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Table of Contents EBD: Kingdom of God
BAKER: Kingdom of God
BRIDGEWAY: KINGDOM OF GOD

Kingdom Of God

Kingdom of God [ebd]

(Matt. 6:33; Mark 1:14, 15; Luke 4:43) = "kingdom of Christ" (Matt. 13:41; 20:21) = "kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph. 5:5) = "kingdom of David" (Mark 11:10) = "the kingdom" (Matt. 8:12; 13:19) = "kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 13:41), all denote the same thing under different aspects, viz.: (1) Christ's mediatorial authority, or his rule on the earth; (2) the blessings and advantages of all kinds that flow from this rule; (3) the subjects of this kingdom taken collectively, or the Church.

Kingdom of God [baker]

The heart of Jesus' teachings centers around the theme of the kingdom of God. This expression is found in sixty-one separate sayings in the Synoptic Gospels. Counting parallels to these passages, the expression occurs over eighty-five times. It also occurs twice in John (3:3, 5). It is found in such key places as the preaching of John the Baptist, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matt 3:2); Jesus' earliest announcement, "The time has come… The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15; cf. Matt 4:17; Luke 4:42-43); the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, "your kingdom come" (Matt 6:10); in the Beatitudes, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:3,10); at the Last Supper, "I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God" (Mark 14:25); and in many of Jesus' parables (Matt 13:24, 44, 45, 47; Mark 4:26, 30; Luke 19:11).

It was once popular in certain circles to argue that the expressions "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" referred to two different realities. It is now clear, however, that they are synonyms. This is evident for several reasons. For one, the two expressions are used in the same sayings of Jesus, but where Matthew uses "kingdom of heaven, " Mark or Luke or both use "kingdom of God." Second, Matthew himself uses these two expressions interchangeably in 19:23-24, "it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven … for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Finally, we know that "heaven" was frequently used as a circumlocution for "God" by devout Jews. Due to respect for the third commandment ("You shall not misuse the name of the Lordyour God" [Exod 20:7]), pious Jews used various circumlocutions for the sacred name of God (YHWH) in order to avoid the danger of breaking this commandment. One such circumlocution was the term "heaven." This is seen in the expression "kingdom of heaven" but also in such passages as Luke 15:18, 21 ("Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you") and Mark 11:30.

Various Interpretations Despite the centrality of this expression in Jesus' teachings, there has been a great deal of debate over the years as to exactly what Jesus meant by it. One reason for this is that neither Jesus nor the Evangelists ever defined exactly what they meant by this expression. They simply assumed that their hearers/ readers would understand.

The Political Kingdom. According to this view Jesus sought to establish a Davidic-like kingdom in Jerusalem. This kingdom was political in nature and sought to free Israel from the Romans. Jesus was in essence a political revolutionary who sought to arm his disciples (Luke 22:35-38), entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as a king (Mark 11:11), challenged the political establishment by cleansing the temple (Mark 11:15-18), urged people to rebel by not paying their taxes (Mark 12:13-17; is reread to teach the opposite of its present meaning ), enlisted zealots as disciples (Mark 3:18), used the taking up of the cross (which was a symbol of zealot sacrifice for enlisting disciples Mark 8:34), and was crucified as a political rebel (Mark 15:26) between two other rebels (Mark 15:27).

This interpretation has found few supporters over the years, but it is continually raised. It is an impossible view, however, for the evidence against it is overwhelming. The presence of a tax collector among the disciples is impossible to explain if Jesus were a revolutionary, for tax collectors were seen as collaborators with the Romans and hated by zealots. Such teachings as Matthew 5:9 ("Blessed are the peacemakers"); 38-42 ("If someone [a Roman soldier] forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles"); 43-47 ("Love your enemies"); Matthew 26:52 ("all who draw the sword will die by the sword"); Mark 12:13-17 ("Give to Caesar what is Caesar's") simply do not permit such an interpretation. To claim that all such sayings in the Gospels are inauthentic or to reconstruct their supposed original form in a radical way is to manipulate the evidence to sustain a thesis, rather than to allow the evidence to determine the thesis.

The "Liberal" or Spiritual Kingdom. During the height of theological liberalism the kingdom of God was understood as God's rule in the human heart. One of the favorite passages used to support this was Luke 17:20-21, "the kingdom of God is within you." Any eschatological thoughts associated with this expression were seen as unrefined, primitive, Jewish apocalyptic thinking that Jesus never outgrew and that was only the "husk" and not the "kernel" of his teachings. Or they were interpreted as symbols of the inner rule of God in the heart. The kingdom of God was God's spiritual reign in the life of the believer that resulted in an inner moral ethic. This ethic focused on Jesus' teachings concerning the universal Fatherhood of God, the infinite value of the human soul, and the love commandment.

