This is my first graduate level paper... I think it's about the same as my other papers, but I haven't had time to write blog posts because I've been writing stuff like this. I hope you enjoy it! Ask yourself, "What do I think Jesus meant by 'the kingdom of God'?"
INTRODUCTION
The kingdom of God (KoG) is one of the few major biblical
themes that literally spans from the beginning of the book to the end. It is in
Genesis 1 and 2 that we see God creating a kingdom on earth to rule, and it is
in Revelation 21 and 22 that we see the New Heaven, New Earth, and New
Jerusalem become the ultimate, perfect kingdom that God will one day rule from
within, walking amongst his people once more. But in the Gospels Jesus is seen
preaching, “the gospel [good news] of the kingdom of God,”[1]
“the kingdom of heaven is like…”[2]
and “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[3]The
questions that then spring to mind are similar to the following: Was Jesus
preaching about a different kingdom of God than the one that spans the full
bible? Is there a difference between “the kingdom of heaven” and “the kingdom
of God”? If the “kingdom of heaven” was at hand then, is it still? Has “the
kingdom of heaven” been established? What is the nature or substance of “the
kingdom of God”, literal, spiritual, figurative, or all? Unfortunately, not all
of the questions can be answered conclusively, and there isn’t space to give
them all a worthy treatment. Instead, this paper will focus only on scratching
the surface of the question, “What is the kingdom of God”? The main goal will
be to define the concept. First, the basic components of any kingdom will be
defined, then the concept of the KoG in the Bible as a whole, and then in
Matthew in particular.
