The Nature of the Kingdom of God

Introduction

            The kingdom of God is a large subject. There is really good teaching on it, and there is really confusing teaching on it. Hopefully this paper will help to clear up some of the confusion which rests around this subject.

In this paper I’ve set forth a small amount of what Scripture has to say about the kingdom. This is an introduction to what both Testaments say concerning the subject. The Bible progressively reveals truth about a subject in stages. This is called the progression of revelation. This principle is true also with the God’s kingdom. Many facets of His kingdom are revealed throughout the Bible. The revelation has been progressively revealed from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

This paper was originally written as some ending comments on Obadiah’s final verse, “And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s”. I thought, however, that I would post it as a topic of its own since there is great clarity needed with this subject.

 

The Question so Many are Asking

 “What is the nature of the Kingdom of God?”  “Is the kingdom of Christ spiritual or is it literal?”  “And on what basis can we say this?”

 

A Spiritual Kingdom

First, I want to set forth that there is only one kingdom of God; there is not two. That same kingdom is described in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The kingdom of God like many other topics has been progressively revealed to us in the Scriptures. The Scripture does not comprehensively reveal any subject to us in Genesis 1. They reveal God’s revelation to us as the Bible progressively unfolds.

Many things which are set forth in the Old Testament are complemented by teaching in the New. This is true of God’s kingdom as well. Scripture reveals two different aspects of God’s kingdom which we will look at. The Bible presents God’s kingdom as both spiritual and literal. We will take a look at both aspects, and then will see how to relate these aspects to each other so that we think rightly of God’s kingdom. Firstly, the New Testament reveals the Kingdom of God as a spiritual reality:

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Able (Heb. 12:22-24).

Here, the writer of Hebrews describes the spiritual aspects of the Kingdom of God to persuade the Hebrew readers not to return to Judaism.[1] We see the spiritual (metaphysical) aspects of the kingdom also in the words of Christ:

“Once having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst (Luke 17:20-21).

One would have to twist the plain meaning of Scripture here to deny the spiritual establishment of God’s kingdom through Christ. Also, we see that Jesus’ miracles proved the presence of the kingdom.

 

A Literal Kingdom

Yet, on the other hand, we see that Jesus spoke of a literal (physical) and future kingdom that would come. Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10), indicating a future appearing. Some of His parables described it as future (Matt. 25:1-13; 13-30; 31-34). 2 Timothy says that the kingdom comes with Jesus at the time He returns (2 Tim. 4:1). Jesus says that it is something that we will literally inherit (Mt. 25:34; 1 Col. 15:50; Jas. 2:5). Finally the kingdom is described as a literal 1,000 year reign upon this physical planet (Rev. 20:1-6).

So how do we reconcile these seemingly opposing concepts? Especially when Scripture affirms them both? Many people, at this point, deny one of these aspects of the kingdom in order to establish the element (physical/spiritual) which they understand.

 

The Progression of Revelation

Here’s where it all comes together: “The concept of God’s kingly or sovereign rule, [encompasses] both the realm over which it is exerted (Matt. 4:8; Luke 4:5; Rev. 16:10) and the exercise of authority to reign (Luke 19:12; Rev, 17:12, 17-18)” (Gentry/Norman, 2003, 987). The kingdom covers both the physical (literal/geographical/tangible) dimensions of the earth, and it additionally covers the realm of authority through which it is exerted (heavenly/spiritual/metaphysical). The kingdom is a point of integration of both Testaments. This is the progression of revelation in the Bible.

The Old Testament revealed the kingdom as a physical rule of Christ on the earth. This always was the longing of God’s people throughout the ages. The New Testament did not reveal a different kingdom. It did however continue to reveal new aspects of the kingdom that were not primarily emphasized in the Old Testament. It revealed, and to some degree emphasized, the realm of authority (heavenly/spiritual/metaphysical) through which the Kingdom operates. 

To sum that up: when we look at the holistic revelation of the kingdom of God in both Testaments we find descriptions that are complementary and not in opposition. The Bible progressively reveals the nature of all things (e.g. God, His Son, redemption, the Kingdom*). Just because the New Testament reveals the spiritual dimensions of God’s physical kingdom does not mean we change the nature of His kingdom and deny its literalness.

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[1] What is actually being contrasted here is not the literal/spiritual dimensions of the Kingdom, but the two covenants. However I use these verses to illustrate my point.