Liberal theology, which was built upon a belief in continual evolutionary progress and the ultimate goodness of humanity, was dealt a mortal blow with the coming of World War I, and the subsequent years have done nothing to revive its naive optimism in humanity. This, along with the rediscovery of the eschatological element in the teachings of Jesus, brought about the demise of this interpretation. Like the liberal interpretation of the nineteenth century, modern attempts to eliminate the eschatological dimensions of Jesus' teachings by seeing them as symbols to which the present reader gives his or her own meaning, are also impossible to accept. One simply cannot eliminate the eschatological dimension of Jesus' teachings. The biblical evidence will not permit it.

The "Consistent" or Future Kingdom. At the turn of the nineteenth century the eschatological dimension of Jesus' teachings was rediscovered. It became evident that Jesus was not a nineteenth-century liberal but a first-century Jew. As a result it was clear that Jesus must have thought to a great extent like a first-century Jew. Since the kingdom of God was seen by most Jews in Jesus' day as a future, supernatural kingdom that would bring history to a close, it was logical to think that Jesus thought similarly. Jesus' sayings concerning the kingdom of God would have been understood by his audience as referring to such a kingdom, and since Jesus made no radical attempt to correct such thinking, we must understand his teachings on the kingdom of God as eschatological.

According to this view Jesus taught that the kingdom of God, which would bring history to its end, was future. Yet this event lay not in the far distant future. On the contrary, it was very near. It had not yet arrived, but it was to appear momentarily. Signs and powers of the kingdom were already at work, and prefigurements of its glory were already present. As a result Jesus taught along with announcement of the kingdom of God's nearness an "interim ethic" for this brief in-between period of history. Soon the Son of Man would come, the final judgment would take place, and world history as we know it would cease. During this in-between period believers were to live a heroic ethic. They were to avoid divorce, refrain from marriage, love their enemies, turn the other cheek, not retaliate, give to whoever had a need.

It is clear that this interpretation takes seriously the future dimension of Jesus' sayings concerning the kingdom of God. On the other hand, it ignored another kind of saying found in the Gospels, which involves the announcement that the kingdom has already in some way come. These sayings involving the arrival of the kingdom of God were usually seen as inauthentic and later creations of the church by advocates of this view.

The "Realized" or Present Kingdom. In response to the former view, which arose in Germany, there arose in England an opposing view. According to this view Jesus did announce the coming of the awaited kingdom. However, he did not announce that it was coming in the near future. On the contrary, he announced that it had already arrived. Now in Jesus' ministry the kingdom of God had already come. There was therefore no need to look for something in the future. The Son of Man had already come, and he had brought with him the kingdom. Nothing is still awaited. In its entirety the kingdom of God was realized in the coming of Jesus.

This view, like the "consistent" view, has the benefit of taking seriously certain biblical data. There is no doubt, as we shall see, that there are in the Gospels sayings of Jesus that announce that the kingdom has come. They do not announce simply that it is near. They announce that it is here. It is evident that these last two views, unless modified in some way, contradict one another. Yet both offer convincing biblical evidence in support of their views. (This cannot be said of the first two views.) Like the "consistent" view, this view also tends to see the biblical data that contradicted it as being inauthentic. Only in this instance it was the sayings that spoke of the kingdom of God being future that were inauthentic.

The Biblical Evidence It is evident that there is biblical evidence to support both the "consistent" and "realized" views. In certain passages, for example, it is clear that the kingdom of God is future. In the Lord's prayer we pray "Your kingdom come" (Luke 11:2), and the kingdom must as a result be future. Jesus' saying that "Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord, ' will enter the kingdom of God" must also refer to a future event, for he continues "Many will say to me on that day" (Matt 7:21-23). Jesus' institution of the Last Supper also looks forward to "that day when I [Jesus] drink it anew in the kingdom of God" (Mark 14:25). Other passages associate the coming of the kingdom of God with the final judgment (Matt 5:19-20; 8:11-12; 25:31-46; Luke 13:22-30). It cannot be denied therefore that there are numerous passages in the Gospels that indicate that Jesus understood the kingdom of God to be still future.

