Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Research Essay
Table of Contents
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Olivia Loh (Student ID No: HBC0810246)
Introduction
In this wonderful yet fearful time, men are asking questions. What does life
all mean? Where are we going? Does mankind have a destiny? While the world looks
towards materialism, the Hebrew-Christian faith expresses its hope in terms of the
Kingdom of God.
The “Kingdom of God” has always been central in Jesus’ message; When He
began His ministry, according to Matthew 4:23, Jesus went about Galilee
announcing the coming of the kingdom of God (NIV, 2008). Therefore, it is important
to understand this key theme in the Bible and to know its implications to us as
Christians so that we can be assured that when we seek first His “kingdom”
(Matthew 6:33, NIV, 2008), we are seeking the true “kingdom” that God has
The word “kingdom” is mentioned 342 times in the Bible, both in the Old and
the New Testament. But for the purpose of this essay, we will focus mainly on the
Synoptic Gospels1, which are the chapters Matthew, Mark and Luke in the Bible.
There are about one hundred references to the “kingdom of God” or the “kingdom
of heaven” in the Synoptic Gospels (Hagner, 2000). This is the key theme, which we
1
Matthew, Mark and Luke are referred to the ‘Synoptic Gospels’ because they not only share
a common framework but also a basic theological perspective, almost representing a single
Gospel account with its own distinct flavor to the narration of the life of Jesus. One of the key
theologies in the Synoptics is the announcement of the kingdom of God by Jesus.
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Olivia Loh (Student ID No: HBC0810246)
exercises his authority (Ladd cited in Winter, 1999). The dictionary follows this line
biblical meaning of “kingdom”, we must put aside all modern idioms to look at what
In the Synoptic Gospels, John the Baptist was the first to draw attention to the
coming of the “kingdom of God” (Mark 1:15, NIV, 2008). The Greek meaning of
Matthew, the author prefers the equivalent “kingdom of heaven”, which occurs 32
times (Hagner, 2000), due to Jewish sensitivity to using the name of ‘God’; while the
“kingdom of God” is more commonly used in the other Synoptic Gospels – occurring
13 times in Mark and 32 times in Luke. No matter which term is used, the primary
meaning of both the Hebrew word “malkuth” in the Old Testament and of the Greek
word “basileia” in the Old Testament is the “rank, authority and sovereignty
One reference in the Gospels makes this meaning very clear. In Luke 19:11-
12, “A noblemen went into a far country to receive a basileia and then return” (NIV,
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2008). The nobleman did not go away to get a physical realm, an area over which to
rule. The territory he was to rule was the place he left. The problem was, he was not
a king. What he needed was authority, the right to rule (Ladd, 1959). So, he went off
to get a “kingdom”, i.e. kingship, authority (Ladd, 1959). From this passage, we can
gather that the kingdom of God is God’s kingship, God’s rule and God’s authority. It
In Matthew 12:28 and Luke 11:20, this “kingdom” is said to have “come”
(NIV, 2008). The Greek word here for “come” is “ ”, which means “to come
suddenly and unexpectedly” (Zodhiates (Ed.), 2004). This emphasis on the present
becomes a Christian through the profession of one’s faith in Jesus Christ, the
follower enters the kingdom immediately. In Colosians 1:13, Paul writes that God
has “delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom
of His beloved Son” (Col 1:13, NIV). Likewise in Luke 16:16, Jesus proclaimed that
“the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing
his way into it”. These two verses make it very clear that once we believe, we are
Jesus said that we must “receive the Kingdom of God” as little children (Mark
10:15, NIV, 2008). What is received? Relating it to the true meaning of ‘basileia’,
what is received is God’s rule (Ladd, 1959), not a physical realm. When we pray,
“Thy Kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10), we are petitioning for God to reign; “to
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manifest His kingly sovereignty and power”; to put to flight every enemy of
righteousness; and of His divine rule that God alone may be King over all the world
(Ladd, 1959). When we give God sovereignty over our lives, we begin to experience
the ‘kingdom of God’, His reign, which is His divine sovereignty,in our lives.
