises three aspects of the
Kingdom of Heaven as found in Mathew’s gospel.
“The kingdom of heaven has three aspects in Matthew:
(a) "at hand" from the beginning of the ministry of John the
Baptist (Mat 3:2) to the virtual rejection of the King, and the
announcement of the new brotherhood (Mat 12:46-50).
(b) in seven "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven," to be fulfilled
during the present age (Mat 13:1-52) to which are to be added the
parables of the kingdom of heaven which were spoken after those of Mt.
13, and which have to do with the sphere of Christian profession
during this age. It is here and now howbeit as a seed growing.
(c) the prophetic aspect -- the kingdom to be set up after the
return of the King in glory. (Mat 24:29-25); (Mat 24:46); (Luk
19:12-19);
(Act
15:14-17).
Thus, the general picture painted of the Kingdom
of God is that it is culminated
at the end of human history while in the interim period the subjects
of the Kingdom live in an interim ethics with the dominion in their
hearts. The subjects are born into the Kingdom in a new birth so that
they became citizens of the Kingdom by birth. Mathew does not
consider that the citizenship can be obtained by any other means.
The
book of Revelation gives the clear picture of hoe Christ will reign on
this earth for a thousand years, after which there will be a great
last battle and victory at Armageddon
The point here is that the fact that Jesus did not complete the
realization of His Kingdom in his first appearance and certainly
planned this process and culmination in a second coming was not
accidental.
Thus for the Greeks, the Romans and the Indians the divine and the
heavenly realm were totally distinct and separate from the earthly
realm. Divine never entered the Terrestrial but controlled it from
above with an iron rod. But the experience of the disciples with the
person of Jesus Christ changed it all. They saw an incarnational God
– a God who came into the world and put on a human face and lived
among man laying down his divinity; an immanent God still remaining
transcendent. This led to the description of the Kingdom as something
among man and the realization of Kingdom of God on earth something to
be expected soon by Mark and Luke (e.g., Mk. 1:15, Lk. 10:9-11). Luke
however, also described the Kingdom as something within each one of us
(Lk. 17:21). In contrast, John described Jesus’ kingdom as something
not of this world and is yet to come.
Combining we can look at it as Three Parts of the Kingdom advent
Inauguration of the Kingdom: Matt. 2:2; 4:23; 9:35; 27:11; Mark 15:2;
Luke 16:16; 23:3; John 18:37
Development of the Kingdom from the seed: Matt. 13; Matt. 24:14; Rom.
14:16-17; 1 Cor. 4:19-20; Col. 4:11
Consummation: 1 Cor. 15:50-58; Rev. 11:5
These are associated with the three comings of the Messiah.
The Incarnational Christ inaugurated the Kingdom and offered the
Kingdom citizenship to those who will receive it. This phase ended
with the cross and resurrection. When he left the earth the seed was
left to grow until the initial the crop was gathered at the Rapture
when the first batch of the citizens of the Kingdom were called out of
the earth. In the consequent period a temporary Kingdom will be
established on the earth during the coming for the rest of mankind
which is usually termed as the Second coming. After a “Thousand years
of reign” the next filtration and addition to citizens are made at the
“White Throne”.
Within the theological tradition of the
Eastern Churches the Kingdom of God is the future of all mankind and
the created world, in that God will be in direct communion with the
cosmos.
 Islamic
concept of the Kingdom of God
In the Islamic idea the relation between God and his creation is one
of Master and slave. Thus total submission to the authority of God is
the ultimate end of the cosmos. It is an absolute dominion as the
dictator rules over his people. He is mecifult and kind, but it is
still his personal world. Submit or be punished. Kingdom of God
constitutes a caliphate/Imamate, a geographical region unified under
the faith of Islam, and Matthew 13:31-33 has been suggested by Islamic
scholars to be in fact referring to a caliphate which will be spread
across three continents. According to mainstream Islamic beliefs, the
Second Coming of Jesus and the arrival of the Mahdi will usher in this
ideal caliphate/Imamate, which will put an end to the "tyranny of the
Antichrist", and this reign will ensure tranquility and peace for the
world.
In a more spiritual interpretation and ultimate level this is attained
only after the Day of Judgment, when Allah judges all mankind based
on their deeds, one either goes to hell or to heaven; the latter being
the Eternal Kingdom.
 The
Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventist Church accepts the doctrine of the Kingdom
of God dividing it into two phases. These are, the Kingdom of Grace
which was established immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, and the
Kingdom of Glory which will be fully established when Christ returns
to earth for the second time.
Catholic interpretations
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
teaches that the coming Reign of God will be a kingdom of love, peace,
and justice (CCC 2046). Justice is defined as a virtue whereby one
respects the rights of all persons, living in harmony and equity with
all (CCC 1807). The Kingdom of God began with Christ's death and
Resurrection and must be further extended by Christians until it has
been brought into perfection by Christ at the end of time (CCC 782,
2816). The Christian does this by living the way Christ lived, by
thinking the way Christ thought (CCC 2046) and by promoting peace and
justice (CCC 2820). This can be accomplished by discerning how the
Holy Spirit (God) is calling one to act in the concrete circumstances
of one's life (CCC 2820). Christians must also pray, asking God for
what is necessary to cooperate with the coming of His Kingdom (CCC
2632). Jesus gathered disciples to be the seed and the beginning of
God's Reign on earth, and Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide them (CCC
541, 764). Jesus continues to call all people to come together around
him (CCC 542) and to spread His Kingdom across the entire world (CCC
863). However, the ultimate triumph of Christ's Kingdom will not come
about until Christ's return to earth at the end of time (CCC 671).
