Kingdom Of God Study Guide

In his approach Snyder utilizes seven themes from the Old and New Testament that he say’s help reveal the meaning of the kingdom of God. The themes presented are interrelated and not disconnected or segmented from each other. Rather, each theme is a partial expression of the whole, in other words, the kingdom of God is this, but it is also that. The challenge that the Western (US) reader faces is that one has been conditioned by “National Idealism,” to think that we are a Christian nation. Therefore, as a nation of God, we live out the biblical principles that are important to Christian values. This is important to state, since this type of thinking permeates throughout our churches and is expressed as kingdom living.

‘The Kingdom of God’ is perceived in many different ways by a variety of people. It is commonly thought that it refers to a life after death namely ‘Heaven’ and Jesus seems to reinforce this by stating, "my kingdom is not of this

Of all the branches of theological study to emerge from the New Testament, there are perhaps no more elusive than the concept of the "Kingdom of God" which is raised repeatedly throughout the Gospel of Luke. The cryptic words found within Luke 17:20-21, in which Jesus addresses the Pharisees interrogation on when the kingdom of God would arrive, declare that "20 the kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." This statement follows numerous additional references to the Kingdom of God throughout various chapters of the Gospel of Luke, however, the semantic details of the verse above have spurred centuries of debate regarding Jesus' true meaning. The reason for the ongoing dispute lies in another verse of Luke's gospel, Luke 21:31, in which Jesus exhorts his followers "31so likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." When taken at face value, the instructions given by Jesus in these two verses of Luke appear to be wholly contradictory, as the Lord first tells the Pharisees in Luke 17:20-21 that they should not bother looking for worldly signs concerning the Kingdom of God, but later countermands that directive in Luke 21:31 by saying that there will be visible signs alerting people to the Kingdom's impending arrival. By reading the Gospel of Luke in its entirety and contemplating this apparent dilemma with an open mind, I

Harnack understands the Kingdom of God in Jesus’ teachings to have two basic aspects. First is the traditional view as a future event, establishing God’s rule on earth. The roots of this view come from the historic elements of Jewish apocalypticism and in the teachings of John the Baptist. Jesus accepted and supported but also surpassed the teachings of John the Baptist. However, Jesus presented an idea of the Kingdom of God that was in contrast with the traditional understanding of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ understanding of the Kingdom is a present and internal event which happens in the hearts of those of faith. According to Harnack Jesus would have seen the two aspects as complimenting one another wherein those of a present perspective would see a tension between the two. Harnack says that it is the second aspect of God’s Kingdom that held as the most important in Jesus’ teachings. The Kingdom of God then should be understood as “coming to the individual, by entering into his soul and laying hold of it. ” It is then that the Kingdom of God fills the Christian with the life of God. Looking at the Kingdom of God in this way makes it the rule of God “in the hearts of individuals.

The essential problem Wright identifies in the introduction can be documented most clearly in six ordinary, but unsatisfactory responses often provided by the church to the query "What are the Gospels all about?, ” which are: 1) teaching people how to go to Heaven, 2) recording Jesus's exclusive ethical teaching, 3) depicting Jesus as a moral prototype for the people, 4) exhibiting Jesus as the perfect sacrifice, 5) telling stories with which humans can recognize and then find direction, and 6) signifying Jesus's spirituality. While each of these answers contains a portion of truth, Wright contends they all fail to hold the heart of the Gospel accounts. According to Wright, “the gospels tell of Jesus who embodied the living God of Israel and whose cross and resurrection really did unveil and initiate the Kingdom of God.” Wright then claims that the kingdom is apart of a greater eschatological theology, which is concerned with what is believed to be the final events of history, or the definitive destiny of humanity.

“A kingdom is a human political reality”, which is both earthly and physical. (pg 176) People see it as a negative impersonal political institution but rather it should positively flipped into community based. This includes individuals under one common influence. The power that kingdom has over politics transformed the power God has on earth through the churches until the day when He finally makes all things new (Rev 21:5). Together, the term kingdom politics is metaphor to what we should be basing our lives onto, the kingdom above under the political allegiance of God. As Christians, we must build this kingdom before God within the community of those living for the

The Kingdom may exist in the individual human heart, in groups, in institutions, and in nature. The Kingdom of God is as broad and as overarching as the presence of God which renews and transforms and recreates everything touched by it.

The main point or thesis of The Upside Down Kingdom is that there are social and political views that are confusing for many people back when Jesus taught the people, but even now when we read the Bible and Jesus’ stories. A major sub point to this is that Jesus did things that were upside down and that many did not understand. For example, Donald B. Kraybill uses the story of the women using her expensive perfume on Jesus in chapter seven. He says "All writers (except Luke) report that the onlookers condemned this waste of a year's wages" (pg. 124). They wondered why she was not selling it for money, but Jesus tells them that there will always be poor people around them. Yet He will not always be with them. Jesus turns their minds to a different

The kingdom of heaven develops into a serious, if not the prominent, theme of the Sermon on the Mount, and dare I say is probably the most protruding theological motif arising from it. Yet, more specifically within the Beatitudes, we get a glimpse of a present, but not fulfilled kingdom of heaven. First, in Matthew 4:17 Jesus proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (italics

God, as Jesus, came to earth as a baby, lived without sin, and died as a sacrifice for sin. He gained authority over sin and death and offers salvation from sin to whoever has faith and follows him. It expands to show how Jesus’ news spread throughout the world and the Church of Christ grew. After the biographies of Jesus and the Church, the rest of the New Testament is an archive of letters and teachings passed between the churches speaking both encouragement and admonishment for the strengthening of the

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). Matthew begins his gospel by establishing the kingship of Jesus Christ by referring to him as the son of David, the son Abraham. Matthew carefully point out to us that Jesus is the promised king; in chapter 1:23, “behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us”. Matthew then, has proven that Christ is the Messiah by the testimony of the prophecies concerning John the Baptist, “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”, (Matthew 3:3).

In the Kingdom of God, God’s purposes and plans are made apparent. There is hope for the poor, there is justice, there is forgiveness, there is triumph over evilness, and there is a greater plan. These themes apparent in several parables from the four Gospels. The first instance of the Kingdom of God the audience sees in the Bible is when Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. He says, “It [Kingdom of God] is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade” (Mark 4:31-33). Jesus explains to his parables and to his audience

What exactly is "the kingdom of God?" How does one recognize the kingdom? Are you in the kingdom of God? So often, people search for the evidence of the kingdom of God rather than simply identifying it. In the present day, the stress is evasively put on works and actions rather than a personal relationship with God. Too many people fall into the trap of participating in as many activities as they can, living to have their good deeds noticed by others; however, the key point is entirely missed. It is the innermost intimate part of a person that divulges the power of an individual's life, not the actions. Jesus makes this clear in the book of Luke when he states, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will

“The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. (2) Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night shows forth knowledge. (3) There is no speech nor spoken word ; their voice is not heard. (4) Yet their voice goes out through all the earth, their sayings to the end of the world. Of the heavens has God made a tent for the sun, (5) which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; and it

“Those who acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah will inherit the kingdom of God” (Harrington 10). Those who acknowledge Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament will be saved and be granted eternal life in Heaven. Those who reject him will be condemned. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches of the Kingdom of Heaven by placing “Jesus of Nazareth within the traditions of God’s chosen people and showing how this same Jesus burst the bonds of those traditions and brought them to fulfillment” (Harrington 7). One passage in specific that emphasizes this aspect of Matthew’s Gospel is Mt 12:38-42, The Demand for a Sign. In this passage, Matthew uses Jesus as a preacher to show him as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. He is a prophet greater