Study of the Bible Community Group
The Bible unfolds like literature, and we follow the instructions like marching orders. The last orders supersede the previous ones. So the New Covenant (Testament) gives the design of who we are, what we do, and how we meet. What do you see in it, that can help us live better?
1. The Kingdom of God that Jesus preached.
Mathew 4v23 "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people."
9v35 "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."
24v14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
So what is the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus is talking here?
He's talking about the coming rule of God. A coming Kingdom that will be set up on earth. In other verses in scripture, we read that Jesus will be King and then after a thousand years, he will hand over the Kingdom to God. And He will rule directly again as before. We know thru scripture that there was a Kingdom of God on earth before and it was the kingdom of Israel and God was their King as it was in the beginning. And that's a broad context of the Kingdom.
2. Roman occupied.
Roman had occupied Israel at that time, so a new Kingdom sounded wonderful to the Jews and Gentiles who listened to their words. Having an idea of having their own Kingdom to themselves, that would have been "good news" for sure.
But their vision of the kingdom was alittle different from Jesus. They thought it was coming now and then, with Jesus as King. You had him coming into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. All those people singing songs. They thought the Kingdom was going to take place then and now! But the Kingdom didnt come then.
3. The Kingdom of God.
The bible teaches us that the kingdom of God is going to be here on earth. Jesus talked about that too.
That are verses in scripture that might confuse people. Like the phrase, "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven". They might think it is something were God dwells. Like in Mathew 18v3 "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Some people might think that we would go to heaven at some point. People will be entering this kingdom in heaven. But we have to look at that in context of scripture.
We look at other verses like, "and the meek will inherit the earth". Now we have two contrasting views. How are the meek going inherit the earth if everyone is going to be in the Kingdom in heaven?
We even go back into the OT with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Hebrews 11 tells us that they didnt get their promises yet. So what was their promises? It was a promises of an inheritance. Where was the inheritance? It was Israel. Israel is not in heaven, it is on earth. So there has to be a phyical location on where this kingdom is going to be.
4. Kingdom of Heaven.
So what would the kingdom of "heaven" be? How can you fit it in with the rest of scripture?
Alot of times things are talked about as "in the heavens". When you come to Ephesians We should be dwelling in the "heavenly places". Well, what does that mean? We are hear on earth, not in heaven. The idea is, that's where it's from. That's where our minds should be, not on the things of the earth, the fleshly things. There's almost like a physical world and a spiritual world. And the spiritaul is of heaven. And that's where our minds and thoughts should be. Our minds are in the heavens with God.
On the kingdom of heaven, on that word "kingdom" in our concordances should be rendered, "rule" or "realm". So it might be saying that we will be entering into the rule of heaven. Being ruled by God.
The Hebrew word "of" in the concordance can also be rendered "from" or "out of". So it could also mean, by no means entering into the kingdom "from" heaven.
Even in Mathew 6 were Jesus is talking about a coming kingdom "from" heaven. So Jesus was preaching a kingdom that was to come "from" God. To be "set up" from God.
We can also take a look at the verse, Jesus of Nazareth. It should be rendered Jesus "from" Nazareth.
John 1v6 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." Clearly it was not a physical thing where John was in heaven with God and was sent down from heaven to earth. So when a man was sent from God doesnt mean it was sent from a literal place.
5. Throne of david
The bible also talks about Jesus sitting on the throne of David. Well, where was the throne of David? It was on earth. The promises to David was that his throne would be re-established. We can look back and see what the kingdom is going to be like, but it will be perfect this time. God's Kingdom on earth before was an imperfect kingdom. The coming kingdom with Christ as king will be perfect.
6.
Acts 1v3-6 "...being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
After Jesus's resurrection, he spent forty days with his disicples preaching the Kingdom of God. And even after forty days, they still didnt know when it was going to happen. "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" They didnt know.
It's going to be a restoration of the kingdom. Not a totally new and different kingdom from the last one. It is going to be new in some aspects, yes. God said to David that there will always be a king to sit on your throne. And we know that God keeps His promises. And it's going to end up being Jesus the messiah, the annoited one. Every kingdom has a king and we know that it will be Jesus as the last king.
And to "restore" the kingdom also tells us that the kingdom of God existed once before. But not in it's perfect state as it will be. And when did the Kingdom exist previously in the past?