During Christ's second coming, he will judge the living and the dead.
Only those who are judged to be righteous and just will reign with
Christ forever (CCC 1042, 1060). Christ's second coming will also mark
the absolute defeat of all evil powers, including Satan (CCC 550,
671). Until then, the coming of the Kingdom will continue to be
attacked by evil powers as Christians wait with hope for the second
coming of their Savior (CCC 671, 680). This is why Christians pray to
hasten Christ's return by saying to him "Marana tha!" which means
"Come, Lord Jesus!" (CCC 671, 2817).
According to Fr. William Barry,
S.J.,
we can understand the Kingdom of God as God's intention for the
universe. God has revealed that His intention for our world is that
all humans live as brothers and sisters, as sons and daughters of God
(Is 2:2-5, Is 11:6-9, Is 40:4-5, Eph 1:3, 9-10). Our thoughts and
actions can either be in tune with God's intention or not. Only by
being in tune with God's intention will we ever know true fulfillment
or happiness in this life. Prayer, discernment and knowledge of God's
revealed Word are needed to discover how one can be in tune with God's
intention.
According to Fr. Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.,
the Kingdom of God primarily refers to the era when Christ comes again
to bring the final establishment of God’s rule over all creation,
which will include a final judgment where the righteous are rewarded
and the wicked are punished. The concept of the Kingdom of God offers
the goal for Christian life: those who follow the example and
teachings of Jesus will be vindicated when the Kingdom of God comes
and will reign with Christ forever.
Pope Benedict XVI
in his book Jesus of Nazareth, says there are "three
dimensions" to the
Church Fathers' interpretation
of term Kingdom of God. The first, which comes from
Origen, is that Jesus is himself
the Kingdom in person. The second "sees man's interioriry as the
essential location of the Kingdom". This second dimension also comes
from
Origen. "The third dimension of
the interpretation of the Kingdom of God we could call the
ecclesiastical: the Kingdom of God and the Church are related in
different ways and brought into more or less close proximity". That is
to say that the Church is the Kingdom of God.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints considers the church itself as the Kingdom of God on
the earth. However, this is limited to a spiritual or ecclesiastical
kingdom until the
Millennium when Christ will also
establish a political Kingdom of God. This will have worldwide
political jurisdiction when the Lord has made "a full end of all
nations" (Doctrine
& Covenants 87: 6). However, Latter-day Saints believe that
this theocratic "kingdom" will in fact be quasi-republican in
organization, and will be freely chosen by the survivors of the
millennial judgments rather than being imposed upon an unwilling
populace.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses extend the
idea of the Kingdom of God to more than just a state of mind or heart.
The belief is that the Kingdom is a government headed by Jesus Christ
as King, ruling in heaven since 1914. Jehovah's Witnesses come to the
year 1914 by two lines of reasoning: Bible chronology dealing with the
end of the
Times of the Gentiles and
observed world conditions. The miracles and preaching of the Kingdom
that Jesus carried out while on earth is a work that gave hope,
illustrated the benefits the Kingdom would bring, and urged efforts to
gain God's favor. Jehovah's Witnesses try to imitate that preaching
work in their door-to-door work by highlighting the Kingdom of God. In
fact, the full name of the
Watchtower is "The Watchtower
Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom." In short, the Kingdom is the means
through which God sanctifies His name and vindicates His sovereignty
and accomplishes His will through Christ, and restores conditions on
earth to those similar in the
Garden of Eden.
Christadelphians
The Christadelphians
The name 'Christadelphian' is compounded of two Greek words: 'christos'
and 'adelphoi' and means 'brethren in Christ'. The
Christadelphians are a group of people associated together by a common
belief in 'the things concerning the
kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ'
(Acts 8v12). Christadelphians
believe in an end time political kingdom. This viewpoint says that in
the last days Christ will return to rescue Israel (the nation), judge
all who are responsible to God's judgment, and make an immortal
administration for the Kingdom of God re-established on earth. It will
be based in Jerusalem, and will provide the faithful of all
generations with the land promised to them because they are heirs of
the land of the middle East, with Abraham. The Kingdom will grow to
rule over all other nations, with Jesus as the King and with his
administration (immortal saints) ruling over the nations with him.
Those ruled over will firstly be the Jews who are alive then (although
mortal) and the survivors of all other nations (also mortal). During
that time, lifespans of mortals will be greatly increased, and justice
will be carefully maintained. Thus the world will be filled with peace
and the knowledge of God.
”
One planet
What a good idea — form one planet! This of course is God’s plan for
the earth, to unite all people together. It will be a time to throw
away passports, forget visa requirements, and abolish immigration
policy. Sometimes in life we can lose track of this amazing promise of
unity. Let’s consider the words David recorded in one of his Psalms:
"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and
all the families of the nations shall worship before you..." (Psa
22:27).
No geographic area or nationality is to be excluded from the Kingdom
of God. Jesus has ransomed people for God from every tribe, language,
people, and nation (Rev 5:9). Let’s not forget that all these
nationalities came from just one man. From one man the Almighty made
every nation of men (Acts
17:26).
It is God’s intention "to bring all things in heaven and on earth
together under one head, even Christ" (Eph 1:10; cp Gen 1:26-28;
Psa 8:6).” Jonathan Fry (Melbourne
Dandenong,
Australia)
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