The Kingdom of God (Notes)
November 24, 2009
John 18:33-38. Truth isn’t really something you have, it’s something you’re a part of. To be of the truth is to be of the Kingdom or Reign of Truth and Life and the Way of these things on Earth as it is in Heaven.
[Augustine] “What in fact is Christ’s kingdom? It is simply those who believe in him, those to whom he said, ‘You are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.” …”His kingdom is here until the end of time, and until the harvest it will contain weeds. The harvest is the end of the world, when the reapers, who are angels, will come and gather our of his kingdom all causes of sin.” …”Everyone who is reborn in Christ becomes the kingdom that is no longer of this world.
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Christ’s kingdom not being “of this world” catches varying interpretations. One the one hand, some focus on “kingdom” as a location, other focus on a condition. In this, for some to say that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, they mean that it is from another world, realm, or reality of existence (locale) that imposes no threat of rule for the powers at be. Or again, another way to look at it is that “not of this world” means not proceeding from the values, powers, philosophies, etc. (condition) of this world and that is essentially other, holy, or different that what we’re used to. I believe Jesus’ intent and focus is on the condition of “rule, reign, or dominion,” of a different type of people who are not like the world in values, pride, power, and other such things. They are different and their desire is to live as ones under the reign of God in all of life’s circumstances.
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[Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, Vanhooser, ed.]
“Kingdom of God,” and “Kingdom of Heaven” are synonymous in Scripture.
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Mark 1:15 tells us that Jesus’ public proclamation from the beginning was of the coming of the kingdom of God.
Confusion about the “kingdom of God” concept is somewhat fused in the English word “kingdom.” Appropriately, the Greek basileia comes out as “kingship,” or “rule.” Now, readers distant from things of kings and such, convey a more concrete sense of place or group of people under the control of a king. …no modern translation has had the courage to replace the familiar word “kingdom” with “reign,” “rule,” “sovereignty.” Hence, the word “kingdom” continues to mislead into thinking that some thing, some place, or some people is being talked about when the NT speaks of “the kingdom of God.
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…the phrase, “The Kingdom of God has come near,” means “God is taking over as king,” and to “enter the kingdom of God” is to come under his rule, to accept him as king.
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God’s Kingship in the OT and Jewish Thought: The Jewish culture at the time of Christ was ripe with anticipation for kingship. The phrase, “the kingdom of God has come near,” would be sure of a ready hearing and would not be misunderstood. Jesus would be heard as saying that God was about to establish his reign in a newly effective way. Now, what would be up for debate within Jesus’ contemporaries is just what this reign of God would look like.
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What Jesus Meant. Speaking that the kingdom of God has come near is not like it was for the prophets, in some future anticipation, but the declaration of a new reality. …The kingdom is among you. Yet, Jesus can also speak of a future time when people will see that the kingdom of God “has come with power.”
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…Now and not yet paradox.
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…God has already established the rule in the coming of Jesus, yet it still has to work itself out to its full potential (like yeast or a mustard seed). In the meantime, it remains a secret, a paradox, rejected by some, but for others the one great treasure for which they will sell all the have.
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…God’s kingship divides people. In Matthew 5, Jesus sets out the “good life” in terms that sharply differentiate his people (poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure, peacemaking, and persecuted) from the world, which despises them. …The Sermon on the Mount might be described as a manifesto for life in the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus instructs his disciples on the revolutionary values by which he invites them to live, it is the phrase “the kingdom of God” that repeatedly sums up this alternative lifestyle.
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…As long as God continues to allow his world to resist his rule, so long will there be tension and paradox built into the language of the “kingdom of God.”
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[The Lutheran Study Bible, CPH]
What is the Kingdom of God? First, God rules the universe and everything in it, including the affairs of humanity. Second, we also use the phrase, “kingdom of God” to refer to the time after the resurrection of the dead when God rules without opposition.
