WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
/This is a response I have written concerning a question from a good friend wondering what I thought of an article he saw posted on the internet discussing whether the Biblical kingdom is to be considered physical or only spiritual. In my response I will address what the kingdom is first because understanding what the kingdom is will make a difference in seeing how and where it fits into the plan of God as revealed in the Bible. At the end of this paper I will address some additional issues I saw in the internet article.
The Biblical kingdom is neither physical nor spiritual. By examining the definition of the word kingdom and then how it is used in the Bible, we see that the kingdom is all about royal power, kingship, dominion, and the authority to rule. Sometimes the Bible will mention a location of the kingdom rule or will speak of a person who is to rule this kingdom. When this is done, nothing has changed in terms of what the kingdom is. The only difference is that now the Bible specifically refers to a location where the royal power, kingship, dominion, and authoritarian rule is taking place or to a specific person who is ruling. For example: In the gospel of Matthew, the kingdom is quite often called the “kingdom of heaven.” When it does, Matthew attaches a location that helps define this royal power, kingship, dominion and rule. It is the same kingdom rule that presently is in heaven and in heaven that kingdom is the very rule of God.
At times the gospels of Mark and Luke will tell the same story that Matthew refers to as the kingdom of heaven but they will refer to it as the kingdom of God. When this occurs, the Bible is still specifically referring to the royal power, kingship, dominion, and authoritarian rule, as the kingdom rule of God. So whether the Bible refers to it as the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God, nothing changes concerning the nature of the royal power, kingship, dominion, or authoritarian rule.
A number of times in the New Testament the kingdom is connected to Jesus as in Colossians 1:13, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” When you understand what the kingdom is, then it is easy to see that God is not transferring us to a location or a place in time. He is transferring us to the royal power, kingship, dominion and authoritarian rule of Jesus. It is quite interesting to note that in this Colossians passage, when God transfers someone to the kingdom rule of Jesus this action is a major component of salvation.
Sometimes the Bible links the same royal power, kingship, dominion and authoritarian rule to Jesus and to God at the same time as it does in Ephesians 5:5, “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Again, nothing has changed concerning the nature of the kingdom. It is still speaking of royal power, kingship, dominion, and authoritarian rule. But this time it states that Jesus and God have the same kingdom rule, therefore making Jesus' royal power, kingship and authority equal to God.
In Hebrews 1:8 again Jesus is called God and declared the one who will be ruling the kingdom, “But of the Son He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.” Here Jesus is called God by His Father and once again declared to be the royal power, the king, the dominion, and the authoritarian ruler of the kingdom. What is so interesting concerning this passage is that this is a direct quote of Psalm 45:6 which means Jesus is the ruling king of the Old Testament’s prophesied kingdom.
There are numerous other passages in both the Old and New Testaments that declare the kingdom to be the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the Messiah, or the kingdom of Jesus. The right question is not whether the kingdom is spiritual or physical. The Bible is extremely clear about what the kingdom is. The right question that needs to be addressed is what is my relationship to the king’s royal power, dominion and authoritarian rule? Am I one of the “blessed” ones of the Kings Father who will be inheriting the kingdom? For it is only these “blessed” ones who will enjoy the world of the kingdom as it says in Matthew 25:34, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” The Greek word translated “blessed” in this passage means, consecrated, or favored by God.
The main point I want to bring out from this passage concerning the kingdom is that Jesus said the kingdom was “prepared” at the foundation of the world. It is never referred to as a created thing. God never speaks of the kingdom in that way as He does all other things. He refers to it as being “prepared” for those who would one day inherit it. The Greek word “prepared” was taken from the oriental custom of sending out a group of men to make the road ready that the king would soon be traveling on so nothing would prevent him from arriving at his destination. This is a very important concept in God’s plan. We see that the kingdom was the journeys end, right from the foundation of the world. It was not created as the rest of the universe is said to be. The roadway to the kingdom destination was simply “made ready” so that the favored ones of God will be able to inherit it exactly as planned. This preparation is seen in everything God predestined to occur, and that includes what Jesus would do to make the roadway to the kingdom possible.