In other passages, however, it is equally clear that the kingdom of God is already present. Jesus told his hearers "if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you" (Luke 11:20; cf. Matt 12:28). In four of the other instances where the same verb "has come" (ephthasen) is used in the New Testament it clearly means "has arrived, " is "now present" (Rom 9:31; 2 Col 10:14; Php 3:16; 1 Thess 2:16). In the other instance where it is future, however, the tense is future (phthasomen, 1 Thess 4:15). Elsewhere Jesus declared that his coming marked the end of the old era when he said "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached" (Luke 16:16). Here two distinct periods of history are distinguished. The former is referred to as the period of the Law and the prophets. The second is the period of the kingdom of God. John the Baptist is seen as a bridge who both brings the "old" to its conclusion and announces the breaking in of the "new." This "new" thing, which cannot be mixed with the old (Mr 2:21-22), which gathers the outcasts (Matt 11:4-6) and the lost tribes of Israel (Mark 3:13-19; Matt 19:28), which manifests signs and marvels (Matt 13:16-17), which inaugurates a new covenant (1 Cor 11:25), is nothing other than the arrival of the kingdom of God. Jesus also announced that now already the long-awaited messianic banquet had begun (Luke 14:15-24). The kingdom of God was now in their presence (Luke 17:20-21 — "among" is a better translation than "within" ).

How should one deal with this apparently contradictory data? Should we decide the issue by majority vote? If so, the "future" interpretation would win over the "present" one, because there are more examples in its support in the Gospels. Yet rather than claim that one group of these sayings is "authentic" whereas the other is not, we should first analyze carefully exactly what the word "kingdom" means. Perhaps this will provide the key for understanding what Jesus meant by the "kingdom of God." How is the term "kingdom" to be understood? Should it be understood statically as denoting a realm or place? If this is correct and "kingdom" refers to a territory or piece of real estate, then it is evident that the kingdom of God cannot have arrived. There has been no geographical or cosmic changes that have taken place in the coming of Jesus. The planet remains today essentially as it was in the time of Christ. No new territory exists. No place on this planet can be designated "the kingdom of God." On the other hand, should we understand the term dynamically as referring to the rule or reign of a king?

Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament the term "kingdom" (malkut [tWk.l;m] and [ÅAlexandreuv"] basileia [basileiva]) is understood as dynamic in nature and refers primarily to the rule or reign of a king. It is seldom used in a static sense to refer to a territory. As a result, in the vast majority of instances it would be better to translate the expression "kingdom of God" as the "rule of God." That Jesus understood it this way is evident from such passages as Luke 19:12 ("A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king, " literally "to receive a kingdom [basileia]"; cf. also v. 15); Matthew 6:33 ("seek first his kingdom"); and Mark 10:15 ("receive the kingdom of God like a little child").

Understood as the "reign of God" it is possible for Jesus to announce that in fulfillment of the Old Testament promises the reign of God has arrived. In Jesus' coming Satan has been defeated (Luke 10:18; 11:20-22), the outcasts of Israel are being gathered as predicted (Mark 2:15-16; Luke 14:15-24), the Old Testament promises are fulfilled (Luke 10:23-24), the resurrection of the dead has begun (1 Cor 15:20), a new covenant has been inaugurated (1 Cor 11:25), the promised Spirit has come as the prophets foretold (Mark 1:8). Indeed the kingdom is "already now" realized in history.

However, the consummation of the "already now" still lies in the future. The coming of the Son of Man, the final resurrection, faith turning to sight, are "not yet." The kingdom of God is both now and not yet. Thus the kingdom of God is "realized" and present in one sense, and yet "consistent" and future in another. This is not a contradiction, but simply the nature of the kingdom. The kingdom has come in fulfillment of the Old Testament promises. A new covenant has been established. But its final manifestation and consummation lie in the future. Until then we are to be good and faithful servants (Luke 19:11-27).

Implications If the kingdom is both already now and not yet, the believer must be on guard against the danger of emphasizing one aspect of the kingdom at the expense of the other. A one-sided emphasis on the "already now, " which emphasizes miracles, healing, victory over sin, and gifts God has given his church, and ignores the "not yet" may lead to an optimistic triumphalism that will result in disillusionment. Jesus' teachings concerning the tribulation(s) that lay ahead (Mark 13; Matt. 24-25; Luke 21) warn against such optimism. The symbol of discipleship Jesus gave to his disciples is that of bearing a cross! The crown awaits the consummation. The enjoyment of the firstfruits of the kingdom must be tempered by the fact that we still live by faith and not sight. We still long for the perishable to become clothed with the imperishable, the mortal with immortality (1 Cor 15:53). In the meantime we are called to endure to the end.

