What is the Kingdom of God?

It’s not a vague spiritual reality and you're supposed to just have enough faith it is all around you all the time; or within you; or some place you go when you die.

From Genesis to Jesus, it is one consistent promise:

God dwelling with His people

on a restored earth under His rule.

In Eden, God was with man in paradise. That was lost. A Messiah is promised to restore this.

In Genesis 17, God promises Abraham a people, a land, and that He will be their God showing us that from this land He will accomplish His will of restoration.

In Exodus 15, He declares He will bring them in, plant them on His holy mountain, and dwell among them as King. 

2 Samuel 7 this Messiah is shown to be the son of David- born within the nation of Israel. He will: 

“appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly,

— 2 Samuel 7:10

Daniel 7 shows us this Messiah and tells us the timing of this inheritance: 

“I kept looking in the night visions,

And behold, with the clouds of heaven

One like a Son of Man was coming,

And He came up to the Ancient of Days

And was presented before Him.

“And to Him was given dominion,

Glory and a kingdom,

That all the peoples, nations and men of every language

Might serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

Which will not pass away;

And His kingdom is one

Which will not be destroyed.

— Daniel 7:13-14

But we are shown that after the final blasphemous ruler is judged and destroyed:

I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.

— Daniel 7:21-22

The apostles understood this. After Jesus’ resurrection they asked:

“Is it now You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus didn’t correct them—only told them to wait…

So they “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

— Acts 14:22.

Paul further clarifies:

“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom.”

The Kingdom comes with the resurrection.

Jesus confirms this directly:

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne… Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

— Matthew 25:31-34

The timeline never changes, it’s the same every time:

•rebellion and oppression

•the coming of the Son of Man

•judgment

•resurrection life

•then the Kingdom is given to the saints

The Kingdom of God is an entirely future physical reality based on the promises of Law and the Prophets being fulfilled.

It is something you inherit when Jesus returns, raises the dead, restores the earth, and dwells with His people.

So: Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

— Acts 3:19-21

Because the kingdom of God is at hand! Maranatha! - Stephen Holmes

Theology 101: The amillennial claim that Satan’s binding in Rev 20:1-3 is just limited to the act of deceiving the nations doesn’t fit the severity of the language in light of its clear Enochian background of the binding and imprisoning of wicked demons. If I say, “The murderer was captured, shackled, and sent to prison so he can’t kill anymore,” nobody in their right mind would assume, “Oh, but he’s freed from jail to commit lesser crimes like theft, vandalism, and assault!” - Dr. Michael Svigel

When someone says, “The Jews rejected Jesus, so God rejected them,” this is my response:

“Many believed in His name…” — John 2:23

“Many of the people believed in Him…” — John 7:31

“As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him” — John 8:30

“Many of the Jews… believed in Him” — John 11:45

“Many even of the authorities believed in Him…” — John 12:42

Not a few. Not a fringe.

Many… Jews.

All four Gospels record the triumphal entry—roads lined with Jews openly declaring Him as Messiah:

“Hosanna!

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

— John 12:13

That’s not rejection, that’s recognition.

Then Acts:

3,000 Jews believe after Peter’s first sermon and he tells them:

“The promise is for you and your children…” — Acts 2:39

Still speaking to Israel.

Then 5,000 more:

“The number of the men came to be about five thousand” — Acts 4:4

Then it keeps growing:

“Multitudes of men and women were constantly added…” — Acts 5:14

“A great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith” — Acts 6:7

Yes, even Jewish priests.

And later:

“You see… how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed.” — Acts 21:20

Thousands.

Not rejecting, responding.

The apostles themselves were Jews, the first among the remnant of Israel to believe Jesus was the Messiah.

Paul says it plainly:

“Has God rejected His people? May it never be!