In Luke 17:21 (NIV, 2008), Luke writes that the kingdom of God is “within
you”. If we read this verse as , ‘God’s rule is within you’, then this means that
spiritually, the kingdom of God is ruling within the human heart (Zodhiates (Ed.),
2004) – our emotions, our decisions and our thoughts. It is a very real and vital
sense in which God has already manifested His reign, His will, His Kingdom, through
faith in the life and death of Jesus Christ (Ladd, 1959). Thus, the Kingdom is a virtue
Similarly, Hagner (2000) explains also that the kingdom of God can be
our life here and now. Romans 14:17 (NIV, 2008) refers to the kingdom as “not a
matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit”. So, the kingdom is a present spiritual state or a real experience within a
Christian. And to enter into the ‘kingdom’, one must submit himself in perfect trust
We all live in a fallen world. What Jesus did through His redeeming salvation is
to offer to all human beings through His death and His resurrection a new life now.
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From the moment Jesus resurrected from the dead, He had begun establishing His
reign, His Kingdom, on earth. When we accept that Jesus died for us on the cross
and was resurrected three days later for our salvation, we, in effect, is saying that
we believe that Jesus reigns over men, the world and Satan. So, when we pray for
Him to be the God of our life, we are essentially conceiving the kingdom into our
lives. God had reestablished Hisgovernment in this age in the hearts and lives of
those who yield themselves to Him, and in the next age over all the world (Ladd,
1959).
So, through our salvation, the kingdom is a present reality that we can
experience. We personally come to understand and accept the rule of God in our
lives, in the present, when we acknowledge the sovereignty of Jesus in our life. At
the same time, it is clear from New Testament teaching that the Kingdom is not
perfectly realized in this age. Central to the Christian theology is the doctrine of the
“Second coming of Christ” (Ladd, 1959). God will bestow upon His people “an
inheritance” when Christ returns (Ladd, 1595). This inheritance is the future
kingdom. In Matthew 8:11 (NIV), Jesus tells His followers that, in that day,“many will
come from the east and west and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in
occurrence.
When we trace the word “aion” in New Testament, which translated means
“age” (Zodhiates, 2004), we discover that there are two ages which are frequently
called “This Age” and “The Age to Come”. In Matthew 12:32 (NIV, 2008), “anyone
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who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks
against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come”.
Clearly, the Lord is not speaking of two worlds but two ages, which further
translated is “an indefinitely long period or lapse of time, perpetuity, ever, forever,
eternity” (Zodhiates, 2004). These two ages are separated by the second coming of
the Christ.
In the Age to come, when Christ returns, He will establish His kingdom and
get rid of the dominion of Satan, creating a new “heaven and earth”, which was
revealed to John when he wrote the book of Revelations (Rev 21:1, NIV) where he
proclaimed that he saw a new heaven and a new earth, “for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea”. Ladd (Cited in
Wimber, 1989) writes, in A Theology of the New Testament, that “this age, is the
age of human existence in weakness and mortality. The Age to come will see the
realization of all that the reign of God means, and will be the age of resurrection into
eternal life in the Kingdom of God” (Ladd, cited in Wimber 1989:48). The kingdom of
God is therefore also a future realm we will enter. We often refer to this realm as
“heaven” or “eternity”.
never experience the full blessings of God’s Kingdom in this Age until the victorious
Coming of Christ (Ladd, 1959). Men cannot build the Kingdom of God. Christ will
bring it.
