Monday 13 June 2011

Thoughts on the Kingdom

          I am presently preaching through the Gospel of Matthew, it has been very rewarding to this point and I am only at chapter 4. There are many things I have asked God to help me with in this time of study. I really want to be open to the Spirit's teaching and not to my pre-suppositions. I have asked for humility and confidence that God's words can be read and understood and applied. One of the elephants in the room for me is the "Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of God" expressions used by Matthew.
          I was raised in a classic dispensational world, yet exposed to progressive dispensationalism and to covenantal ideology as well. I truthfully have found much of this challenging. I am driven to prayer and study, but I honestly want to further my understanding of what John the Baptist and Jesus meant when they preached... "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand". Kevin DeYoung recently posted a very interesting study on the Kingdom taken from various Scriptures, this is what he writes...

Does the Kingdom Grow?

When you look at the Gospels and examine the verbs associated with the kingdom, you discover something surprising. Much of our language about the kingdom is a bit off. We often speak of “building the kingdom,” “ushering in the kingdom,” “establishing the kingdom,” or “helping the kingdom grow.” But is this really the way the New Testament talks about the kingdom? George Eldon Ladd, the man who put kingdom back on the map for evangelicals, didn’t think so.
The Kingdom can draw near to men (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15; etc.); it can come (Matt. 6:10; Luke 17:20; etc.), arrive (Matt. 12:28), appear (Luke 19:11), be active (Matt. 11:12). God can give the Kingdom to men (Matt. 21:43; Luke 12:32), but men do not give the Kingdom to one another.
Further, God can take the Kingdom away from men (Matt. 21:43), but men do not take it away from one another, although they can prevent others from entering it. Men can enter the Kingdom (Matt. 5:20; 7:21; Mark 9:47; 10:23; etc.), but they are never said to erect it or to build it. Men can receive the Kingdom (Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17), inherit it (Matt. 25:34), and possess it (Matt. 5:4), but they are never said to establish it. Men can reject the Kingdom, i.e., refuse to receive it (Luke 10:11) or enter it (Matt. 23:13), but they cannot destroy it.
They can look for it (Luke 23:51), pray for its coming (Matt. 6:10), and seek it (Matt. 6:33; Luke 12:31), but they cannot bring it. Men may be in the Kingdom (Matt. 5:19; 8:11; Luke 13:29; etc.), but we are not told that the Kingdom grows. Men can do things for the sake of the Kingdom (Matt. 19:12; Luke 18:29), but they are not said to act upon the Kingdom itself. Men can preach the Kingdom (Matt. 10:7; Luke 10:9), but only God can give it to men (Luke 12:32). (The Presence of the Future, 193)
          I’ve quoted this section several times, probably on this blog before. But when I’ve used it in the past I’ve been uncomfortable with the line “we are not told that the kingdom grows.” It seemed to me that the parable of the sleepy farmer (Mark 4:26-29) and the parable of the mustard seed (Mark 4:30-32) clearly teaches that the kingdom grows. But as I’ve studied the passages more carefully I think you can make a good case that Jesus is not teaching about the growth of the kingdom as much as he is demonstrating that the kingdom of small beginnings will, at the close of the age, be the kingdom of cosmic significance. The kingdom may look unimpressive now, with nothing but a twelve-man band of fumbling disciples, but one day all will see its glorious end.

          To borrow a tired cliché, the kingdom is what it is. It does not expand. It does not increase. It does not grow. But the kingdom can break in more and more. Think of it like the sun. When the clouds part on a cloudy day we don’t say, “the sun has grown.” We say, “the sun has broken through.” Our view of the sun has changed or obstacles to the sun have been removed, but we have no changed the sun. The sun does not depend on us. We do not bring the sun or act upon it. The sun can appear. Its warmth can be felt or stifled. But the sun does not grow (science guys, don’t get all technical, you know what I mean). This seems a good analogy for the kingdom.

          God certainly uses means and employs us in his work. But we are not makers or bringers of the kingdom. The kingdom can be received by more and more people but this does entail growth of the kingdom. We herald the kingdom and live according to its rules. But we do not build it or cause it to grow because it already is and already has come. As LaddA Theology of the New Testament, 102).

          I find Kevin's discussion here very helpful but also challenging and I have many other questions. For instance what is the continuity-discontinuity between the Old Earth and Heaven and the New Earth and Heaven? What is the purpose and role of the Church post the rapture? What is the connection between the Millennium and the Eternal State? Why does all the NT Scripture seems to refer to Jesus dying for the Church? What does that make believing Jews and Gentiles from the OT? What do we call Tribulation saints, Millennium saints and even the, "Little Season" saints of Revelation 20?

          These are but a few of many other questions that I have and plan to study, pray and read to answer in my own mind. I know that God is not the author of confusion and yet there seems to be so much surrounding these issues. The only other conclusion I can come to is that God never intended for us to be dogmatic on this, or to fully understand it or explain it, but to live by faith in the steadfast hope of the bodily return of Jesus, the sure resurrection unto life of ALL believers from every age, and the absolute certainty that the end is secure in Christ! Stay tuned for more as I wrestle with these things and feel free to comment.