For I too am an Israelite…” — Romans 11:1

So the claim that “the Jews rejected Jesus, therefore God rejected them” is not simply wrong, it is actually built on a false premise that the Scriptures themselves do not support. It exposes the influence of imposed Gentile frameworks and familiar phrases that shape how people come to believe things about the Bible that the Bible itself does not say. This is what I call the gentile Christian matrix… until you unplug you don’t know you’re in it. You actually think you read the Bible correctly when you’re making grave errors like assigning the entire nation of Israel in Jesus’ day the blanket label of unbelief. - Stephen Holmes

"I believe we Gentiles have been very guilty concerning a large portion of God’s truth. I believe that we have cherished an arbitrary, reckless habit of interpreting 1st-Advent texts literally and 2nd-Advent texts spiritually. I believe we have not rightly understood ‘all that the prophets have spoken’ about the 2nd personal Advent of Christ any more than the Jews did about the 1st.” - JC Ryle

Anyone who can raise Himself from the dead is strong enough to also raise me up from the dead. - Bob Sorge

"There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." (Rom. 2:9)

The Jews still being the Chosen People does not mean they get off Scot-free for their sins. It just means human evil cannot cancel out an eternal, divine covenant. - Travis M. Snow

“Save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Matthew 27:40

Ahh.

Now we know what the devil was up to in the wilderness.

“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Matthew 4:3

Jesus was already on the Calvary Road of self-denial.

Satan was desperate to get him off. - John Piper

Replacement Theology robs us of one of the most powerful apologetic arguments for the truth of the Bible. The Bible describes our current geopolitical situation in amazing detail:

• The Jewish people scattered across the earth (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64). 
• The miraculous rebirth of Israel and return of the exiles (Isaiah 11:11–12; Ezekiel 36:24; 37:21–22; Amos 9:14–15). 
• The descendants of Ishmael becoming a great people warring against themselves (Genesis 16:10–12; 17:20). 
• The whole world drunk on the “luxurious living” of Babylon (Revelation 18:3, 7, 9–19). 
• The surrounding nations turning against Israel (Zechariah 12:2–3; 14:2).
• Jerusalem becoming a “cup of trembling” (Zechariah 12:2–3; Zechariah 14:2; Joel 3:1–2). 
• The nations being against the temple (Psalm 79:1; Luke 21:24; Revelation 11:1–2). 
• Many of the nation’s currently fighting Israel are even in the same geographic location of the ancient enemies of Israel (Psalm 83:1–8; Ezekiel 35:10; 36:2). 
• It even predicts the rise of those who scoff (spiritualize?) at the coming of Christ and the fulfillment of prophecies (2 Peter 3:3–4; Jude 1:17–18).

It's impossible for this to be a coincidence. It’s time for Christians to wake up and reject Replacement Theology. - Johnathon Grimwood

When I come to the cross, I want to help Him. I want to fix it. I want to help Him save me. But all I can do is sit and watch while He saves me. I bring nothing to the cross, He does everything. - Allen Hood

My teaching on Jesus' prediction of suffering from Luke 9. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

Paul the apostle (esp. 1 Cor. 15; and 2 Cor. 4:16—5:10), the author of Hebrews (esp. chs. 1—2), and the author of the Gospel of John (esp. 1:1–14) are history's most consequential metaphysicians and it isn't particularly close--the audacity to baptize and to raise Middle Platonist and Stoic metaphysics in the christological reception of the Jewish creational tradition. - Chris Kugler

I know it's hard to see all the evil hatred of Zionism, Jewish people, Israel, etc. that masquerades as something intelligible or God-honoring.

But you also need to remember that, ultimately, this is all by God's sovereign design. He says in Zechariah 12:2-3:

“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling...I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will severely injure themselves."

It is God Himself who is allowing the Israel Derangement Syndrome because He has a case against the nations and is leading them to judgment.

Our task is to discern the times, the Scriptures, and to choose where we stand. Do not be flabbergasted and shaken from your poise because the Scriptures are moving towards their fulfillment.

God is right on schedule. And soon, He will be "the Holy One in Israel":

"So I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel." (Ezek. 39:7)

-Travis M. Snow

Simon of Cyrene, when you carried the cross, you thought you were saving Jesus from a burden He couldn’t carry, but actually He was saving you from a burden you couldn’t carry. - Bob Sorge

The cross demonstrates that when you know you have everything, you can die with nothing. - Bob Sorge

The gospel doesn’t awaken you to who you truly are; it kills and resurrects you into a gloriously new and different identity. - Bob Sorge

In Acts 1.6 the apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

John Calvin commented: “There are as many errors in this question as words.”

