What exactly is the kingdom of God anyway?
I fear that I may be opening a can of worms with this question :-)
Ever since the post on the church having the wrong priority (https://housechurch.org/page/view-discussion?id=117), I have been doing a lot of thinking and praying on the kingdom of God. It seems that Mr. Perks has a point in that Matt 6:33 tells us that pursuit the kingdom of God comes first in our Christian life. After all, it's there in both the verse and in the context. Yet I can't say that I have a good handle on the phrase "kingdom of God" so I decide that a little research is necessary. This can't be all *that* difficult, can it?
So I start with my trusty friend Google. "What is the kingdom of God?", I ask, half expecting kingdomofgod.com to appear in the first search result with the perfect answer to my query. Instead I get a random collection of pages with different interpretations of the phrase. I see comments like "scholars can't agree on what it is" and "Jesus never defined the kingdom in so many words". Uh oh, looks like this is fast becoming a dead end path. Well, it's Google anyway, so what did I _really_ expect?
Moving on, I crack open my Young's Literal Translation of the Bible to see what it has to say. I find this translation good because it doesn't change passive to active tense and it just lets God's Word speak for itself. So where to start? How about Matt 6:33 - "Seek ye first the kingom of God". So, I look up the chapter and verse and it says this...
but seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you
Wait a minute, reign of God? I thought that it was the Kingdom of God, with a capital K! So I check Mark 1:15. Sure enough, I once again see "reign". Back to the Lord's prayer in Matt 6 and all I see is "reign". This can't be right. Reign is a verb, not a noun like "kingdom", yes?
So then I check to see what Daniel Webster has to say about the word "reign". He reminds me that it's both a noun and a verb. It's a verb as in, "King Henry VIII reigned over England from 1509 until 1547". And a noun as in "The reign of King Henry VIII". Is it possiblle that the "reign of God" is both? The noun form implies both a location and a timeline. The timeline is easy since God is sovereign forever. But what about location? Then I remember what Jesus said about the kingdom of God being "within you" (Luke 17:20-21, ESV)...
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
Now my journey is even more confused, so I turn to my Interlinear Bible (https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/6-33.htm) for help. It translates the word "basileian" in Matt 6:33 as "kingdom". Yet when I look it up online (https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/basileia.html) then I see this...
NAS Word Usage - Total: 163
1. royal power, kingship, dominion, rule
1. not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom
2. of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah
3. of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah's kingdom
2. a kingdom, the territory subject to the rule of a king
3. used in the N.T. to refer to the reign of the Messiah
To say that this is less than helpful is an understatement. Instead of clarifying the word usage, it confirms the dual nature of the noun and verb that I am seeking to clarify
At this point I feel that I could use the collective wisdom of this group. I'm feeling that the word "reign" is a much better choice for translation because it clearly states God's power over His dominion rather than it being implied in the word "kingdom". I think that it also helps keep us humble when talking about that which God owns. While one might presume from Luke 17:20-21 that we, the body of Christ, are the kingdom, the same could not be said about God's reign. God's reign acts within us, but we are not His reign. And finally, going back to Matt 6:33, to "seek first the reign of God and His righteousness" seems to make the reign and the righteousness one single thought rather than a separate kindom and the righteousness within it
Thoughts?
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I have been studying this and trying to walk it out for many years. Will try to post later this week. I self published a book called the Centurion Way with some basics on the gospel of the kingdom of God. Not trying to make $$ here really but lot of food for thought in what I share there. Blessings
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To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3
This passage was one I read through a number of times before finally noticing the kingdom of God part. The fact that Jesus spent His final 40 days on earth with His disciples focused on the kingdom should tell you just how significant this is. If you read through the gospels you will also see that the good news of the kingdom of God was His central theme that He preached and taught.
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 4:43Paul continued the theme.
“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
There is a lot more concerning the kingdom but wanted to put these few scriptures out there as food for thought.
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Ed, you said, "The fact that Jesus spent His final 40 days on earth with His disciples focused on the kingdom should tell you just how significant this is." That is a very profound insight. Thanks so much for sharing.
