Kingdom Of Heaven & the Kingdom Of God?—4

Biblegems #234

Question: Is there a difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God? Also, what does it mean that "the kingdom of heaven is near," "theirs is the kingdom of heaven," "Your kingdom come. . . on earth as it is in heaven," "seek first His kingdom," etc. Are all of these kingdoms the same? Is it a state of mind? An actual place? 

This last installment on “the kingdom of God / heaven” zeros in on the apparent disparity between statements such as "Your kingdom come. . . on earth as it is in heaven" and "seek first His kingdom." Is the Kingdom a state of mind or an actual place?

Is “the kingdom” just an attitude of the heart?

         Luke 17:20  Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

The truth is, the “kingdom” encompasses both the physical and spiritual realms. It is more than a spiritual idea, more than a “state of mind” or attitude of the heart. One day in the not too distant future the kingdom of God will occupy planet earth as its geographical center, and citizens of the kingdom will enjoy with Jesus the fruitful harvest of the land:

         Mark 14:25  “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

However, as Jesus pointed out in Luke 17:20, if the Kingdom of God is not already “within” us then we cannot expect to be in the kingdom at Christ’s appearing. It’s physical coming will be a joy only for those who already belong to Him because the physical Kingdom is an outward manifestation of the spiritual Kingdom.

Heaven is a “place” (Jn. 3:3) inhabited by God and the Lamb, thousands of angels, and many other creatures:

Rev. 11:15  The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”  

That heavenly kingdom will “appear” on earth with Jesus’ coming:

2Tim. 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom…

And though the kingdom of God “is not a matter of eating and drinking” (Rom. 14:17), nor “a matter of talk but of power” (1Cor. 4:20), yet here will be plenty of feasting and conversation in the kingdom of heaven:

         Luke 22:29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

God’s “Kingdom” is where the material and immaterial expressions of life are perfectly married. As invisible forms of energy radiate through buildings, your body, even the earth, so too does the spiritual realm intersect and interact with the physical realm. The Kingdom of God is where men and women of earth become immortal citizens of heaven, and where water and spirit describe our birth into each of these realms:

         John 3:5  Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

The Kingdom of Heaven & The Kingdom Of God—3

Biblegems #233

Question: Is there a difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God? Also, what does it mean that "the kingdom of heaven is near," "theirs is the kingdom of heaven," "Your kingdom come. . . on earth as it is in heaven," "seek first His kingdom," etc. Are all of these kingdoms the same? Is it a state of mind? An actual place? 

The first two posts on this subject focused on the phrase, “the kingdom of heaven,” used almost exclusively by Jesus in the book of Matthew. In contrast to this, the phrase, “the kingdom of God” occurs 66 times in the New Testament. Most of these are in the Gospels (52X), then Acts (6X), 1 Corinthians (4X), followed by Romans, Galatians, Colossians and 2 Thessalonians (1X each). Of all of these, the term is found most frequently in the Gospel of Mark and used almost exclusively by Jesus.  

But here is where things get really interesting. Just as Jesus taught that “the kingdom of heaven” has already come near (i.e., because of Jesus’ presence as heaven’s royal representative on earth), He also taught exactly the same way about “the kingdom of God”:

         Mark 9:1  And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”

“The kingdom of God” means the kingdom from God, just as “the kingdom of heaven” means the kingdom from heaven. The fact is, God, who is Spirit (Jn. 4:24), has established a location in His creation from which He governs all that exists:

Ps. 2:4  The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

God’s throne “in heaven” is distinct from “the heavens” we commonly refer to as intergalactic space:

         Ps. 8:1  O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

“The kingdom of God,” then, means the authority of (or “from”) God as the Supreme Ruler of creation whose throne is in heaven, “beyond” the physical and spatial universe. Consequently, when Jesus told the three disciples they would “see that the kingdom of God has come with power” (Mk. 9:1), He was referring to the demonstration of God’s power and authority they were about to witness on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mk. 9:2-8).

But “the kingdom of God” refers to more than simply His authority and power. It also refers to a community, a unique culture that perfectly reflects God’s nature, God’s values and God’s character. It is God’s kingdom; and those who inhabit His kingdom now, and those who will enter His kingdom in the future must likewise reflect His nature, values and character. Sadly, not everyone will enter in:

         Luke 13:28-29  There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

For this reason, Jesus frequently gave examples from life and from nature on how to “enter the kingdom of God / kingdom of heaven”:

         Mark 4:26  He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.”

Note: Be sure to check out next week’s final post on this subject        !