When you think of the kingdom as a physical location or only a spiritual kingdom then this doesn’t make sense because the preparations referred to here are both physical and spiritual in nature. They are such things as the Jewish Nation, the Tabernacle, the Law, the Prophets, the Roman Empire, the crucifixion of Jesus and the Bible. All of these were some of the "preparations" God designed and put in place to help take us to the future kingdom. When you recognize the kingdom as the royal power of the king, the dominion of the king and the authority of the king’s rule then this makes perfect sense. The location is not the issue because the kingdom rule of God is part of the divine nature of Almighty God. As it says in Matthew 25:34 the kingdom preexisted the physical world of the universe. When God created all things—His powerful, authoritative kingdom rule spoke, and nothing became something because even nothing can resist the Almighty’s kingdom rule.
Even though the kingdom is an easy concept to understand when looked at Biblically, it is still very difficult to comprehend in our minds because there is an adversary who will stop at nothing to remove the truth of the kingdom from our understanding. Look what Jesus said about this in Matthew 13:19, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom the seed was sown beside the road.” This is the parable of the sower and the seed taught by Jesus. Normally, whenever someone is talking about this passage the concept of the kingdom is not even mentioned. The message or seeds of the sower is simply taught as the seeds of the gospel. But Jesus is very clear concerning what the seeds are—they are the message of the kingdom. And we know the kingdom is all about the rule of the King. Make sure that you catch what Jesus said here. The kingdom message is something that satan will do all he can to snatch this truth away from anyone who does not understand it. The kingdom is the one thing that satan lives in fear of—the powerful, authoritarian, dominating rule of Jesus, the king. Satan is quite content with letting us debate the spiritual and physical kingdom ad nauseam, but he cannot not stand for the truth of the real kingdom to be known.
This is exactly why the kingdom has disappeared from the gospel message that is preached today. Satan obviously is not snatching away the gospel that we preach—the gospel of repeating the sinner’s prayer. He is not afraid of that gospel. But the gospel that Jesus said we are to take to the world is the gospel of the kingdom—the good news of the powerful, authoritarian, dominating rule of king Jesus as we see in Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Do you see why satan is so afraid of the gospel of the kingdom? According to Jesus, it is only when the gospel of the kingdom is preached throughout the whole world that the end will come. And when the end comes, so will come the end of satan. Go find someone preaching the gospel and sit back and see if you ever hear anything about the importance of the kingdom as it relates to salvation and the plan of God. It is almost certain that nothing about the kingdom rule of Christ and how we must surrender to His rule will ever be mentioned.
The truth of the kingdom is even the message that Jesus said He was sent to preach. “When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, ‘I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.’” (Luke 4:43) Read through the gospels and you are seeing Jesus preach about the kingdom, His royal power, His authority, His dominion, and His rule. He not only taught it, He demonstrated it everywhere He went. He healed every type of disease known to man, He cast out singular demons and legions of demons, He told a powerful storm to stop, He raised people who were physically dead, He commanded His own powerful physical life to die with just His words and brought it back to life three days later just as He said He would, He brought a fish to the surface of a lake with a coin in its mouth so taxes could be paid. The list could go on and on of the the things Jesus did to demonstrate His kingdom rule and these demonstrations were real and physical.
If anything in the Bible is debated it should be the kingdom message that Jesus preached. Not whether the kingdom is physical or spiritual. What needs to be asked and understood is, how does the kingdom of God, or of heaven, or of Jesus apply to us today? What does the gospel of the kingdom look like if someone were to preach it? How does God want us to respond to the gospel of the kingdom? How are the issues of life addressed by the kingdom? And the two most important questions that must be individually asked by every human concerning the kingdom are; Do I believe that Jesus is the physical manifestation of the kingdom power and authority of Almighty God? And will I surrender to the powerful, authoritarian, dominating rule of Jesus? This is the real issue we must address concerning the kingdom.
There is no doubt that the kingdom was the core of everything Jesus talked about yet the kingdom has been tossed aside by many pastors and teachers today as something only for Israel. That is clearly the result of the work of satan. Look at what one of the greatest evangelists the world has ever seen said about his preaching. Of course, I am referring to the Apostle Paul: “When they had set a date for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.” (Acts 28:23)
This is at the end of Paul’s life when he is under house arrest in Rome. He said he preached to all those willing to listen to him about Jesus and the kingdom of God. This coincides exactly with what Paul said he preached to the Ephesians: “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.” (Acts 20:25) To add just a little more emphasis on the fact that he preached about the kingdom is Paul then said in the next verse: “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.” (Acts 20:26) Why did Paul say he was innocent of the blood of all men? Because he had preached about the kingdom to all men.