On the other hand, a one-sided emphasis on the not yet may lead to defeatism and despair in this life and a neglect of the joy and victory over sin and death in the Spirit's having already come. The "gates of Hades" (Matt 16:18) shall not overcome the church! Even in this life because the kingdom has come, we can be "transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory" (2 Cor 3:18). The now and the not yet must be held in tension. Believers can rejoice in having passed from death into life and in the abiding presence of the Spirit of God. But the victories in the present life, are also accompanied with all too many defeats.

Believers are thus encouraged both by the victories of the already now and the defeats of the not yet. The former having provided a taste of the glory which is to be revealed (1 Peter 5:1) causes us to long all the more for the not yet. Similarly, because of the experience of defeat, sorrow, and in seeing the corruption of the world around us, we also long all the more for the not yet that awaits. Thus Christians continue to look longingly toward the blessed hope (Titus 2:13), when the Son of Man will return and bring the kingdom to its consummation. Having tasted of the firstfruits that are already realized, the believer prays all the more earnestly "your kingdom come" (Matt 6:10) and "Marana tha" (1 Cor 16:22; cf. Rev 22:20).

Robert H. Stein

KINGDOM OF GOD [bridgeway]

Most of the biblical references to the kingdom of God are found in the teachings of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels. The subject of the kingdom of God was central in Jesus’ teaching. Yet nowhere did Jesus say exactly what the kingdom was, and neither did the writers of the New Testament who followed him, even though they too spoke of the kingdom.

Perhaps the reason for this was that people who knew the Old Testament should already have been familiar with the idea of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom was a development of the Old Testament teaching, showing that through him the kingdom found its fullest meaning.

What the kingdom of God is

Throughout the Bible the kingdom of God is the rule of God. It is not a territory over which he reigns, but the rule which he exercises. It is defined not by a geographic location, an era of existence, or the nationality of a people, but by the sovereign rule and authority of God (Exod 15:18; Ps 103:19; 145:10-13).

Jesus likewise understood God’s kingdom as God’s rule rather than as a territory or a people. Those who seek God’s kingdom seek God’s rule in their lives (Matt 6:33); those who receive God’s kingdom receive God’s rule in their lives (Mark 10:15). The prayer for God’s kingdom to come is a prayer that his rule be accepted, so that his will is done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10). The kingdom is a realm in the spiritual, not the physical, sense. Those who enter the kingdom of God enter the realm where they accept God’s rule (Matt 21:31).

The world at present is in a state of rebellion against God’s rule, because it is under the power of Satan (2 Cor 4:4; 1 John 5:19; see WORLD). Therefore, when the kingdom of God came among people in the person of Jesus Christ, the rule of God was demonstrated in the defeat of Satan. As Jesus proclaimed the kingdom, he healed those who were diseased and oppressed by evil spirits, and in so doing he gave evidence of his power over Satan (Matt 4:23-24). His deliverance of people from the bondage of Satan was proof that God’s kingdom (his authority, power, rule) had come among them (Matt 12:28; Mark 1:27; Luke 10:9,17-18).

There is a sense, therefore, in which all people experience the kingdom; for all people experience (or one day will experience) the sovereign authority of God, either in blessing or in judgment (Matt 12:28; Rev 11:15,18; 19:15-16). But the important aspect of the kingdom that the Gospels emphasize is that it came into the world through Jesus. Because John the Baptist announced the coming of the kingdom of Jesus, he brought to a close the pre-kingdom era (Matt 3:2; Luke 16:16). Even the most insignificant person in the new era enjoys blessings that the greatest person of the former era never knew (Matt 11:11).

Note: The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are different names for the same thing. The Bible uses the expressions interchangeably (Matt 19:23-24). Jews liked to show great respect for the name of God; therefore, because they feared that they might use that name irreverently, they often used the word ‘heaven’ instead of ‘God’ (Dan 4:25-26; Luke 15:18; John 3:27). Matthew, who wrote his Gospel for the Jews, usually (but not always) speaks of God’s kingdom as the kingdom of heaven, whereas the other Gospel writers call it the kingdom of God (Matt 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16).

Both present and future

In contrast to the popular Jewish belief that God’s kingdom was a future national and political kingdom to be centred on Israel, Jesus pointed out that God’s kingdom was already present among them. It was present in him (Luke 10:9; 17:20-21).