The Kingdom of Heaven & The Kingdom Of God —2

Biblegems #232

Question: Is there a difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God? Also, what does it mean that "the kingdom of heaven is near," "theirs is the kingdom of heaven," "Your kingdom come. . . on earth as it is in heaven," "seek first His kingdom," etc. Are all of these kingdoms the same? Is it a state of mind? An actual place? 

The second part of this series on the Kingdom of Heaven focuses on what is meant by the statement, “the kingdom of heaven is near" Matt. 3:2; 4:17;10:7). As we saw in the previous post, both John the Baptist and Jesus implored people to repent now, while there is still time, because “the kingdom of heaven is near.” Or to put it in reverse, “the kingdom of heaven is near,” so you had better repent!

The phrase “is near” means something much deeper than “is coming,” or “is almost here.” In fact, the English language does not even have the same verb tense used in the Greek New Testament (Perfect Active Indicative) to translate the verb eggike appropriately. The Greek perfect tense points to the present state of affairs as the result of some past action. For example, if someone should ask, “Where is the bag of chips I gave you?” and I reply, “I have eaten them,” that person understands the chips are now gone based upon the fact that I had eaten them earlier.

That’s the idea behind the perfect tense translated as “the kingdom of heaven is near.” It essentially means that the kingdom is near now! It is already near. That is a present reality based upon some event that brought it about. What is that event? It is the arrival of the King Himself to planet earth, Jesus the Lord of heaven, who alone gives us access to heaven:

         Matt. 7:21  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus, the King of heaven, has brought the kingdom of heaven to earth. It is “near” because He is here!

Literally, the phrase Jesus uses is “the kingdom of (or from) the heavens.” It is a descriptive term, telling us where this kingdom comes from. As Jesus would later tell Pontius Pilot, “My kingdom is not of this world” (Jn. 18:36). This kingdom from outside our world that has come to this earth through its emissary and king, Jesus, is characterized by “righteousness.” And only righteous citizens of earth are qualified to becomes citizens of the kingdom from heaven:

         Matt. 5:20  For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Because this is true, the kingdom of heaven is already here, but it’s only near in the sense that heaven is available to mankind for entry—under one specific condition:

         Rom. 3:21-22  But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

Stay tuned! Next week we will explore more facets of this wonderful theme, the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of Heaven & The Kingdom Of God

Biblegems #231

Question: Is there a difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God? Also, what does it mean that "the kingdom of heaven is near," "theirs is the kingdom of heaven," "Your kingdom come. . . on earth as it is in heaven," "seek first His kingdom," etc. Are all of these kingdoms the same? Is it a state of mind? An actual place? 

Special note: The biblical concept of the Kingdom is one of the richest themes in Scripture, as these questions demonstrate. Because it is so rich in meaning—and so complex—I will be devoting the next several Bible Gems posts to this topic. Even so, we will be just scratching the surface, but hopefully shed some light that will help us all search the topic on our own with some sense of solid ground beneath our feet. Buckle up for a great journey into God’s Word!

First, some stats: The phrase “the kingdom of heaven” is unique to the Gospel of Matthew and appears 32 times. On the other hand, the phrase “the kingdom of God” appears 66 times and is spread throughout the four Gospels, Acts and four New Testament letters. In fact, “the kingdom of God” is used 32 times in the Gospel of Luke and 6 more times in Acts, the sequel to Luke’s Gospel. Combined, Luke-Acts accounts for more than half of its uses in the New Testament.

Next, let’s explore “the kingdom of heaven.”

Matt. 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

This is precisely the same terminology used by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2). Like John before Him, Jesus declared that God was about to establish His kingdom upon the earth as promised through the prophets:

         Dan. 2:44 In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

In light of the impending arrival of this kingdom set up by the God of heaven, people everywhere should repent—switch their loyalty to the Lord, before it is too late. This is not some “spiritual” kingdom only, as taught by some, but the literal messianic kingdom to be established at the end of the age.

         Jer. 23:5-6  “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior.”

Each time Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven He has in view this messianic kingdom. The Beatitudes in Matthew (5:1-11), for example, describe the kind of people who will typify the citizens of that kingdom: “humble” (5:3), those healed of broken hearts (5:4), etc. These are the people of the Kingdom of Heaven who will “inherit the earth” (5:5)!

Jesus also uses “the kingdom of heaven” as a synonym for “the kingdom of God,” using the terms interchangeably:

         Matt. 19:23-24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

There is much more to this topic, which we will explore in upcoming Bible Gems.