Once again, the kingdom is at the core of the preaching that went on in the New Testament to both the Jews and the Gentiles. What Paul said about his preaching of the kingdom in the Acts 28:23 passage needs to be looked at again. He said he preached about the kingdom and about Jesus using the Law and the Prophets. Paul brings together the Old Testaments kingdom concepts and the prophetic references concerning Jesus and merges them into his preaching of the gospel. The Apostle Paul saw the kingdom as a New Testament reality. He saw it as true and as real as Jesus. He understood it was not about a location or only a spiritual concept. The gospel of the kingdom he preached was as tangible and real as the crucifixion of Jesus, the Son of God.
The Bible teaches that the powerful, authoritarian, and dominating rule of God must be surrendered to wherever it rules. When Adam and Eve were first created in the “image of God” and placed in the garden of Eden, the first thing the Bible says God did with them was He “blessed” them. (Genesis 1:28) The Hebrew word translated “blessed” means, "to bow down in reverence and honor as you would to a sovereign king." The best way to describe this bowing down is with the words “as you wish my lord and master.” Adam and Eve were created and placed in a surrendered relationship to God. And they were allowed to do this by choice. This is what freewill is all about. Will God's creation willingly surrender to His kingdom rule or will they choose to do what they want to do? Our choices do not alter the kingdom of God, but they will greatly alter the outcome of our lives, both now on earth and in the future after we physically die. The kingdom of God will always be and there is nothing we ever think about it or say about it that will ever change it.
What we learn concerning the kingdom rule of God from Adam and Eve being "blessed" is that according to God, man was never meant to be an independent king over his own domain. He was meant to rule over the world as an indentured servant to the royal king of the created domain—the one and only God. This is the proper response to the kingdom rule of the Almighty.
When God appeared to Abraham and gave him the prophecy that the future Messiah would come from his seed, God also revealed what Abraham’s seed would accomplish, “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3c) The Hebrew word translated “blessed” here is the same word God used when He “blessed” Adam and Eve. What we learn is that Jesus was sent to earth to restore God’s created people to once again be in a surrendered relationship to the powerful, authoritarian, dominating kingdom rule of God. A relationship that is bowed down and says in its heart, “as you wish my lord and king.” This was the proper response to the kingdom rule of God at the beginning of creation, it is the proper response to the physical manifestation of the kingdom in the person of Jesus and it will be the proper response to the reign of Jesus during the very real and physical millennial kingdom rule on earth.
Yes, the kingdom is infinitely real. It is not limited to the physical or the spiritual for it reigns over everything. Let’s take a look at the kingdom and see it “engaged” on earth as it is in heaven. The first passage I would like to look at is Mark 1:14, 15. “Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.’” There is much to be learned here about the kingdom but the main thing I want to address is that Jesus said the kingdom of God is “close at hand” meaning it is close enough to touch. There was only one thing close enough to Jesus that would qualify as the powerful, authoritarian, dominating rule of the kingdom of God and this would be, Jesus Himself, which is exactly what the Bible teaches in many other passages in the gospels.
Let’s look at another. This one is found in Luke 11:20, “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Here we see the powerful, authoritarian, dominating rule of the king casting out demons with nothing more than the finger of God. And once again we see that it is Jesus who is the physical manifestation of the kingdom of God—overruling the demonic world.
In Matthew 9:35 we see Jesus going throughout the cities and villages proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of sickness. This was a consistent pattern in the life of Jesus; He preached the gospel of the kingdom everywhere He went and He performed miracle after miracle after miracle as He did. Why did He perform so many miracles? To substantiate that the powerful, authoritarian, dominating rule of God was inside of Him. It is one thing to say that the kingdom is close enough to touch but it is an entirely different thing to prove it. And that is what Jesus did everywhere He went. You cannot read the gospels and follow Christ from city to city without seeing the kingdom of God on earth in the form of Jesus.
