KINGDOM OF GOD
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KINGDOM OF GOD
A major theme of the Bible is the kingdom of God. It runs through the Old Testament, but is more fully developed in the Gospels. Jesus showed that through him the kingdom found its fullest meaning.
Rule of God
In its broadest sense, the kingdom of God is the rule of God. It is not a territory over which God reigns but the rule that he exercises. It is not defined by physical boundaries, time or nationality, but by the sovereign rule and authority of God (Exod 15:18; Ps 103:19; 145:10-13). Jesus spoke of God’s kingdom in this sense. Those who seek God’s kingdom seek his rule in their lives (Matt 6:33), and those who receive God’s kingdom receive his rule in their lives (Mark 10:15). When they enter the kingdom, they enter the realm where they accept God’s rule (Matt 21:31), and they pray that others also will accept it (Matt 6:10).
The world is under the power of Satan and in a state of rebellion against God (2 Cor 4:4; 1 John 5:19). Therefore, when Jesus brought the kingdom into the world, he demonstrated God’s rule in the defeat of Satan. As Jesus announced the good news of the kingdom, he gave evidence of his power by healing those whom Satan had afflicted by disease and evil spirits (Matt 4:23-24). As he delivered people from Satan’s bondage he gave evidence that God’s kingdom (his authority, power and rule) had come among humankind (Matt 12:28; Mark 1:27; Luke 10:9,17-18).
Note: The Bible uses the expressions ‘kingdom of God’ and ‘kingdom of heaven’ interchangeably. They are different names for the same thing (Matt 19:23-24). Jews had a traditional fear of misusing the name of God, and therefore they often used words such as ‘heaven’ instead (Dan 4:25-26; Luke 15:18; John 3:27). Matthew, who wrote his Gospel for Jews, usually (but not always) speaks of the kingdom of heaven, whereas the other writers call it the kingdom of God (Matt 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16).
Present and future
Jesus’ teaching on God’s kingdom was in contrast to the popular Jewish belief of the time. The Jews believed that the kingdom was a future national and political kingdom centred on Israel. Jesus pointed out that God’s kingdom was already among them. It was present in him (Luke 10:9; 17:20-21). Those who submitted to Christ’s rule entered Christ’s kingdom, and thereby received forgiveness of sins and eternal life (Matt 21:31; Mark 10:14-15; John 3:3). The same is true of people of any era. Those who believe in Christ enter his kingdom and receive its blessings (Rom 14:17; Col 1:13). Yet Jesus spoke also of the kingdom as something belonging to the future (Mark 14:25). It would be established only after his death and resurrection (Luke 22:15-16,28-30; 24:26; cf. Rev 5:6-12; 11:15). Moreover, Jesus said that those who were already believers would enter his kingdom at his return (Matt 7:21-23; 13:41-43; 25:31-34; cf. 1 Cor 15:50; 2 Pet 1:11).
Therefore, although the kingdom of God is already present, it also awaits the future. Since the kingdom is the rule of God, believers enter it when they believe, but they will experience its full blessings only when Christ returns to banish evil and reign in righteousness (1 Cor 15:24-26). In being both present and future, the kingdom has the same characteristics as salvation and eternal life. To ‘enter the kingdom of God’ is to ‘have eternal life’ or to ‘be saved’. The Bible uses the 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 more fully in the future (John 5:24,29). Likewise they have salvation now, but they will have it in its fulness 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 humankind now, believers have eternal life now (Matt 25:34,46; Luke 23:42-43; John 3:3,5,36; 5:24).
JESUS THE MESSIAH
The title ‘Messiah’ is a Hebrew word that means ‘the anointed one’. In Old Testament times, the people of Israel appointed kings and priests (and sometimes prophets) to their official positions by the ceremony of anointing. A special anointing oil was poured over the head of the person as a sign that he now had the right, and the responsibility, to perform the duties required by his position (Exod 28:41; 1 Kings 1:39; 19:16).