We know that Jesus preached to his disciples the good news of the kingdom of God and prayed about it.
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is done in Heaven"
Wonderful words to hear.
Mathew 4v23 "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people."
9v35 "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."
24v14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
So what is the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus is talking here?
He's talking about the coming rule of God. A coming Kingdom that will be set up on earth. In other verses in scripture, we read that Jesus will be King and then after a thousand years, he will hand over the Kingdom to God. And He will rule directly again as before. We know thru scripture that there was a Kingdom of God on earth before and it was the kingdom of Israel and God was their King as it was in the beginning. And that's a broad context of the Kingdom.
2. Roman occupied.
Roman had occupied Israel at that time, so a new Kingdom sounded wonderful to the Jews and Gentiles who listened to their words. Having an idea of having their own Kingdom to themselves, that would have been "good news" for sure.
But their vision of the kingdom was alittle different from Jesus. They thought it was coming now and then, with Jesus as King. You had him coming into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. All those people singing songs. They thought the Kingdom was going to take place then and now! But the Kingdom didnt come then.
3. The Kingdom of God.
The bible teaches us that the kingdom of God is going to be here on earth. Jesus talked about that too.
That are verses in scripture that might confuse people. Like the phrase, "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven". They might think it is something were God dwells. Like in Mathew 18v3 "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Some people might think that we would go to heaven at some point. People will be entering this kingdom in heaven. But we have to look at that in context of scripture.
We look at other verses like, "and the meek will inherit the earth". Now we have two contrasting views. How are the meek going inherit the earth if everyone is going to be in the Kingdom in heaven?
We even go back into the OT with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Hebrews 11 tells us that they didnt get their promises yet. So what was their promises? It was a promises of an inheritance. Where was the inheritance? It was Israel. Israel is not in heaven, it is on earth. So there has to be a phyical location on where this kingdom is going to be.
4. Kingdom of Heaven.
So what would the kingdom of "heaven" be? How can you fit it in with the rest of scripture?
Alot of times things are talked about as "in the heavens". When you come to Ephesians We should be dwelling in the "heavenly places". Well, what does that mean? We are hear on earth, not in heaven. The idea is, that's where it's from. That's where our minds should be, not on the things of the earth, the fleshly things. There's almost like a physical world and a spiritual world. And the spiritaul is of heaven. And that's where our minds and thoughts should be. Our minds are in the heavens with God.
On the kingdom of heaven, on that word "kingdom" in our concordances should be rendered, "rule" or "realm". So it might be saying that we will be entering into the rule of heaven. Being ruled by God.
The Hebrew word "of" in the concordance can also be rendered "from" or "out of". So it could also mean, by no means entering into the kingdom "from" heaven.
Even in Mathew 6 were Jesus is talking about a coming kingdom "from" heaven. So Jesus was preaching a kingdom that was to come "from" God. To be "set up" from God.
We can also take a look at the verse, Jesus of Nazareth. It should be rendered Jesus "from" Nazareth.
John 1v6 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." Clearly it was not a physical thing where John was in heaven with God and was sent down from heaven to earth. So when a man was sent from God doesnt mean it was sent from a literal place.
5. Throne of david
The bible also talks about Jesus sitting on the throne of David. Well, where was the throne of David? It was on earth. The promises to David was that his throne would be re-established. We can look back and see what the kingdom is going to be like, but it will be perfect this time. God's Kingdom on earth before was an imperfect kingdom. The coming kingdom with Christ as king will be perfect.
6.
Acts 1v3-6 "...being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
After Jesus's resurrection, he spent forty days with his disicples preaching the Kingdom of God. And even after forty days, they still didnt know when it was going to happen. "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" They didnt know.
It's going to be a restoration of the kingdom. Not a totally new and different kingdom from the last one. It is going to be new in some aspects, yes. God said to David that there will always be a king to sit on your throne. And we know that God keeps His promises. And it's going to end up being Jesus the messiah, the annoited one. Every kingdom has a king and we know that it will be Jesus as the last king.
And to "restore" the kingdom also tells us that the kingdom of God existed once before. But not in it's perfect state as it will be. And when did the Kingdom exist previously in the past?
We know that Jesus preached to his disciples the good news of the kingdom of God and prayed about it.
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is done in Heaven"
Wonderful words to hear.
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