But Calvin, otherwise rightly beloved in many respects, was himself the one who erred. For Jesus did not correct or rebuke the content of their question. Rather, he said:

“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (vv. 7-8)

He affirmed the restoration of the kingdom to Israel as an epoch that “the Father has fixed by his own authority.” Then He said essentially that it wasn’t their business to figure out its timing, but to pray, receive the power of the Spirit, and to bear faithful witness to Christ as messengers of the Gospel. -BA Purtle

There are some keys that, if You are to handle them, You must have scars in Your hands. - Bob Sorge

Learn the contours of 1st Century Jewish Apocalypticism—it is absolutely the interpretive framework of Jesus and the Apostles. Also, learn the contours of the Greek (pagan) philosophical worldview—it is the underlying interpretive framework of perhaps half of the Christian Church today. - Joel Richardson

“While the foolish virgins were going to buy oil, the bridegroom came.” Matthew 25:10

You can’t make yourself love the second coming at the second coming.

“The righteous judge will award to me a crown of righteousness on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8

-John Piper

Theology 101: Every eschatology—whether amillennial, premillennial, or postmillennial—has death on earth during the millennial kingdom of Rev 20. Only in classic premillennialism is death reduced to a mere trickle while the world is gradually freed from its bondage to corruption. - Dr. Michael Svigel

Paul is not contradicting himself when he speaks of a remnant now and all Israel later. He is tracing the same prophetic sequence:

• Now: a remnant by grace.
• Meanwhile: a partial hardening.
• Then: a future moment when Deliverer-from-Zion removes ungodliness from Jacob.

The end result: Israel as Israel is no longer split into a segment that is faithful and a segment that is unfaithful.

Paul explains that Israel remains covenantally significant:

“for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

That is a sledgehammer against any theology that treats the prophetic promises to Israel as nullified in a way that denies the original promises as referring to Israel (all Israel—both faithful and unfaithful). Paul’s point is not merely that God saves individuals; it is that God will be faithful to His historical promises. - Joel Richardson, The Remnant Now, All Israel Then

Paul’s argument in Romans 11 is built on this prophetic structure. He affirms that at this present time there is only a remnant of believing Israelites, and a current hardening on the rest. But he also speaks of a future moment when the hardening is lifted and “all Israel will be saved.” When Paul says “all Israel,” he is not denying that it is only a remnant; he is bringing the remnant pattern to its promised climax. - Joel Richardson, The Remnant Now, All Israel Then

If Jesus truly inaugurated the new creation, wherein sin and the curse are overturned, then we foremost ought to campaign for the deposing of wicked leaders, for total social equality, for environmental restoration, etc. (as indeed many inaugurationalists have done). If our inheritance and resurrection has already begun, then where is the impetus to take up our cross in this life and endure martyrdom (Luke 9:23; 14:27)? Why should we follow in the footsteps of our Master (1 Peter 2:21), enduring hardships “while suffering unjustly” (v.19)? Why are we called to hate our lives in this age (Luke 14:26; John 12:25), laying down our lives as Jesus did (John 15:13; 1 John 3:16)? Why should we rejoice in persecution (Matt. 5:12; Acts 5:41)? What is the purpose of being the scum of the earth in this age, paraded around like those condemned to die in the arena (1 Cor. 4:9–13)? Why should we love our lives not unto death (Rev.12:11)? Why should we be those “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus. . . always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:10–11)? And why should we “share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings” (2 Cor. 1:5), being “united with him in a death like his” (Rom. 6:5), rejoicing “in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings” (1 Peter 4:13), “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col.1:24), “becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10)? Why should we sell our possessions and give to the needy (Luke 12:33; Acts 2:45), joyfully accepting the confiscation of our property (Heb. 10:34)? Why should we soberly prepare our minds for grievous trials, setting our hope fully on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6–13)? If our inheritance has already been inaugurated, why then should we heed Paul’s radical exhortation to forsake living for this age in every area of life: 

This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none,and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.(1 Cor. 7:29–31)

John P. Harrigan, the Gospel of Christ Crucified

Furthermore, these two axes of Augustinianism (immaterial heavenly destiny and actualized divine sovereignty) have produced, broadly speaking, the deviant expressions of praxis found in monasticism and Christendom. We naturally seek to be “imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1). If the mission of God is ultimately to escape from materiality, then we will conform our lives to this end, and monasticism is the most logical response. Taking up the cross (cf. Luke 9:23 and par.) within Christoplatonism is thus assumed to be asceticism in its various forms, and Simeon Stylites (c. 390–459), who spent nearly forty years atop a desert pillar, would be the exemplar heavenly destiny disciple. 