When people willingly humbled themselves and submitted to the rule of Christ, they immediately entered Christ’s kingdom. And by entering the kingdom they received forgiveness of sins and eternal life (Matt 21:31; Mark 10:14-15; John 3:3). Not only those of Jesus’ time, but people of any era, when they believe in him, immediately enter his kingdom and receive the kingdom’s blessings (Rom 14:17; Col 1:13).

But Jesus spoke also of the kingdom as something belonging to the future (Mark 14:25), whose establishment could take place only after he had suffered and died (Luke 18:31-33; 22:15-16; 24:26; Rev 5:6-12; 11:15). Even for those who were already believers, Jesus spoke of his kingdom as something yet future, which they would enter at his return (Matt 7:21-23; 13:41-43; 25:31-34). For this reason Christians, who are already in the kingdom, also look forward to the day when they will inherit the kingdom (1 Cor 15:50; 2 Peter 1:11).

A person may well ask how the kingdom of God can be something that is present here and now, yet be something that awaits the future. The answer lies in our understanding of the kingdom of God as the sovereign rule of God. Believers enter the kingdom as soon as they believe, but they will experience the full blessings of the kingdom only when Christ returns to punish evil and reign in righteousness (1 Cor 15:24-26; see DAY OF THE LORD; RESURRECTION).

To ‘enter the kingdom of God’ is to ‘have eternal life’ or to ‘be saved’. The Bible uses these expressions interchangeably (Matt 19:16,23-25). Just as believers experience the kingdom of God now and will do so more fully in the future, so they have eternal life now but will experience it in its fulness when Christ returns (John 5:24,29). Likewise they have salvation now, but they will experience the fulness of their salvation at the return of Christ (Eph 2:8; Heb 9:28). Eternal life is the life of the kingdom of God, the life of the age to come; but because the kingdom of God has come among them now, people have eternal life now (Matt 25:34,46; John 3:3,5,15; 5:24).

The mystery of the kingdom

The truth that the teaching of Jesus makes clear is not simply that God’s kingdom is present in the world now, but that people can enter that kingdom now, even though the world is still under the power of Satan. This is a truth that people did not understand till Jesus explained it. He referred to this present aspect of the kingdom as a mystery, or secret (Mark 4:11). By using the word ‘mystery’, Jesus did not mean that he was telling people something to confuse them. He meant rather that he was telling them something that previously God had kept secret but was now making known. (Similar uses of ‘mystery’ occur elsewhere in the New Testament; cf. Rom 16:25-26; Eph 1:9-10; Col 1:26; see MYSTERY.)

In Old Testament times people expected God’s kingdom to come in one mighty act, when God would destroy all earthly kingdoms and establish his rule throughout the world (Dan 2:44-45; Zech 14:9; see SON OF MAN). It seems that, to some extent, John the Baptist also had this idea of the kingdom of God. That may have been why he became worried when Jesus did not immediately set up a world-conquering kingdom (Matt 3:11-12; 11:2-3; cf. Luke 24:21; Acts 1:6).

To reassure John, Jesus pointed out that the miracles of healing he performed were in keeping with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah’s mission. His kingdom had begun (Matt 11:4-6; see MESSIAH; MIRACLES). That kingdom was not yet established in the world-conquering sense that John and others expected, but it had begun to do its work by delivering people from the power of Satan and offering them new life in Jesus Christ (Luke 17:20-21).

God’s kingdom is present now, though not in the form it will have after the great events at the climax of the world’s history. It is hidden rather than open. It is entered voluntarily, not forced upon people with irresistible power. This is the mystery of the kingdom, the previously unknown purpose of God that Jesus revealed.

Parables of the kingdom

Jesus emphasized this mystery of the kingdom in the parables recorded in Matthew 13 (Matt 13:11; see PARABLE). The parable of the seed and the soils shows that because people are free to accept or reject the message of the kingdom, most reject it. But those who accept it experience great spiritual growth in their lives (Matt 13:18-23; cf. 23:13). The parable of the wheat and the weeds teaches that in the present world those who are in God’s kingdom live alongside those who are not; but in the day of judgment, when God’s kingdom will be established openly, believers will be saved and the rest punished (Matt 13:24-30,34-43).

The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast illustrate that although the kingdom may appear to have insignificant beginnings, it will one day have worldwide power and authority (Matt 13:31-33). The parables of the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl illustrate that when people are convinced of the priceless and lasting value of the kingdom of God, they will make any sacrifice to enter it (Matt 13:44-46). Nevertheless, there are both the true and the false among those who claim to be in God’s kingdom. The parable of the fishing net shows that these will be separated in God’s decisive judgment at the close of the age (Matt 13:47-50).