By far the most common usage of ‘anointed’ in a title was in relation to the Israelite king. He was known as ‘the Lord’s anointed’ (1 Sam 24:10; Ps 18:50; 20:6). That person whom Israelites looked for as their great deliverer-king was popularly called the Messiah. The New Testament (Greek) equivalent of this word is ‘Christ’. Jesus and his disciples spoke the local language of Palestine, and therefore the word they would have used was ‘Messiah’; but the Gospels were written in Greek, and therefore the word appears in the Bible as ‘Christ’ (Matt 22:42; John 1:41; 7:41-42).
Old Testament expectations
In the days of Israel’s beginnings, God indicated that the leadership of the nation would belong to the tribe of Judah. From this tribe would come a leader who would rule all nations in a reign of peace and prosperity (Gen 49:9-12). In developing this plan, God promised King David (who was from the tribe of Judah) an everlasting dynasty (2 Sam 7:16). From that time on, Israelites looked expectantly for the ideal king, a descendant of David who would destroy all enemies and reign in a worldwide kingdom of righteousness and peace. They called this coming saviour-king the Messiah (Ps 89:3-4; Isa 11:1-10; 32:1; Jer 23:5; Ezek 34:23-24; Micah 5:2; cf. Luke 1:32-33; Rev 5:5).
Because God promised to treat David’s son and successor as his own son, Israelites regarded every king in the royal line of David as, in a sense, God’s son. He was the one through whom God exercised his rule. Above all, the Messiah was God’s son (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:6-7; cf. Mark 10:47; 12:35; 14:61). Israelites saw victories over their enemies as foreshadowings of the victory of the Messiah, and praised their kings in language that vividly expressed the ideals they looked for in the messianic kingdom (e.g. Psalms 2; 45; 72; 110).
Besides being a king, the promised Messiah had priestly characteristics as well. He would not be a priest in the Levitical system, but he would exercise the joint rule of king-priest after the manner of Melchizedek (Ps 110:1-7; cf. Matt 22:41-45; Heb 5:6). He would also have prophetic characteristics, in that he would be God’s messenger to announce God’s will to his people (Deut 18:15; cf. Luke 24:19; John 6:14; 7:40; Acts 3:22-23).
Jesus and the Jews
By the time of Jesus, Jewish expectation of the Messiah had little to do with the Messiah’s spiritual ministry. Most Jews were not concerned with being delivered from the power of sin or submitting to the righteous rule of God. They were more concerned with being delivered from the power of Rome and establishing an independent Israelite kingdom of prosperity and peace. For this reason Jesus did not immediately announce his messiahship openly. He did not want to attract the wrong sort of following. When people followed him because they expected political and material benefits, he resisted them (John 6:15,26; cf. Matt 4:8-10).
When others, for better reasons, recognized Jesus as the Messiah, he told them not to broadcast the fact (Matt 9:27-30; 16:13-20). The title by which Jesus usually referred to himself was not ‘Messiah’, but ‘Son of man’ (Matt 17:22; 20:18,28; for further discussion see below).
Towards the end of his ministry, when Jesus knew that his work was nearing completion and his crucifixion was approaching, he allowed people to speak openly of him as the Messiah (Matt 21:14-16; 22:41-45). He entered Jerusalem as Israel’s Messiah-king (Matt 21:1-11) and declared his messiahship before the Sanhedrin, adding that as Son of God he was on equality with God, and as Son of man he had gained an eternal kingdom (Mark 14:60-62; Luke 22:70-71). To Pilate he indicated that he was a king, though neither his kingship nor his kingdom were of the kind that most people expected or wanted (Matt 27:11; John 18:33-37; cf. Acts 17:7).
The Messiah’s suffering and victory
Many believers of Jesus’ time still thought of the Messiah in relation to a visible worldwide kingdom centred on Israel, and they were puzzled when Jesus did not set up such a kingdom (Matt 11:2-3; Luke 19:11; 24:21; Acts 1:6). Jesus pointed out that God’s kingdom had come through him; the messianic age had begun. He was the Messiah, and his ministry was proof of this (Isa. 35:5-6; 61:1; Matt 4:23; 11:4-5; 12:28; Luke 4:18; 17:20-21; 18:35-43).
