What is the ‘KINGDOM OF GOD’ and how does it relate to the church?
The Kingdom of God is one of the principle components of the teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament that is drawn on the backdrop of Second Temple Judaism from the time of Genesis to Revelation[1].It is considered as the fundamental subject of Jesus’s and forms the basal theme of the church founded by Him through his followers. The relation of Kingdom of God to the Holy Church forms one of the primary basis of the Christianity and is debatable on certain points of relevance. In this report, an analysis on the topic of Kingdom of God will be done stating its relation to the church from different perspectives. The following paragraphs will highlight some of the main teachings from The Kingdom of God along with its debatable affiliation to the Church.
The Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God is one of the indispensable aspects of preaching by Jesus Christ in the New Testament that is the second part of Christian Bible, the first part being the Old Testament that is based on Hebrew Bible. The New Testament deliberates the guidance and person of Jesus including the first-century Christianity. The New Testament is relatively relevant to the spread of Christianity to the world. Kingdom of God is an absolute government of the Jehovah God[2]. Jehovah is the personal name of God assigned by himself in the Bible (Isaiah 42:8). Jehovah is the rendition of the God’s name in English that has been used for centuries by his worshipers and is one of most recognized forms of names[3]. The view of the kingdom advanced during the time of restoration of Israel to the time of the Davidic Kingdom and the mediation of God in the history through the medium of Danielic Son of Man. The Son of man is a phase used the Hebrew Bible and various apocalyptic works of intertestamental period and is a contrast that is drawn as a contrast of human beings against God and angels[4]. The Kingdom of God, which is also known as “The Kingdom of Heaven”, rules from the nirvana. There are a number of differentiations found in the Kingdom of God though it shares certain common characteristics like human kingdom that reigns on Earth. Jesus who was appointed by God to promote goodwill and positivity on the earth will rule the Kingdom of God. Jesus will in turn select all the kings who will rule on Earth and later with him in heaven[5]. Unlike normal governments run by human beings, the Kingdom of God will have an eternal reign and the subjects can be from any ancestry and origin. The morality of God’s kingdom not only just erases wrong from the minds of the people but also imparts morality to the subjects. According to Bible, Jehovah loved with whole heart, mind and soul that states the laws of Kingdom of Heaven. It does not subjugate its subjects and enrich its kings but allows all who follows Him to live a life of Paradise on Earth. When Satan was ruling over the Earth, Jesus came as the angel bearing the message of the arrival of Kingdom of God to the people of the Earth[6]. Christian interpretation of The Kingdom of God is used to mean Christian conduct, a method of world evangelization and sometimes the interpretation of the word is also based on theological leanings in eschatological contexts of scholar interpreter.
The origin of Kingdom of God does trace back to Old Testament and forms a major phase in the Synoptic Gospel, the gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke[7]. This forms one of the fundamental teachings of Jesus that he proposed to preach to his disciples. The word Kingdom has three interpretations in it – the first interpretation represents kingdom as Jesus himself, the second interpretation represent kingdom as the heart and mind of the faithful people having love for God in them while the third interpretation calls Kingdom as the Christian church.
The term Kingdom of God has no practical interpretations but has a number of theological analysis. In official declaration, Dominus Jesus, the declaration for the congregation of Doctrine of Faith, states that the kingdom of God cannot be severed either from Christ or from church[8]. According to the Eastern Orthodox or the Orthodox Catholic church, the second largest Christian church, Kingdom of God is present within the church that can be interacted to believers. To Christians, the Kingdom of God has an intuitive meaning while some scholars believe it to be associated with Christian lifestyle, some state it as a method of world evangelization while others state it to be a future world to come that has ultimately made it as a theological agenda.
One of the major discussion concerned with the Kingdom of God is whether it is a real kingdom or a figurative one. The church considers the Kingdom of God as a substantive kingdom that Jesus preached with his disciples. The kingdom is a literal one that would be established on Earth when Jesus will return to the Earth. The rules will be,as the Kingdom in which they are living now that will begin with Baptism, the removal of the sinful man and the rebirth of the human mind that will be dedicated to God[9].
The relation of church with The Kingdom of God
The relationship between the church and Kingdom of God is a delicate and eminently factual question. Due to the various ways that the church has construed this relationship, an ecclesiology has been raised. The church’s mission and identity raises certain implications, which make the question a debatable topic.
The liaison between the Kingdom of God and the church is often misconceived. According to the Christians, churches and kingdoms are identical and are the two names of the same concept. Geerhardus Vos argues that the view of Jesus as an organism of men and a church is found casually in his previous teaching. Jesus’s conclave of men is what Kingdom of God always seemed like[10]. A number of parables of wheat, chaff and fishnet (Matt. 13:47–50) have evidence to the fact. Nevertheless, in reality these two are absolutely different from each other as the Kingdom of God is very important to the church. From the primitive directive that Jesus proclaimed in (Mark 1:15) that states that the Kingdom of God is coming near so every human being should repent and believe in the good news which makes Jesus the establisher of the Kingdom of God. According to the Gospel, Jesus was invariably preaching about the kingdom or government of God[11]. With Jesus, the twelve apostles were sent to preach the same gospel though in the original theme, the word church has been mentioned twice.
