{"id":3790,"date":"2021-08-15T12:28:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T17:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/?page_id=3790"},"modified":"2025-06-11T15:24:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:24:03","slug":"heaven-and-gods-word-on-heaven","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/?page_id=3790","title":{"rendered":"Kingdom of God 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Noone<\/span><\/p>\n

The Kingdom of God…What it’s Like<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0THE KINGDOM OF GOD<\/span><\/p>\n

The theme of the kingdom of God runs through both Testaments, <\/span>focusing God\u2019s purpose for world history. In Old Testament times God declared <\/span>that he would exercise his kingship (his sovereignty, Dan. 4:34-35<\/b>) by <\/span>setting up his kingdom (his rule or reign over people\u2019s lives and <\/span>circumstances) under his chosen king (the Davidic Messiah, Isa. 9:6-7<\/b>) <\/span>in a golden age of blessing.<\/span><\/p>\n

This kingdom came with Jesus the Messiah as a worldwide relational reality, <\/span>existing wherever the lordship of Jesus is acknowledged in repentance, faith,<\/span>
\nand new obedience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus, the Spirit-anointed, Spirit-filled ruler-designate (Luke 3:21-22<\/b>; 4:1<\/b>, 14<\/b>, 18-21<\/b>, 32-36<\/b>, 41<\/b>), <\/span>died, rose, ascended, and is now enthroned in heaven as ruler over all things <\/span>(Matt. 28:18<\/b>; Col. 1:13<\/b>), King of kings and Lord of lords <\/span>(Rev. 17:14<\/b>; 19:16<\/b>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The golden age of blessing is an era of present spiritual benefit (salvation <\/span>from sin and fellowship with God) leading to a future state of unmixed joy in<\/span>
\na reconstructed universe.<\/span><\/p>\n

The kingdom is present in its beginnings though future in its fullness; in <\/span>one sense it is here already, but in the richest sense it is still to come <\/span>(Luke 11:20<\/b>; 16:16<\/b>; 17:21<\/b>; 22:16<\/b>, 18<\/b>, <\/span>29-30<\/b>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The kingdom came as not only mercy but also judgment, just as John the <\/span>Baptist, its forerunner, had said it would (Matt. 3:1-12<\/b>). Those who<\/span>
\nobediently received Jesus\u2019 Word and put their destiny in his hands found <\/span>mercy, while the Jewish leadership, which would not do this, was judged.<\/span><\/p>\n

Strictly speaking, the Jewish leaders were self-judged, for <\/span>they chose to live in darkness by retreating from the Savior (John 3:17-20<\/b>). The task of the church is to make the invisible kingdom visible <\/span>through faithful Christian living and witness-bearing. The gospel of Christ <\/span>is still the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:23<\/b>; 24:14<\/b>; Acts
\n20:25<\/b>; 28:23<\/b>, 31<\/b>), the good news of righteousness, peace, <\/span>and joy in the Holy Spirit through entering a disciple\u2019s relationship to the <\/span>living Lord (Rom. 14:17<\/b>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The church must make its message credible by manifesting the reality of <\/span>kingdom life. The coming of the kingdom meant a new stage in God\u2019s<\/span>
\nredemptive-historical program. The Messiah arrived, redeemed, and withdrew to <\/span>his throne with a promise that he would come again. All that was typical,<\/span>
\ntemporary, and imperfect in the God-given arrangements for Israel\u2019s communion <\/span>with himself became a thing of the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s Israel, Abraham\u2019s seed, was redefined as the company of believers in <\/span>Jesus (Gal. 3:16<\/b>, 26-29<\/b>). The Spirit was poured out, and a new<\/span>
\nway of life, namely life in Christ and with Christ, became a reality of this <\/span>world. Thus the new internationalism of global church fellowship and global<\/span>
\nevangelism was born (Eph. 2:11-18<\/b>; 3:6<\/b>, 14-15<\/b>; Rev. 5:9-10<\/b>; 7:9<\/b>; Matt. 28:19-20<\/b>; Col. 1:28-29<\/b>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Although these were great changes, none of them meant that a new set of moral <\/span>standards emerged, as is sometimes supposed. The moral law for Christians,<\/span>
\nthe law of God\u2019s present kingdom, is the law found in the Ten Commandments <\/span>and the prophets, now applied to the new situation. Jesus has not abolished<\/span>
\nthat law but has merely filled out its meaning (Matt. 5:17-48<\/b>).<\/span><\/p>\n

This article was excerpted from Concise Theology<\/span>: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs by J. I. Packer.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Heaven<\/a>,\u00a0Heaven Main<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0Heaven 3<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0Heaven 4<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Heaven 5<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Heaven 6<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Heaven 7<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Heaven 8<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Heaven 9 <\/strong><\/a>Heaven 10<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Heaven 11<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Heaven 12<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Heaven 13<\/a> Heaven 14<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kingdom of God…What it’s Like \u00a0THE KINGDOM OF GOD The theme of the kingdom of God runs through both Testaments, focusing God\u2019s purpose for world history. In Old Testament times God declared that he would exercise his kingship (his sovereignty, Dan. 4:34-35) by setting up his kingdom (his rule or reign over people\u2019s lives […]<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":399,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"wf_page_folders":[17,29,86,46],"class_list":["post-3790","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3790\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wf_page_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwf_page_folders&post=3790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}