What the disciples could not understand was that the Messiah had to die. They knew that the Old Testament spoke of God’s suffering servant (Isa. 49:7; 50:6; 52:13-53:12) just as they knew that it spoke of the Messiah, but they did not connect the two. Jesus showed that he was both the suffering servant and the victorious Messiah. The Messiah had to die before he could enter his glory (Matt 16:13-23; 20:25-28; Luke 24:25-27; Acts 4:27).
If the disciples of Jesus understood little of his statements about his coming death, they understood even less of his statements about his resurrection (Mark 8:29-32; 9:31-32). But after he died and rose to new life, everything became clear. They saw the resurrection as God’s great and final confirmation that Jesus was the Messiah. His death was the way to victory for him and deliverance for his people (Acts 2:31-32,36; 10:38-43; Col 1:13-14,20).
The early Christians so identified the victorious Messiah with the risen Jesus that the Greek word for Messiah (Christ) became a personal name for Jesus. Over the years the two names were often joined as Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus, and the name Christ was often used without any direct reference to messiahship (Phil 1:15-16,18,21). In general the Gospels and the early part of Acts use ‘Christ’ mainly as a title (meaning ‘the Messiah’), and other parts of the New Testament use it mainly as a name (John 1:20; 10:24; 1 Peter 4:14; 5:10,14).
SON OF MAN
Of all the names, pictures and titles of Jesus in the Gospels, ‘Son of man’ is the one that Jesus used most and others used least. It hardly occurs outside the Gospels, and inside the Gospels is used almost solely by Jesus. In ordinary speech it could be just a poetic word for ‘person’ (Num 23:19; Ezek 2:1-3), but people realized that Jesus used it with special significance. It was an unusual way for a person to refer to himself, but Jesus wanted people to think about who he was and what his mission involved (John 12:34).
A heavenly figure
The title ‘Son of man’ comes from a vision recorded in Daniel, where a person ‘like a son of man’ came into the heavenly presence of God and received from him a universal and everlasting kingdom (Dan 7:13-14). The ‘Son of man’ was connected with the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus made it clear that, through him, the kingdom of God had come into the world (Matt 4:23-24; 12:28; see ‘Kingdom of God’ above). That kingdom will find its fullest expression when the Son of man returns at the end of the age to remove all evil and establish righteousness eternally (Dan 7:13-14; Matt 13:41-43; 24:30-31; Mark 8:38).
An additional feature of the vision in Daniel is the connection between the Son of man and the people of God. Though the Son of man receives the kingdom, he shares it with his people (Dan 7:14,27). Jesus, the heavenly Son of man, therefore promised his followers that they would share with him in the kingdom’s final triumph (Matt 19:28; 25:31-34).
An earthly figure
Since ‘son of man’ could be used in everyday speech to refer to an ordinary human being (Ps 8:4; Ezek 2:8), the expression had an added significance when used of Jesus. Although it pointed to his deity (for he was the heavenly Son of God; John 3:13; 6:62), it pointed also to his humanity (for he was a man, a member of the human race; Matt 8:20). The Son of man was a unique person who, being divine and human, brought the authority of God into the world of humankind (Mark 2:10,28; John 5:27).
In relation to the kingdom of God, the heavenly Son of man was in fact an earthly figure, who was born in the royal line of David and had claim to the messianic throne. Because of the Jews’ misguided nationalistic ambitions, Jesus rarely spoke of himself specifically as the Messiah. By using ‘Son of man’ instead, he was claiming to be the Messiah without using the word ‘Messiah’. He knew people found the name ‘Son of man’ puzzling, but he wanted them to consider the evidence of his life and ministry and discover for themselves his true identity (Matt 16:13-16; John 9:35-36; 12:34).
