THE KINGDOM RECLASSIFIED

There is a lot of emphasis today on "kingdom" in the body of Christ. Every time you look around someone is talking about gaining kingdom riches or kingdom wealth as a sign of righteousness. The word itself though requires some definition, classification, and amplification in order to properly comprehend the doctrine. I have for the last five years been developing teachings on kingdom principles that address a fundamental perspective of scripture.

Some confide the kingdom of God to Israel; others to the institutional church; and still others to the universal invisible realm of spiritual warfare that is fill of demonic attacks and strange encounters. Whatever your viewpoint, let's examine what the scriptures say on this issue.

Jesus preached about the kingdom of God in two aspects: salvation or deliverance and supernatural government. Salvation - deliverance from religious, social, economic, and demonic oppression. Jesus also addressed a social and a revolutionary message for people to grasp.  He announced Kingdom Government - a new era of spiritual authority and dominion for God's people. For Israel, they thought, it meant release from Roman rule and the restoration of the glory days of Solomon's Temple. A return to national salvation for the people of God. However, Jesus was announcing a new order, a new day, a fresh awakening. He declared it both as deliverance and restoration.

In His parables Jesus spoke of the kingdom in many different ways. He said that the kingdom is like a farmer (Matt. 13:24), a seed (Matt. 13:31), a yeast (Matt. 13:33), a treasure (Matt. 13:44), a pearl merchant (Matt. 13:45), a fishnet (Matt. 13:47), an employer (Matt. 20:1), a king inviting people to a marriage feast (Matt. 22:2), and ten young women (Matt. 25:1). He spoke also of the glad tidings of the kingdom (Luke 8:1) and of the mystery of the kingdom of God (Mark 4:11). As you can see Jesus used many metaphors to describe the nature of the kingdom to the audience of His day.

The problem is that while Jesus spoke Aramaic during his earthly life, the Gospel writers translated Jesus' sermons and parables into koine Greek many years after his death. Mark, Luke, and John translated Jesus' words as "kingdom of God" and Matthew often used this phrase too, but sometimes he preferred to translate Jesus' Aramaic words as "kingdom of heaven." The two phrases meant exactly the same thing, because they are translations from the same Aramaic words of Jesus. So the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven seem to be variations of the same idea. No matter how some try to place importance in terms instead of substance, it is a style that Matthew chose to convey to his Jewish readers. A style that points to the establishment of a Jewish kingdom being rebirthed according to rabbic tradition and over zealous interpreters.

 The real issue is that a kingdom implies a king and our king is Jesus Christ. When you announce a kingdom you challenge the current establishment.  Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). While people in His day and today were expecting an earthly kingdom, Jesus was building an organism of believers who would embrace the kingdom in fellowship and relationship. Jesus' authority did not come from the establishment of His day, but from God (Luke 22:29). It should be noted that as far as the visibility of the kingdom, he did not come to establish an earthly empire or a region. Nor did he come to announce supremacy of one people over another. He did announce lordship over our lives as we submit to his Will. He did denounce current religious trends and selfish traditions. He did promise an everlasting kingdom and a relationship with His followers that would be eternal.

Our next issue is to approach accessibility to the kingdom. Jesus pointed out that entrance into the kingdom of God is by a new birth, a change of thinking (John 3:5), assisted by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Repentance (Matt. 3:2), a change of mind and heart and Paul emphasized a divine call of God for service (1 Thess. 2:12). We are told to seek the kingdom of God first (Matt. 6:33) above all else and to pray for its arrival (Matt. 6:10) as an end-time fulfillment. Paul later stated that "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17).  An emphasis that we should not expect tangible things to be manifested as a sign of kingdom living.