As I see more and more how God's kingdom (or reign) is central to Jesus' teaching, it makes me think how much I should go back and reread the entire New Testament with this in mind. Or even better, the entire Bible. Usually I read Scripture with an eye toward salvation, knowing that salvation brings about God's purpose for His people. But I have never really given any thought about reading Scripture from the viewpoint of God's reign. Every comment here reinforces the need for me to build on top of what I already know about God's sovereign grace and to begin thinking about how God's reign comes to fruition. Thank you all!
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Todd it is exciting that you are seeking His kingdom! About 20 years ago when He opened my eyes about the kingdom I essentially did what you are thinking about; I reread the Bible mostly New Testament really with a view to the kingdom as a central theme. Really will change your perspective!
I recently started a blog discussing the kingdom if you are interested at
https://edwsny1.dreamhosters.com/contact-us/
if you find value in what I write i welcome an ongoing conversation about this and you are free to contact me at the email on the site. God bless! Ed
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It’s kind of funny the thoughts that race through your head as you read posts like this. On one hand the first though that comes racing through is, “I can’t believe after 2000 years were still debating things like this!” That thought can be rather harsh I know, but sometimes its things like this that I wrestle with. (Just being honest here)
But the reality is our faith in God is a personal thing and every part of truth must seek deeply into our soul to sprout roots.
So it is that in every generation, each person needs to ask these kind of question like “What is the Kingdom of God?” Because after that come the next question, “What is my role in it?”
You can not accurately answer the second with out answering the first. For some of us it takes a life time to figure out how join in the adventure Jesus has before us. But, then God some figure it out quicker.
I love Jesus way of explaining the Kingdom, parables. We who want everything laid out line by line with every thing perfect must wrestle with the God of Heaven and Earth who gives and answer so simple a Child can understand it. But we adults must wrestle with it.
So… are we make things more complicated than it needs to be? Or are we finding hidden Gold that the Lord has buried for us to teach others?
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Hi Robert - I'm not sure what you read that made you think that this was supposed to be a debate, but since that's how you read it then I am sorry to have caused you any discomfort. My sole goal was, and still remains, to clarify Scripture. After nearly 60 years of not seeing a central theme of the New Testament, and Scripture in general, I genuinely hope that you'll afford me the opportunity to dig deeper into what I've been missing all of these years
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Sorry Todd, by your response the confusion may be on my end and not yours. I was attempting (and apparently failed) to add a tongue, and cheek bit of thinking to the question.
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Good conversation here. I also inquire, how have we not seen this after all this time? And how do I proceed?
Robert, I recall you asking about "what should I do"? I'm certain most of the others here ask the same, to themselves and in prayer to God. It's not just the what but the where. Where do I belong and where should I be?
God's spirit will open door of service, if we will follow. There are needs on every hand. God has given us about 60 one-another verses but actually there are hundreds of these where the one-another aspect is assumed..
Something about eldering which I have never mentioned is that it is a comparative, relative term. So, if a thirty year old is with a group of teens or twenty-somethings, he is the older one or natural shepherd. So, I would challenge you to consider yourself as such.
(Of course, there may well be younger ones in any group whose devotion and knowledge exceeds the older ones. That's fine.)
Moving from outward activity to inward awareness, we recall the words of Jesus: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
If we truly see our own spiritual poverty - only then will we look to our Saviour in order to be filled again, find rest for our souls, and rejoice that his Kingdom is ours.
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Todd, thanks for starting this topic. That is an interesting point about the verb or the noun which I had not thought of before. Concerning your question, it is hard to find a place for me to start. One thing I do know, is that when I found it was central to the message of Jesus, I began a life-long fascination with the idea of the Kingdom of God.
Something rises up inside of me that makes me know that it is a wonderful and present reality. Pail said it was "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." Many years ago I too looked up Young's Literal Translation and found the word "reign."
John 3:3:
Jesus answered and said to him, 'Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one may not be born from above, he is not able to see the reign of God;'
This could go along with what Jesus said about the pure in heart being able to see God. It dawned on me back then that I was more able to see God, that is His Hand on my life and that of others than before. When I more fully surrendered my life to Him I began to see His Reign everywhere!