When the Jewish leaders finally understood what Jesus meant by calling himself the Son of man, they accused him of blasphemy and had him killed. They saw that he claimed to be not only a messianic figure in the line of David, but also a heavenly figure on equality with God (Mark 14:61-64). Jesus’ death did not take him by surprise, as he knew that the heavenly Son of man had to become the suffering servant. He had to suffer and die before he could receive his kingdom (Mark 8:31; 9:12; 10:45; John 3:13-14; 8:28). Also, he had to rise from the dead (Mark 9:31). God therefore raised him up and gave him glory, a glory that will be fully revealed when the Son of man returns in the triumph of his kingdom (Mark 8:38; 13:26; 14:62).
SON OF GOD
When the Bible speaks of Jesus as God’s Son, the meaning is unique. Elsewhere in the Bible Israel is called God’s son (Exod 4:22), the Davidic king is called God’s son (2 Sam 7:14) and in particular the Messiah is called God’s son (Ps 2:7; Luke 1:32-33). But Jesus was more than God’s Son in any of these senses. He was God’s Son in the sense that he was God. He did not become God’s Son through being the Messiah; rather, he became the Messiah because he already was God’s pre-existent Son (Matt 22:42-45; John 1:34,49; 20:31).
Eternally the Son
God is a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all of whom are equally and eternally God. Jesus’ sonship does not mean that he was created by the Father or is inferior to the Father. He has the same Godhead and character as the Father (Matt 11:27; John 1:1,14,18; 8:19; 10:30,38; 14:9), the same powers, authority and responsibilities as the Father (John 3:35; 5:21-22,43; 13:3) and the same thought and purpose as the Father (John 5:17-20,30; 8:16,28-29; 14:10,24).
The relation between Jesus (the Son of God) and his Father is unique, and should not be confused with the relation between believers (sons of God) and their heavenly Father. Jesus’ sonship is eternal. The Father and the Son have always existed in a relation in which both are equally and unchangeably God. Believers, by contrast, become sons of God only through faith in Jesus Christ. God makes them his sons, but he never made Jesus his Son. Jesus always has been the Son (John 1:18; 5:37; 8:18-19; 17:1-5; cf. Gal 4:5-7).
When Jesus talked with believers about God the Father, he was therefore careful to make a distinction between ‘my Father’ and ‘your Father’ (Matt 5:16; Luke 2:49; 12:30; John 5:17-18; 20:17). Nevertheless, through Christ believers come into such a close personal relation with the Father that they can address him as ‘Abba’, as Jesus did (Mark 14:36; Rom 8:15).
The Son’s mission
Although the Son existed with his Father from all eternity, he willingly became a human being in order to fulfil his Father’s purposes for the salvation of human beings and the conquest of evil (Rom 8:3; Gal 4:4-5; Heb 2:14-15). When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Son added humanity to the deity that he always had. His entrance into human life came about through God’s supernatural work in the body of Mary, so that the baby born was both fully human and uniquely divine (Luke 1:30-31,35; 2:42,49). Jesus grew up in a relation with his Father that was shared by no other (Luke 2:49; John 5:19; 8:28-29), and this relation was confirmed at certain events during his public ministry (Matt 3:17; 17:5; John 12:27-30).
Jesus’ followers usually spoke of Jesus’ sonship in relation to his divine person and total unity with the Father (Matt 16:16; John 20:31; 1 John 2:23; 4:15), but Jesus himself usually spoke of it in relation to his earthly ministry and total submission to the Father (Mark 13:32; John 4:34; 5:19; 7:16; 8:28,42). The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, and the Son’s obedience to this mission meant that he had to suffer and die (John 3:14-16; 12:27; 1 John 4:9-10,14). The Son finished the work, being obedient even to death (John 17:4; Phil 2:8), and the Father declared his complete satisfaction with his Son through the victory of the resurrection (Rom 1:4; Phil 2:9-11). However, the Son’s mission involved more than the salvation of believers.
