Seek First the Kingdom - Part 3

(1) Creating Shalom Out of Chaos
(2) The Fall Brought Chaos Back Into Creation
(3) The Kingdom: God’s Plan to Restore Peace to the World
(4) I Was Sent for This Purpose
(5) What is the Kingdom? (Part - 3)
(6) Patterns of the Kingdom in Scripture (Part - 3)
- The Garden of Eden
- The Wilderness
- The Promised Land
- The Kingdom of Solomon
- The Days of the Apostles
(7) The Life and Ministry of Jesus
(8) Attributes of the Kingdom
- Prosperity and Joy
- Peace
- Righteousness
- Holiness
- Knowledge of the LORD
(9) The Believer’s Responsibility to Progress the Kingdom
(10) The Millenium Kingdom

WHAT IS THE KINGDOM?

Most believers acknowledge the existence of the kingdom, but not many see the propagation of the kingdom as central to the earthly ministry of Jesus. Fewer still can define the kingdom in a concise manner, which makes it difficult to fulfill the commandment, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matt 6:33). This difficulty is due, in part, to the broad variation and seemingly contradictory scripture concerning the kingdom. Matthew records Jesus saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt 4:17), while at the same time, John records Jesus saying, "My kingdom is not of this world," (John 18:36).

Luke records Jesus saying, "The kingdom of God is in your midst" (Luke 17:21), while at the same time believers are told to pray, "Your kingdom come," (Luke 11:2). Paul adds to the confusion telling Timothy, "The LORD will rescue me…and bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom," (2 Tim 4:18). Even the words of the Hebrew writer, "since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken" (Heb 12:28), shade the kingdom as a future event and not a present reality. One time when Jesus was near Jerusalem, the people "supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately," (Luke 19:11). The words of Luke make us wonder what the people expected to appear. So which statements are correct? Is the "kingdom at hand" and "in your midst" or is the kingdom "not of this world" and in "heaven" requiring us to pray, "Your kingdom come"?

Matthew consistently refers to the kingdom as "the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:10), while the other gospel accounts almost universally refer to the kingdom as "the kingdom of God," (Mark 14:24)(Luke 9:60)(John 3:3). Although different in terminology, the phrases are one and the same in reference. Since Matthew was written primarily to a Jewish audience, the author elected to use a circumlocution to protect the Most Holy Name of the Creator. Jesus also employed this technique, substituting alternate names to avoid referring to the creator by His most Holy Name. The most common circumlocution Jesus used was "Father," but other examples He used include Most High, Heaven, and LORD.

The kingdom is confusing because it both exists in the present world, while at the same time, the kingdom is moving toward a greater and greater fulfillment to be witnessed at "His appearing and His kingdom," (2 Tim 4:1). Although the kingdom of God existed from the "foundation of the world" (Matt 25:34), the fullness of the kingdom has not yet been revealed. Such is the revelation of God’s plan to the creation, "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live," (John 5:25). Like the resurrection that occurred in the days of Jesus and will have a greater fulfillment at His return, so the kingdom was also revealed in the days of Jesus, while it awaits a greater fullness in the days of His return.

The most concise definition of the kingdom in scripture can be found in the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done," (Matt 6:10). From the words of Jesus, the kingdom can be understood to exist in any person or place where God’s rule is accepted as supreme. Contrary to what most believers have understood, the kingdom is not the church, though the church is a subset of the kingdom. The kingdom existed long before the church, but the church has been given a significant role in revealing the kingdom to the world in this present age. Paul summarized the kingdom in terms of the fruit it produces.

"For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men" (Rom 14:17-18).

Uniting the statements of Jesus and Paul leads the believer to understand that the kingdom exists where the submission to God’s will produces righteousness, peace, and joy. The words of Paul provide a framework to understand characteristics of the kingdom that we will explored later in this chapter. The greater these attributes are exhibited, the greater the presence of the kingdom.

One way to understand the kingdom is to examine patterns in scripture that foreshadow the fullness of the kingdom because these patterns contain characteristics of the kingdom. Examples include:
- The Garden of Eden
- The Wilderness
- The Promised Lane
- The Disciples After Receiving the Holy Spirit
- The Kingdom of Solomon
- The Life and Ministry of Jesus

PATTERNS OF THE KINGDOM: The Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden prior to the fall, "Paradise," stands as a picture of the fullness in the coming kingdom. Hunger was never a concern since the Garden was filled with the fruit of many trees. Although Adam had a responsibility to "cultivate" the Garden (Gen 2:15), we are given the impression that this was not a time consuming job until after the fall. Unhindered by the burdens of the world, Adam had frequent opportunity to fellowship with God. The characteristics Paul listed for the kingdom were all in the Garden prior to the fall: Prosperity, Peace, and Righteousness.

For all its bounty and proximity to the LORD God, the Garden appeared to have two striking deficiencies when compared to the future kingdom. First, Satan was permitted to roam in the Garden to tempt Adam and Eve. During Jesus’ coming reign on the earth, Satan will be bound in the abyss "so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed," (Rev 20:3). Before the "World to Come," Satan will be "thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone…and…will be tormented day and night forever and ever," (Rev 20:10).

Second, although the LORD God apparently walked with Adam in the "cool of the day" (Gen 3:8), scripture is unclear if Adam was always in the presence of God. Apparently Adam and Eve were not in the presence of God when they were tempted by Satan since Adam and Eve "hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God" (Gen 3:8). During the coming fullness of the kingdom, Jesus will be ever present ruling the nations with "a rod of iron" (Rev 19:15), until "all things are subjected to Him," (1 Cor 15:28).

Beginning in Genesis 2:4 and continuing through Genesis 3:23, the Creator is primarily referred to as the "LORD God," a name used in scripture for the totality of the Creator. The name also indicates the unique relationship that was offered to Adam and Eve by the Creator. After the fall, beginning in Genesis chapter four, the creator is more commonly referred to as "God." In fact, the Creator will tell Moses that "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself know to them," (Ex 6:3). In other words, a revelation of the totality of God was lost to mankind after the fall. The future kingdom will restore that relationship, "’They will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the LORD," (Jer 31:34).

In the garden, the serpent refers to the creator only as "God" (Gen 3:1), not the complete nature of the creator. Eve also refers to the creator in this manner, "God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die,’" (Gen 3:4). The fact that Eve does not refer to the creator as "LORD God" indicates that something was lacking in her relationship with the Creator, which exposed her to the tempting of the serpent. In the future kingdom, we will no longer "see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face," then we will "know fully," (1 Cor 13:12).

Finally, in the Garden, Adam and Eve had the evil inclination, which allowed them to be tempted and to sin. In the fullness of the kingdom, the evil inclination will be removed by the LORD Who will circumcise our hearts (Deut 30:6), and give us new hearts that are obedient to His will, (Ezek 36:27). In the New Jerusalem, "nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life," (Rev 21:27).
　

(to be continued - Scott)