The Kingdom has a much wider perception than the church. The Kingdom covers every aspect of life that is under the governance of God. Every human activity done on God’s will is included in his Kingdom that included every area he rules and every business that runs on Biblical theory[12]. God wants to expand his idea of kingdom into every area of life in two different ways. According to Jesus (John 3:5), a man cannot be included in the Kingdom of God unless he is made up of Water and Spirit. According to the Christian beliefs, men are born through the concept of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus will deliver the people from the power of devil that arises sickness. The church has no such implications on the lives of the individuals other than being a religious place to offer prayers and confess about the sins committed.
Even the Kingdom will expand whenever the Christians will transfer different conditions of their lives under the will of God. With the application of the principles of God in those activities that are under his jurisdiction, they have the right to be a part of the Kingdom of God. The authority of God expands in the same manner as Christians apply His rules into their lives and areas of workings. On the other hand, church has no such divine expansion policies as the kingdom and has to be expanded by physical means. Their monks through physical and spiritual connection with the Christians can preach the ideals and ideologies. The Kingdom of God runs on five spheres of authority and the concept becomes real when every sphere of authority is administered according to the will of God[13]. Every sphere of the world that follows his authority is under his kingdom whereas every sphere that contrasts this authority is beyond his governance. According to the rules of Kingdom of God, everything that is beyond the kingdom falls under the Kingdom of darkness, which is ruled and controlled by Satan characterized, by disunity and conflict as a result of human sin[14]. The only way to withdrawl the darkness is to resort to the means of Jesus that has resulted in the warfare between two parties. The common people resort to the construction of church to act it like a place of retreat from the world, to support Christians in their daily lives. Nevertheless, the church has become weak and irrelevant to the face of the world, as the church has been converted into a recruiting session and borstal institution for the Kingdom of God. The church recruits members by affirming the gospel and sends Christians to preach the gospel to the world. Christians should exercise authority in accordance to the Holy Bible. Though Jesus has talked about the Kingdom of God perpetually preaching the good news about the kingdom, he has mentioned the word church twice. However, the church spreads only the Gospel of the church and personal salvation. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God and the governance of God are not mentioned in the teachings of the church.
The church is only one component of the authority of Kingdom of God. Though it is denoted as a single entity, the church should always work of Holy Spirit in order to establish the Kingdom of God. Jesus has never looked for just a church but a triumphant church that has entranched the governance of God along with the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be asserted that Kingdom of God is the governance of God with all his rules and ideologies that has been preached by Jesus in The New Testament. There is a definite relation between the church and Kingdom of God though they are termed synonymous. The church is a means to establish the Kingdom of God in all the spheres of the world whereas the Kingdom is the end that should be established. Both has its own implications in the religion.
Azadegan, E. (2013). Divine hiddenness and human sin: The noetic effect of sin. Journal of Reformed Theology, 7(1), 69-90.
Boyd, G. A. (2014). Satan and the problem of evil: Constructing a Trinitarian warfare theodicy. InterVarsity Press.
Breed, B. W. (2014). Nomadic Text: A Theory of Biblical Reception History. Indiana University Press.
Brown, R. E. (2015). An introduction to the New Testament. Yale University Press.
Brunner, E. (2014). The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith, and the Consummation: Dogmatics: Vol. III. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Bultmann, R. (2014). The Gospel of John: a commentary (Vol. 1). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Byrne, B. (2015). The hospitality of God: A reading of Luke’s gospel. Liturgical Press.
Carter, A. (2013). Authority and Democracy (Routledge Library Editions: Political Science Volume 5) (Vol. 5). Routledge.
Marshall, C. D. (2015). Kingdom come: The kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Moloney, F. J. (2013). Constructing Jesus and the Son of man. Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 75(4), 719-738.
Spinks, B. D. (2017). Early and medieval rituals and theologies of baptism: from the New Testament to the Council of Trent. Routledge.
Tozer, A. W. (2015). The pursuit of God: The human thirst for the divine. Moody Publishers.
Vos, G. (2015). Pauline Eschatology. Ravenio Books.
Wallace Jr, W. S. (2017). Who Is the Lord?
]Marshall, C. D. (2015). Kingdom come: The kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
]Brown, R. E. (2015). An introduction to the New Testament. Yale University Press.
Wallace Jr, W. S. (2017). Who Is the Lord?.
Moloney, F. J. (2013). Constructing Jesus and the Son of man. Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 75(4), 719-738.
Tozer, A. W. (2015). The pursuit of God: The human thirst for the divine. Moody Publishers.
Boyd, G. A. (2014). Satan and the problem of evil: Constructing a Trinitarian warfare theodicy. InterVarsity Press.
Bultmann, R. (2014). The Gospel of John: a commentary (Vol. 1). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
runner, E. (2014). The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith, and the Consummation: Dogmatics: Vol. III. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Spinks, B. D. (2017). Early and medieval rituals and theologies of baptism: from the New Testament to the Council of Trent. Routledge.
Vos, G. (2015). Pauline Eschatology. Ravenio Books.
Byrne, B. (2015). The hospitality of God: A reading of Luke’s gospel. Liturgical Press.
Breed, B. W. (2014). Nomadic Text: A Theory of Biblical Reception History. Indiana University Press.
Carter, A. (2013). Authority and Democracy (Routledge Library Editions: Political Science Volume 5) (Vol. 5). Routledge.
Azadegan, E. (2013). Divine hiddenness and human sin: The noetic effect of sin. Journal of Reformed Theology, 7(1), 69-90.
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