One of my favorite passages showing Jesus’ kingdom authority is Matthew 9: 2-8. “And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.’ And some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This fellow blasphemes.’ And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, ‘Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and walk? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—then He said to the paralytic, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And he got up and went home. But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”
Everything Jesus did was set in motion back at the foundation of the world when the road to the kingdom was prepared so that nothing would prevent God’s favored ones from inheriting the kingdom. The miracles of Jesus were part of God’s glorious plan to demonstrate and prove what the kingdom is. That Jesus is the physical manifestation of heavens powerful, authoritarian, dominating, kingdom rule of Almighty God. This is absolutely crucial to understand for it declares the deity of Jesus and the power of His gospel message—the good news of the kingdom of God. Jesus is not just a good man or someone to be admired because He is so loving. He is the physical manifestation of the greatest power in the universe and this powerful, authoritarian, dominating kingdom rule of God willingly sacrificed Himself to atone for the sins of the human race. A good and righteous and loving man could never solve the issues of mankind’s rebellion toward God, but the physical manifestation of the kingdom’s powerful, authoritarian, dominating, rule has no limitations. He can destroy the works of the devil. He can establish His rule on earth just as it is in heaven. He can declare a person righteous or damned and who can disagree? He can make someone a member of His family and who can prevent Him? He can fulfill every promise made in the Old Testament and nothing can stop Him. Jesus is the powerful, authoritarian, dominating, king and nothing is too difficult for Him! He is the good news of the kingdom and it was Jesus who brought the kingdom rule of heaven to earth where it was close enough to touch and be observed interacting in our world. And what we saw was a king like no other. The Almighty kingdom rule of God on earth. It happened once before—it will happen again when the good news of His rule is preached throughout the whole world and Jesus returns to fulfill the Old Testament promises concerning the millennial, kingdom reign on earth.
I would like to close with just a few comments brought up in the posted article that led to my writing this paper. The first is the comment by a PhD scholar who said, “The New Testament spiritualizes the Old Testament.” I think this is an absurd statement, PhD or not. The kingdom of God was seen in the actions of Jesus everywhere He went. There was nothing “spiritual” about them. Jesus had a real human body but at the same time was the very real God, Yahweh in flesh. The responses from those who followed Jesus and witnessed the miracles He performed were very real. They were not “spiritual” responses. They were as human as it gets. The real issue behind a comment such as this is the PhDs lack of faith in the Biblical account. It would be so much more honest if he would just say he did not believe in a literal New Testament than to try and mask his lack of faith through unjustifiable theological theories.
Another absurd statement this PhD scholar makes is when he said, “that by the time of the New Testament era, things had changed. That some Jewish sects had already begun to see the Hebrew Scriptures in spiritualized terms.” How foolish it is for anyone to base their opinion of truth concerning the Old Testament Scriptures on the Jews at the time of Christ. Jesus said this about the very people this PhD is referring to:
“THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.” (Matthew 13:15)
This was not the first time the nation of Israel had lost their way concerning the Bible and God's plan. These words of Jesus are a quote from Isaiah 6:10 written sometime during the 8th century BC. Though not all Jews were blind to the ways of God at the time of Christ, the majority of them could not see straight concerning the kingdom. This is why Jesus and the disciples used the word “repent” so often when preaching the gospel of the kingdom. The word repent means, “to change.” What needs to change is determined by the context surrounding this word. Often when Jesus preached He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” What He referred to that needed to change was how the Jewish listeners thought about the kingdom of God—He was the powerful, authoritarian, dominating rule of God and it was here on earth and close enough to touch.
Just as Solomon said, “there is nothing new under the sun,” we are no different today then the Jews at the time of Christ. We need to change the way we think concerning Jesus and the kingdom of God. Do we really believe He is the physical manifestation of the kingdom rule of God and are we willing to surrender to His kingdom rule? This is the gospel challenge to all of us.
I would have to agree with the author of the article and not the PhD scholar that there will be a literal physical fulfillment of the promised millennial reign of the Messiah (the kingdom) on this earth, and the Jews will be there as promised. But this is not to be confused with the eternal kingdom that will take place in the new heavens and earth that God creates after the millennial reign of Jesus on earth as referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, “Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”
As the Bible teaches here in this passage and many others, all the enemies of Jesus such as satan, death and anyone who does not willingly surrender to Jesus’s rule will be put under His feet and abolished. Until then the powerful, authoritarian, dominating, kingdom rule of God allows opposition to His rule to exist here on earth. Praise be to God that one very real day, the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ will finally abolish all those who have not surrendered to His kingdom rule leaving only the "favored ones" of the Kings Father. Those who have willingly bowed their heart to their Savior and King, the physical manifestation of the very real kingdom of God.