Jeffrey Gibbs: “The kingdom of God is God’s righteous reign.” “To speak of a “reign” … is to imply that a king is present to act as such, “to reign.” … If “the reign of heaven/God” stands near, then the God of heaven has come down to reign, to perform his kingly deeds. Thus, the reign of GOd is not primarily a place. Rather, it is a divine action that occurs where Jesus is, through his words and deeds. Nor is the reign of heaven a group of people. Rather, because the God of heaven has begun to manifest the God of heaven has begun to manifest his kingly deeds, a group of people are constituted as those who believe in God’s reign in Jesus.”
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…This kingdom/reign does not take shape in the real world because it exists in the hearts and minds of believers, who inhabit earthly countries and kingdoms.
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Kingdom of God in the NT. Between the time of Adam’s fall and the end of the world, Satan dominates the world. ALl people are born into Satan’s kingdom and are by nature enemies of God and opposed to his kingdom. …When God’s kingdom overpowers Satan’s, sick people are cured, handicapped people are made whole, … These external signs point to a greater gift of God as he extends his rule — eternal salvation through saving faith in Jesus Christ.
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…On the one hand, the kingdom of God is invisible. Saving faith in Jesus Christ cannot be seen by the natural eye, nor can any human being look into the heart of another. On the other hand, believers live in a world and occupy space and time just like unbelievers. In this sense, God’s kingdom is plainly visible because its citizens live in the world as living signposts, pointing to Jesus by what they say and do.
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…Only Jesus, crucified for the sins of the world and raised again for the justification of sinners, can create the kingdom that leads to eternal life. Anchored in the cross of Christ (a past event) and actualized in the present administration through his sacraments, the kingdom of God also awaits its fulfillment in the visible return of Jesus Christ in glory.
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[Entering the Eternal Kind of Life Now, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard]
God’s desire is that we should live in him.
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…He makes himself and his kingdom available.
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…Jesus offers himself as God’s doorway into the life that truly is life. Confidence in him leads us today, as in other times, to become his apprentices in eternal living.
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…Jesus promises wholeness for our lives. He comes where we are, and he brings us the life we hunger for.
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…”Repent for the kingdom of the heavens is near” is a call for us to reconsider how we have been approaching our life, in light of the fact that we now, in the presence of Jesus, have the option of living within the surrounding movements of God’s eternal purposes, of taking our life into his life.
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…Personal need and confidence in Jesus permits any person to blunder right into God’s realm. And once in, they have an astonishing new status: “Those least in the Kingdom of the Heavens are greater than John.”
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…Jesus was, in effect, saying, “Just watch me and see that what I say is true. See for yourself that the rule of God has come among ordinary human beings.”
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…The presence of Jesus upon the earth, both before and after his death and resurrection, means that God’s rule is here now.
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…C.S. Lewis writes, our faith is not a matter of our hearing what Christ said long ago and trying to carry it out. Rather, “The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to ‘inject’ his kind of life and thought, his zoe (life) into you, beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is still tin.
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…God’s own “kingdom” or “rule” is the range of his effective will, where what he wants done is done. The person of God himself and the action of his will are the organizing principles of his kingdom, but everything that obeys his principles, whether by nature or by choice, is within his kingdom.
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…the kingdom of God is not something that is primarily in the hearts of men. That kingdom may be there, but it always pervades and governs the whole of the physical universe.
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…When Jesus directs us to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” he does not mean we should pray for it to come into existence. Rather, we pray for it to take over all points in the personal, social, and political order where it is now excluded: On earth as it is in heaven.
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…The reality of God’s rule, and all of the instrumentalities it involves, is present in action and available with and through the person of Jesus. That is Jesus’ gospel. … NT passages make plain that this kingdom is not something to be “accepted” now and enjoyed later, but something to be entered now.
November 24, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Thanks for this! I just finished talking to the other pastor here about this very thing. We’re planning a sermon series about discipleship, and focusing in on living as subjects to the righteous kingdom (reign) of God. As such, we’ll use all texts from Matthew, and have our members read the book of Matthew during Lent while we talk about what living in the reign of God looks like in experience. Again, thanks for the refresher!