This subject is more complicated than we might think – or at least, people make it complicated! So as well as thinking about what the Kingdom is, we will also consider:
- Is it different from the Kingdom of Heaven?
- Is it here now?
- Will it come in the future?
- What are the signs we should look for?
Let’s start with what it is.
We probably know what a kingdom is: a territory or political entity ruled by a king or queen. the United Kingdom (the name gives it away) is a combination of little kingdoms; Norway and Denmark are kingdoms; France and the USA are not. They have a different constitution. How does that apply to the Bible?
A kingdom needs a king.
Luke 23:2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”
John 18:33 Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
So it is clear that Jesus is the King, but this raises a different point: is the Kingdom just Israel, if Jesus is called “King of the Jews”? The are two parts to the answer. One part is the idea of “Spiritual” Israel and the second part is the Kingdom growing to fill the whole world.
Romans 11 explains that Israel is like a vine. Some natural branches (Israel) are broken off, so that branches from the wild vine (gentiles or non-Jews) can be grafted in to the vine (spiritual Israel).
In the Book of Daniel, it tells of different worlds empires (the empires of Men) that are crushed by the Kingdom of God which will grow to feel the whole world.
Daniel 2:44 “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Is the Kingdom of Heaven the same as the Kingdom of God? yes, the terms are interchangeable.
Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
This would suggest the Kingdom was going to come at that time, when Jesus was on earth.
Is it here now?
Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
These famous words are from what is called “The Lord’s Prayer”. In this model prayer, the followers of Jesus are told to pray for the Kingdom, which must mean that it isn’t here yet. If we needed confirmation, the Kingdom will be a place where God’s Will is done. It doesn’t need much of a look round the present world to see it is not a place where the will of God is being done. Later in the chapter, we are told to seek the Kingdom.
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Again, if the Kingdom was already here, it wouldn’t require much seeking! Once more:
7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
It is not saying the Kingdom is here – but it does seem to be saying that the Kingdom is close.
So what needs to happen?
Unsurprisingly, God has a plan! Things will not be left to chance or random events. The outline plan is laid out in 1 Corinthians 15:
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
We can see that the first part of the plan has been fulfilled: Jesus has been raised from the dead! The next step is the raising of those of Christ’s followers who have fallen asleep (died). This has not yet happened.
50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.
And in 1 Thessalonians 4:
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
This tells us that will happen but perhaps not “when”. For that, we need to read Matthew chapter 24 which talks about what will happen in the lead-up to the return of Jesus.
29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
31 “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Summary
So we have seen that the Kingdom OF Heaven is not actually IN Heaven. It will be set up on earth, when Jesus comes back. The faithful followers of Jesus from all generations will be raised from the sleep of death to be joined with those alive at his return and be with Jesus forever.