Conversely, bearing the cross, according to Christendom, is understood in terms of denying yourself for the cause of extending the sovereignty of God over the earth, as exemplified in the Crusades when banners displaying the cross led the Christian armies in holy war against the infidels. Dominionists to this day continue to receive the same false vision of Constantine concerning the cross: “In this sign, conquer!” (in Latin, In hoc signo vinces). I believe both of these distortions are at odds with the cruciform-apocalyptic mission of God, and they militate against a true expression of the cross, in both word and deed, regarding the present mercy of God in light of the coming severity of God.  - John P. Harrigan, the Gospel of Christ Crucified, p.86

When we "pray for the peace of Jerusalem," we're not merely praying for the absence of geopolitical strife in the region. We're praying for "the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." - BA Purtle

Without a biblical theology of Israel men are bound to make either more or less than they should of the modern State/Land.

The Bible alone makes sense of the historic preservation, controversy, chastening (and future redemption) of the Jewish People.

Get clear on this, saints. - BA Purtle

As previously mentioned, the term “Christ” is little more than Jesus’ proper name in much of the popular mind. In the early church, however, one’s identity as a believer was dictated by his or her faith and confession that Jesus was “the Christ.” As John says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” (1 John 5:1). Put bluntly, the distortion of messianic expectation robs people of their identity as children of God. Moreover, it robs people of their boldness in bearing the Christian name—as Peter exhorts, “If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name” (1 Peter 4:16, csb). The name that we bear as followers of Jesus inherently confesses our messianic hope. - John P. Harrigan, the Gospel of Christ Crucified, p.137-138

The surest road to wisdom is meditation upon the Word of God. - Charles Spurgeon

“The atonement never fluctuates. It never rises or falls in value.” — Charles Spurgeon

 

 

You are called today to love messy people, but the God of love, because of his love, provides what you need to be able to love as he loves. ~ Paul Tripp

When approval becomes your fuel...

...exhaustion and anxiety are never far behind. - Lee Cummings

“I consider the principal enemies of the Gospel to be, not the pontiff of Rome, nor heretics, nor seducers, nor tyrants, but bad Christians.” - John Calvin

Praying for your ministers will be a manifest proof of you believing that though Paul plant, and Apollos water, yet it is God alone who gives the increase. - George Whitefield

Jesus and the apostles overwhelmingly look forward—not backward or to the present—to the Messianic reign. - Joel Richardson

“There can be no true and full preaching of the Gospel without explaining the mystery of Israel.” - Adolph Saphir

It's not our great missions strategies or organizations. It's mostly just the internet. Muslims are coming to the Lord en masse because "information for the first time in 1400 years is finally accessible." The real question is, into what redemptive narrative will these new believers be discipled? - John P. Harrigan

“If,” says the King of Glory, “If My Kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight” to prevent His crucifixion. We can fairly infer here that through the three years Jesus spent in itinerant ministry with His discipleship team leading up to this moment, He deliberately did not shape them with some brand of nationalism, either violent or peaceful. This has been misunderstood by many teachers and commentators in the years since to justify their misguided allegorization of promises made to Abraham, as if truth and beauty are singularly spiritual with no impact on physical creation—as if the Gospel of the Kingdom bears neither care nor jurisdiction over our bodies, or our living space. As if creation is not “groaning for the redemption.”  For this reason, we have abused the last conversation between these same disciples and Jesus before His Ascension with a wildly arrogant accusation against the apostles:

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

 

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

This conversation took place at the conclusion of forty days wherein the resurrected Jesus taught His disciples specifically “things pertaining to the Kingdom,” but pastors and theologians across Christendom have long surmised, “Those silly Jews just couldn’t get their eyes off the dirt, those foolish Zionist nationalists! Don’t they understand that the Kingdom is spiritual now??”

