What Happened to the Kingdom?
An article by Dane Bateman
Have you ever wondered why Jesus taught so much about the kingdom of God, while the apostles rarely wrote about it in the New Testament? The word “kingdom” is used 126 times in the four gospels, yet it’s only mentioned 34 times throughout the rest of the New Testament. If Jesus taught so extensively about the kingdom of God, why did his disciples seem to suddenly shift the focus of their teachings? Did the apostles miss the mark by under emphasizing the kingdom of God?
What is the Kingdom of God?
If we want to understand how the apostles’ teachings relate to Jesus’s, we first need to know what he meant when he talked about the “kingdom”. It’s often assumed that when Jesus uses the phrase “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of Heaven”, he is referring to a physical, heavenly realm, but Scripture would suggest otherwise. In Luke 17:20-21, the Pharisees were asking Jesus about when the kingdom of God would arrive. He answered them by saying, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” If Jesus was referring to heaven when he spoke of the kingdom of God, we wouldn’t expect him to say that his kingdom can’t be observed, nor would we expect him to say that it is in the midst of us, for heaven has been “observed” by plenty of people in the Bible, and it will always be distinct from earth.
So, if Jesus wasn’t referring to heaven when he talks about the kingdom of God, then what does he mean? Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is where God is exercising his authority as king! Psalm 103:19 says, “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” So, in this sense, the kingdom of God currently exists everywhere because God rules over all things! However, there is another aspect of the kingdom of God that only exists in part. Jesus prays that God’s kingdom and will would come “on earth as it is in heaven” in Matthew 6:10, implying that there is some aspect of God’s reign on earth that is not already perfected. How can this be if God already rules over all things? This is why the kingdom of God is often called the “already, not yet kingdom”. The kingdom of God exists everywhere, but not in its fullness. It grows as more people submit their lives to God, and as his righteousness, peace, and joy spreads to every aspect of our lives – including our relationships, families, jobs, schools, churches, and governments.
What was the Apostles’ Message?
If Jesus’s central message was “the kingdom of God”, then what was the central message of the apostles? If you’ve ever studied church history, you would have learned about the various Christian creeds that had developed overtime to summarize the Christian faith. Nowadays, we have very extensive summaries to describe what we believe, such as the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. These creeds developed over time after centuries of unpacking the teachings and writings of the apostles, but the earliest known Christian creed, which developed during the life of the apostles, was far less extensive. In fact, the creed is only three words long: Jesus is Lord.
The new area of emphasis for the apostles was the lordship of the crucified and risen king, Jesus Christ! The first Christian sermon that was ever given by the apostles came from Peter, where he finishes his sermon in Acts 2:36 by stating, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Paul refers to the apostolic ministry as, “…the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the whole world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18b-20)” How does Paul say we are reconciled to God? He tells us in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
How do these Messages Relate?
How do the messages of “the kingdom of God” and “Jesus is Lord” relate? They relate in this way: ever since the fall, the world has been placed under the governing authority of Satan, whom Jesus calls “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31). But God has ushered in a new kingdom whose citizens once lived in Satan’s “domain of darkness”, but have now been justified and reconciled to God, and that kingdom, along with its citizens, is currently being ruled by the crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ! The message hasn’t shifted away from the kingdom, but it’s narrowed its emphasis on the king himself.
Why did the Emphasis Change?
So why did the apostles place such an emphasis on the kingdom of God’s ruler as opposed to the kingdom as a whole? One reason has to do with the timing of Jesus’s ministry. Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies during his earthly ministry, and it took around 3 years for him fulfill all of them. If Jesus had explicitly told everyone “I am Lord” or “I am the Son of God”, he would have risked being snatched by the authorities and killed prematurely! On the other hand, Jesus was also avoiding a political revolt that would have crowned him as king by force! His life on earth was not the appointed time for him sit on his throne – it was after his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. We see Jesus walking the fine line of revealing himself as Lord without overstating his hand to the Pharisees and Roman authorities, while also avoiding being crowned by force through the means of a political revolt. He does this by preaching the kingdom of God – a kingdom of life, peace, and joy, and where our crucified and risen king, Jesus Christ, is sitting on his throne forever. Amen!