The Father had entrusted him with the task of overcoming all rebellion and restoring all things to a state of perfect submission to the sovereign God (John 5:20-29; Eph 1:10; 1 John 3:8). That mission extends to the whole universe, and will reach its climax when the last enemy, death, is banished for ever (Heb 2:14; 1 Cor 15:25,26). The Son conquered sin at the cross, and the power of that conquest will eventually remove the last traces of sin. The Son will restore all things to the Father, and the triumph of God will be complete. God will be everything to everyone (1 Cor 15:24,28).
JESUS AS LORD
Many people addressed Jesus as Lord (Matt 20:33; Mark 7:28; Luke 7:6), but when his disciples used the title of him, or when he used the title of himself, ‘Lord’ had much more meaning (Luke 19:34; 24:34; John 11:27; 13:6,13-14; 20:28; 21:7). The early church developed the more meaningful usage of the word till it became one of the most distinctive expressions of the Christian community.
Hebrew and Greek backgrounds
The Greek word that is translated ‘Lord’ in the New Testament is kurios, the word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for the Hebrew word yahweh (i.e. Jehovah) (cf. Ps 32:2 with Rom 4:8; cf. Isa 40:13 with Rom 11:34). Yahweh, the name of God, was a mysterious name that Jews of later times considered so sacred that they refused to speak it. Linguistically, the name was connected with the expression ‘I am’ and referred to the eternal, unchangeable, self-sufficient and ever-present God (Exod 3:13-16).
Jesus identified himself with Yahweh by calling himself ‘I am’ (John 8:58; see also John 4:26; 6:35; 8:12; 10:7,11; 11:25; 14:6; 18:5; Mark 14:62). The New Testament writers also identified Jesus with the God of the Old Testament, and repeatedly quoted Old Testament references to Yahweh as applying to Jesus (cf. Ps 16:8 with Acts 2:24-25; cf. Isa 40:3 with Mark 1:1-3; cf. Jer 9:23-24 with 1 Cor 1:30-31; cf. Isa 8:13 with 1 Peter 3:15; cf. Ps 110:1 with Matt 22:41-45).
Both the words of Jesus and the quotations of the New Testament writers reflect the Hebrew background of the New Testament. According to that background, to call Jesus ‘Lord’ was to call him God. But most of the early Christians did not come from a Hebrew background. They were Gentiles, not Jews, and they had no history of the usage of the name Yahweh to influence their thinking. Yet to them also, to call Jesus ‘Lord’ (kurios) was to call him God. Their understanding of kurios came from its usage in the Greek-speaking Gentile world in which they lived.
In common speech, kurios may sometimes have meant no more than ‘sir’ or ‘master’ (Matt 21:30; Luke 12:36,45; John 12:21; Acts 25:26), but it was also used in relation to deity, such as when people referred to the Greek and Roman gods (1 Cor 8:5). The Greek-speaking Christians’ use of this word for Jesus showed that they considered him to be God - not just one of many gods, but the one true God. This one was the creator and ruler of the universe, and the controller of life and death (Acts 1:24; 13:10-12; 17:24; Rom 14:9,11; 1 Tim 6:15-16; Rev 17:14).
Glorified and triumphant
Through the glorious resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ, God declared dramatically the absolute lordship of Christ (Acts 2:36; Rom 1:4; Phil 2:9-11). Believers in Christ are also Christ’s servants and disciples. They gladly acknowledge him as Lord and willingly submit to him as to one who has complete authority over their lives. At the same time they love him as one who has saved them and given them new joy, peace and hope (John 20:28; Acts 10:36; Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 1:2-3; Eph 1:22-23; 2 Thess 3:16; Rev 22:20).
When God’s chosen time comes, the lordship of Jesus Christ, at present unrecognized by the world, will be openly displayed (1 Cor 2:6-8; 15:24-26; cf. Heb 2:9; 9:28). He will return in power and glory, to enjoy the final fruits of the victory he won through his life, death and resurrection. In that great day there will be universal acknowledgment that he is indeed Lord (Phil 2:11; 1 Thess 4:15-17; 2 Thess 1:7; Rev 19:16).
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