Practical demands of the kingdom

Although people may desire the kingdom of God above all else (Matt 6:33; 13:44-46), they cannot buy their way into it. The right of entry into that kingdom is the gift of God and, as with God’s other gifts, it must be accepted humbly by faith (Mark 10:15; Luke 12:32). The work of God produces eternal life within believers and introduces them into the kingdom of God. It is a work that people themselves cannot do, no matter how hard they try; but God does it for all those who trust in him (Mark 4:26-29; 10:17,23-27; John 3:3,15).

Neither good deeds nor social status can gain people entrance into the kingdom of God. What God demands is repentance – a total change that gives up all self-sufficiency for the sake of following Christ as king (Matt 4:17; 5:20; 19:23; Luke 9:62). It is a decision that requires the full force of a person’s will (Luke 16:16).

All who enter God’s kingdom come under his rule, where he teaches them the qualities of life that he requires of them. Yet they look upon his commands not as laws that they are forced to obey, but as expressions of his will that they find true happiness in doing (Matt 5:3,10; 1 John 5:3-4). They learn that the principles that operate in the kingdom of God are different from those that operate in the kingdoms of the world (Matt 20:20-28; John 18:36). Having come into the enjoyment of the rule of Christ themselves, they then spread the good news of his kingdom throughout the world (Matt 10:7; 24:14; Acts 8:12; 19:8; 28:23,31).

Those who serve the kingdom of God may bring persecution and suffering upon themselves (Matt 10:7,16-22; Acts 14:22; 2 Thess 1:5). God, however, will preserve them through their troubles and bring them into the full enjoyment of his kingdom in the day of its final triumph (Luke 18:29-30; 2 Tim 4:18; 2 Peter 1:11).

The kingdom and the church

God’s purpose was that when the Messiah came, the people of Israel would be the first to hear the good news of the kingdom. Upon accepting the Messiah, they would enter God’s kingdom and then spread the good news to all nations (Isa 49:5-6; Matt 10:6-7; 15:24). But when Israel on the whole rejected the Messiah, God sent the message to the nations direct. Gentiles who believed entered the kingdom, but Jews for whom the kingdom had been prepared were excluded (Matt 8:10-12; 20:1-16; 21:33-43; Acts 13:46-47; 28:23-31).

The reason many of the Jews rejected Jesus was that he did not bring them the kind of kingdom they were looking for. They wanted a Messiah who would be a political deliverer, and they wanted a kingdom that would bring material prosperity. Jesus was opposed to both ideas (John 6:15; 18:36). Even the apostles did not fully understand the nature of the Messiah and the kingdom, but they did not, as others, reject Jesus. They knew that he was indeed the Messiah of God who brought them the kingdom of God and eternal life (Matt 16:13-16; John 6:66-69).

The believing minority among the Jews (the old people of God, the nation Israel) became the nucleus of the new people of God, the Christian church. To build the old people of God, God chose twelve tribes; to build the new people of God, he chose twelve apostles. As they preached the good news of Jesus Christ, the apostles opened the kingdom to all who wished to enter. They carried God’s authority with them, so that when they acted in obedience to his word, their work on earth was confirmed in heaven (Matt 16:18-19; Acts 8:12; 20:24-25; 28:31).

As a result of the apostles’ preaching of the kingdom of God, people believed. The faithful of old Israel became God’s true Israel; believers of other nations became Abraham’s spiritual offspring (Rom 2:28-29; Gal 3:28-29; 6:16). The church came into being and grew. In the great acts of God seen on the Day of Pentecost and during the months that followed, the apostles saw the power of the kingdom of God at work in a way they had never imagined (Mark 9:1).

However, the church is not the kingdom, just as Israel was not the kingdom. The church and the kingdom are things of a different kind. The kingdom is the rule of God; the church is a community of people. It is the new community of God’s people, just as Israel was the old community. The kingdom works through the church, but it is something far wider than the church. It worked in the days before the church was born, and it will continue to work till the day of God’s final triumph (1 Cor 15:24-28; Rev 11:15). In the meantime the church is the means by which God’s rule should most clearly be seen in the world (John 17:23; Rom 14:16-18; Eph 3:10; see CHURCH).

Also see definition of "Kingdom Of God" in Word Study