While it is true that nationalism is incongruent with the Gospel of the Kingdom, these men had reason to believe the Kingdom soon-to-be restored to Israel is the same Kingdom Jesus spoke of to Pilate just the month prior— it is this Kingdom that birthed their nation in God’s earliest promises to their father Abraham. This had a radical consequence on Abraham’s life, all his decisions, and even created the dust storm that is Middle Eastern geopolitics today, shaped by the hurricane that is the “controversy of Zion.” - Stephanie Quick, Promise and Pursuit: Abraham's Holy Dream

"Too many evangelical scholars operate within the confines of post-enlightenment unbelief." -Jim Hamilton

"You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary" - Jonathan Edwards

The OT prophets, the Olivet Discourse, and Revelation present a consistent pattern: 

(1) this present age gives way to 

(2) a global Day of the Lord, 

(3) that Day culminates in Messiah’s coming to earth, and 

(4) His appearing establishes His kingdom over the nations. 

- Michael Vlach

A passage of Scripture may mean more than its original author understood it to mean (due to the nature of progressive revelation), but it cannot mean less nor entirely other than he understood it to mean. This principle is sometimes violated by proponents of NT priority. - BA Purtle

Interestingly, we find ourselves in a unique moment in Western civilization: At once, the faith that fueled the apostles’ earnest expectation for a Kingdom restored to Israel is being scorned worldwide as carnal nationalism, while many who decry this testimony are themselves attempting to leverage the Gospel of the Kingdom for political power and influence in non-covenantal nations—as if God mandated all Christians everywhere to fight for a kingdom that is of this world. As if Jesus did not say what He did to Pontius Pilate. As if He did not allow the Romans to spit on Him, to lash Him, to beat Him bloody, or to hammer rusty nails through His body to hang Him in the air on splintered wood until He asphyxiated.

But He did, and He did so “for the joy set before Him.”[Hebrews 12:2]

That joy is synonymous with Abraham’s dream, the provisions promised to him that he pursued in faith all his days—breathing his last before being buried in Hebron never having seen his promises come to pass [Genesis 25:8-10]. The three provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant [Hebrews 11:8-16] include seed: making mankind eligible for redemption, land: that creation can be restored, and blessing to all nations ensuring all sons and daughters of Adam have access to the first resurrection and can live in the renewed heaven and earth.

This is the Kingdom for which Jesus shed His blood; these are the provisions He secured the day Pilate sentenced Him to a criminal’s execution. Abraham staked his entire life—and that of his covenantal son—on the dream given to him through promises: the city whose builder and maker is God. John the Beloved saw this city in his own dream, the “wife of the Lamb,” the new Jerusalem which will descend “out of heaven from God.” He is her builder; He is her Husband. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth: the City of the Great King. Her gates will never be shut, yet no immorality will ever be permitted to enter her jurisdiction. It is from this city the law of the LORD will go forth, the knowledge of the LORD will “cover the earth as waters cover the seas,” and from this city the healing of the nations reach even the very ends of the earth, teaching mankind to unlearn his ways of war and Cain. This is Abraham’s city—and it is Jesus’ city. This is what the apostles asked Him if He would ignite two thousand years ago. - Stephanie Quick, Promise and Pursuit: Abraham's Holy Dream

My teaching on "the Rock", "Building his Church", "the Gates of Hell", and "Binding and Loosing" from Matthew 16:18-19. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

Theology 101: When God established fellowship with His image-bearers, He didn't open a doorway to heaven; He planted a garden on earth. - Dr. Michael Svigel

Theology 101: Looking into my heart or examining my works for assurance of my salvation leads not to faith but to doubt. Looking to the person, work, and words of Christ alone gives me assurance. - Dr. Michael Svigel

Jesus’ identity as the true and ultimate Israelite means the eventual salvation and restoration of the nation—not Israel’s irrelevance. The Representative Head restores the corporate people. See Isaiah 49:3–6; Romans 15:8. - Michael Vlach

“What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.” Matthew 15:18

It’s like vomit. The sickness was already there. But now it’s all over your clothes. - John Piper

Zacharias’ prophecy (specifically called a prophecy by Luke...) is a stunning reaffirmation of the hope of Israel as articulated in the Hebrew Scriptures. This, despite its appearance in the New Testament. - Nick Uva