Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Excellent question, katiemygirl. There are two perceptions of God's "kingdom:" what we live in our lives as committed to the Lordship and love of God, and the idea of what happens after death. Context will have to tell you which is under consideration.
Hi Katie. In a general sense the kingdom of heaven refers to God's sovereign rule over all of creation. But there is a narrower sense in which the kingdom of heaven refers to the future literal physical kingdom which Jesus will establish on the earth when He returns in which He will rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem (Isaiah 9:7; Zechariah 8:22-23; Luke 1:32-33).
This kingdom which was offered at Jesus' first advent but postponed because Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah will have a decidedly Jewish flavor. When Jesus returns, all of Israel will be regathered in a state of belief, and God's promises, His covenants with Israel (the Abrahamic covenant, the Land covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the New covenant to Israel) will be fulfilled at that time.
Jesus said the kingdom is in your midst (He did not say the kingdom is within you), because as the King Jesus represented the kingdom which He was offering to establish as soon as He went to the cross to provide redemption for fallen mankind. The offer of the kingdom being established during His first advent was contingent upon Israel's acceptance of Him as Messiah. Matthew's gospel account was written for the purpose of presenting Jesus as King and explaining why the kingdom was delayed.
You will recall that after Jesus was resurrected, the apostles asked if it was at that time that He would restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). Jesus told them that it wasn't for them to know the times and epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority (Acts 1:7).
Now, amillennialists which perhaps the majority of believers are, and post millennialists do not believe that there will be a literal physical kingdom set up on the earth when Christ returns. They believe in some kind of allegorical millennial kingdom which is present on the earth right now. But a plain sense reading of the Scriptures clearly speaks of a future literal earthly kingdom. This is called the pre-millennial view which is the view to which I hold.
I'll provide the following two articles if you want further information.
It is quite a reasonable understanding of the text and the import.
That Jesus said the kingdom is inside of individual persons? No. It really isn't. At least not for anyone that is capable of reading over an 8th grade level. My 6th grader could see that it's not a good understanding of that text.
It's clearly not a correct reading.
Quote:
Our acknowledgement of Jesus as King is not anything but personal commitment.
He never said it's within us. That's an obvious misreading of his statement that would be noticed by anyone with an 8th grade reading level.
It's always easy to tell when it's Wednesday. Viz uses both barrels to fire off insults on Wednesdays. Because, dontcha know, that's what fundamentalist Christian 'pastors' do. They make snide, snarky comments about the people who disagree with them.
Jesus must be just thrilled to have his name attached to that brand of Christianity.
Believers who have been reborn in the spirit of God can exercise their sovereign authority of the believer through the identity of Lord Jesus and ask forgiveness for themselves and even others and people who are not saved at all and Jesus will forgive them in your prayers ,.................. but the unsaved people will be forgiven for a season ................ Believers have the authority of Jesus to bind demons........... and loose fallen angels and bind them up.............. and even bind up the powers of darkness and caste them down through Jesus Christ .............., some believers have other gifts of Holy Spirit which Jesus will heal bodies.......... and some will prophecy a word for faith from Jesus ,.......... and hear from God and other gifts which are part of the sovereign authority of God ,......... which is the kingdom of God ............... Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 ``All power been given to me in Heaven and the earth ``...................... In Luke 7: 1-10....... In Capernaum , a Centurion came to Jesus asking to have his servant , who was close to death , healed....When Jesus said He would come and cure the servant , the Centurion answered that.... `` He was not worthy to have Jesus come under his roof, but to only speak the word, and his servant will be healed ``......Jesus was amazed at this and told his followers that not even in Israel had He found such faith.....The Jesus told the Centurion ..``God , let it be done for you according to your faith , and the servant was healed that hour .......................See Jesus will hear the commands of faith from His people who are under Him which a kingdom sovereign prayer ......... And there are many believers who exercise intersession for others with miracles of answered prayer
It's always easy to tell when it's Wednesday. Viz uses both barrels to fire off insults on Wednesdays. Because, dontcha know, that's what fundamentalist Christian 'pastors' do. They make snide, snarky comments about the people who disagree with them.
Jesus must be just thrilled to have his name attached to that brand of Christianity.
I'm sorry if you consider me snarky. I have not made any insults. I've simply said that a correct reading of the text simply does not indicate what the OP has said it does. I'm sorry if that offends you.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
