THE KINGDOM OF GOD What is a Kingdom

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

What is a Kingdom? A realm or sphere in which one thing is dominant. A state or government having a king or a queen as its head.

Why are there terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of heaven in the Bible and do they mean different things? Mark and Luke use the Greek term "Basileia tou Theou", commonly translated in English as "kingdom of God. So if we belong to the Kingdom of God, then we recognized God as the ruler of our lives and we are here to serve Him.

Matthew, on the other hand, employs the Greek term "Basileia tōn Ouranōn” which is translated as "kingdom of heaven 31 times and "kingdom of God" only 6 times, with "the kingdom" with no qualifier appearing a further ten. Some Biblical scholars speculate that the Matthew text adopted the Greek word for heaven instead of the Greek word for "God" because, unlike Mark and Luke, it was written by a Jew for a Jewish audience. It is a Jewish practice to avoid using God’s name as an act of piety. In Matthew, "heaven" stands for "God. "

WHEN IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD? Is the Kingdom of God a present reality or something that will occur in the future?

Some scholars argue 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. Other scholars argue that Jesus’ "kingdom” is intended to be a wholly futuristic. The most common view of the "kingdom" in recent scholarship is to embrace the truths of both these concepts ─ present reality and future manifestation This is called Inaugurated eschatology.

When we begin to look at what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God, we find that He is telling us how we need to live as part of God’s Kingdom. Read Matthew 4: 17 What do you get from this verse?

Repentance is the activity of reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs. It generally involves a commitment to personal change and resolving to live a more responsible and humane life. It typically includes an admission of guilt, a promise or resolve not to repeat the offense; an attempt to make restitution for the wrong.

In Hebrew, the idea of repentance is represented by two verbs meaning to return and to feel sorrow. In the New Testament the Greek word translated repentance is Metanoia which means change of conduct, change of mind and heart, or, change of consciousness.

Read Matthew 10: 7 Notice that Jesus uses the term “at hand’, what does that mean? At hand can mean “imminent” or coming soon. So at this point in time, the Kingdom of God has not yet arrived.

So if the Kingdom of God had not yet arrived at this point in time, what would signify its arrival? The Kingdom of Heaven was not believed to be fully come until the pouring out of the Holy Spirit after Christ's ascension. So we are looking at the arrival of the Kingdom at Pentecost.

Another set of verses to indicate that the Kingdom of Heaven had not yet come at this time. Read Matthew 6: 9 -13 What do these verses say about the Kingdom? God is the ruler in heaven and Jesus is preparing the way for Him to rule on earth.

Read Mark 12: 28 - 34 What do you take from these verses? I think it means that the man understands what it takes to be a part of the Kingdom of God, now all that is lacking for him is the coming o the Holy Spirit.

Read Luke 9: 27 What does this mean? We can see that this is true if the Kingdom of God begins at Pentecost. But it would fail if this were some event that is to take place in the distant future. In the Kingdom of God soul can be happy, though the body is greatly afflicted and oppressed in this world.

Read Luke 17: 20 From the time of Daniel, writers were concerned with the signs that would mark the end of the age and show that God was about to destroy the present world order. They believed that really bad things would have to happen before God would intervene to destroy the present age and bring in the new era of his rule. They particularly watched for wars, social collapse, and natural disasters.