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This future kingdom will be more than just a spiritual realm as Jesus’ followers
experience a new existence. It will be a glorious time. Jesus told of the day when the
angels “will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers…Then the
righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:41, 43,
NIV). On the other hand, when asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom will come,
Jesus answered, “The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor
will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or, ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the
midst of you (Luke 17:20-21, NKJV). While it seemed like Jesus flat out discouraged
the Pharisees to look for a future kingdom, it is clear that the Kingdom is at work in
the present world and in the future (Goldsworthy, 2000). God is an omnipresent God
who is not defined by human understanding, as was revealed to the prophet Isaiah
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). While this seems impossible to
So, this Kingdom of God belongs to the present as well as the future (Ladd,
1959). As Ladd so poetically writes, we are now living in the days of “the presence
of the future” (Ladd, 1959). The kingdom exists now as a present experience of
God’s rule in our lives when we decide to follow Jesus wholeheartedly (Matthew
21:31) but also as future realm into which we will enter (Matthew 8:11) as true
children of God for eternity. Knowing our future inheritance forms the basis of our
hope for our future in Christ and encourages us to stay strong now for the “prize
before us” (Philippians 3:14, NIV) that is a promised reality to all Christians, when
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Olivia Loh (Student ID No: HBC0810246)
Implications to us as Christians
Experiencing a new life in God’s kingdom brings blessings and victory over
I believe that the journey of new life for every Christian begins with our
professing of faith in Christ, but it must not end there. Every believer of Christ
should learn to let God “reign” in our lives, thus, entrust our life to God, obey His
word and seek His will. This is the process that is spoken of by Paul in his letter to
the Romans when he encouraged the believers in Rome to “not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
(Romans 12:2). Then every believer will be able to find and know what God's will is,
which is good, pleasing and perfect (Rom 12:2, NIV, 2008). When we observe God in
this way, we are will begin to see His kingdom unfold within our very own lives.
Likewise, in Matthew 5:3, Jesus teaches that those who are ‘poor in spirit’ will
receive the “kingdom of heaven” (NIV, 2008). Professor Finney (1844), explains that
the poor in spirit “implied that we understand our own guilt and helplessness, and
realize as a practical fact our own utter emptiness by nature of everything good,
and of any tendency to that which is good”. So, those who are humble will thus, be
able to let go of our own pride to let God lead our lives into His wonderful plans.
Walking in God’s kingdom is when we are totally free because we are living
the life we are truly created to live – in an intimate relationship with Christ and
fulfilling His purposes in our life. As we do that, Jesus will also bless us physically,
though that should not be our incentive to serve God, but understand it as God’s
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gracious blessing when we honour Him. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus taught his followers
to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” and when they do, all their needs
will be met as Jesus promised that “all these things will be given to you as well”
(NIV, 2008). I believe that Jesus meant every word when He said “all” things,
referring to all “needs” will be ours to receive when we are seeking His way and
The church, the gathering of His people, is where God reigns. As Carson
kingship in Christ, we hold that the culminating, saving reign of God has already
exemplification of the running tension between the "already" and the "not yet"
kingdom of God that we explored in previous parts of this essay. As Carson reminds
that is tied with the new heaven and the new earth. It is intrinsically more important
and more enduring than its ties with this world that is passing away (Carson, 1990).
Christians are citizens of the “new Jerusalem” (Revelations 2:12) and the church
plays a huge part in steering all believers towards the consummation of this reality
in the future through its ministry and activities such as evangelism, teaching, social
responsibilities and prayer (Carson, 1990). It is the church that joins every believer
in every generation towards this common goal of the kingdom of God that awaits us
in the future.
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Olivia Loh (Student ID No: HBC0810246)
Conclusion
Firstly, it is God’s reign. Secondly, some passages refer to the kingdom of God as
the realm into which we now enter to experience the blessing of His reign. And
thirdly, other passages refer to it as the establishment of God’s new heaven and
earth when Jesus returns a second time to rule and reign for good overall creation,
when we will enter into the fullness of His reign and experience God’s total glory on
spiritual blessing we can experience now and also the realm of the “age to come” in
the future, popularly known as heaven. With this understanding fastened into our
belt of truth, let us confidently proclaim “His kingdom come and His will be done” on
earth now and in heaven in the future. And this is every Christian’s sure and blessed
hope.
Amen.
(2695 words)
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Olivia Loh (Student ID No: HBC0810246)
Bibliography
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Finney (1844). “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit”. Gospel of Truth Ministries.
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Ladd, G (1959). The Gospel of the Kingdom: Popular Expositions of the Kingdom of
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Olivia Loh (Student ID No: HBC0810246)
NIV: New International Version (1984). Used with permission by International Bible
Society. Biblegateway.com (2008). Gospel Communications International.
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