KINGDOM OF GOD or KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
It is the sphere in which God reigns, in which His will is respected and fulfilled. From beginning to end of the Bible the Kingdom of God is presented in seven successive phases.
(a) Paradise.
Creator of the universe, God is also its glorious King (Ps. 10:16; 24:1-2, 9-10; 29:10; 47:7-8; 93:1; Deut. 16:14).
He is the King of nations, the Sovereign of the entire world. Paradise was a theocracy where Adam had been called to dominate the animals and the earth, in close dependence on God (Gen. 1:28; 2:15-17).
Through sin, man voluntarily separated himself from his submission to the Lord, placing himself under the rule of the devil. It is by usurpation that Satan became the prince of this world, coming to possess all its kingdoms and their glory (cf. Luke 4: 5-6).
From that moment on, all of God’s work throughout history tends toward the restoration of the lost kingdom, and the vindication of its justice, on perfect and immovable foundations.
(b) Theocracy in Israel.
Temporarily putting aside the nations after Babel, God raises up a chosen people to be for him “a kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:4-6).
The Lord himself is the judge, legislator, King and savior of Israel (Is. 33:22; 44:6). He rules through Moses and the judges, his successors.
Then comes the moment when the people claim Samuel as a fallible human sovereign, preferring him to the divine King, holy, fearsome and formidable (1 Sam. 8:4-9, 17-20).
(c) The Kingdom of God, announced by the prophets.
At the moment when the strict theocracy disappears, the Lord announces the restoration of it in a much more glorious way. One day, the Son of David will occupy the throne eternally (2 Sam. 7:15-16).
He will be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, he will suffer to atone for sins, and he will establish the universal kingdom of justice and peace on earth, and then in the new heavens and the new earth (Is. 7:14; Mi. 5: 1; Is. 53; 2:1-4; 11:1-10; 65:17-25; Ps. 2:6-9; 72:8, 11).
(d) The Kingdom, offered and rejected at the first coming of Christ.
From his birth, Jesus is presented as king (Mt. 2: 1-6; Lk. 1:32, 33).
John the Baptist and Himself announced to the Jews that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Mt. 3:2; 4:17; 12:28; Luke 10:9), that it was “in their midst” ( Luke 17:20-21).
It is as King that Jesus appears in Jerusalem (Mt. 21:4-9; Lk. 19:38); He is also rejected as king by his own people (Luke 19:11-14; John 18:37; 19:15, 19-22).
(e) The Kingdom of God, hidden in the hearts.
His character today is described by John in these words: “The kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9).
Having been rejected, the kingdom, in its visible and glorious aspect, is withdrawn for now. Christ has departed “to receive a kingdom and to return” (Lk. 19:12).
In his absence, the period of the Church develops, characterized by “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 13:11). Indeed, the period of the Church, and its very existence, present disconcerting aspects, which require a special revelation.
It begins at Pentecost, and entry into this spiritual kingdom is through the new birth (Mt. 16:28; 11:11-12; Jn. 3:3, 5; Col. 1:12-13; Acts 20 :24-25). The “kingdom” parables illustrate the mixture of good and evil that characterizes the present dispensation.
As an example we can take the parable of the tares (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43): Christ sows in the world, placing in it “the children of the kingdom”; For his part, the devil places among them “the children of the evil one.”
In his patience, the Lord lets them subsist together until the time of harvest; It must be emphasized, however, that the presence of the “sons of the evil one” takes place in “the field,” which is the world (Mt. 13:38), not in the Church. This has to exercise strict discipline (Mt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5:11-13).
This period will end in a trial.
A great mistake frequently made has been to confuse the present period with that of the glorious kingdom to come.
Frequently, the powerful and established Churches in the world have wanted to identify their period of dominion with that of the Kingdom of God, which can only be established in an authoritative and visible way by the personal and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Due to the identification of the Kingdom with the Church, attempts have been made to put an end to “heresies”, real or supposed, by means of iron and fire.
There has been an attempt to impose the authority of the Church through worldly and carnal means, such as the alliance of the throne and the altar, political maneuvers, temporal power and ecclesiastical wealth.
In our present time, a “liberation theology” is being developed that aims to put the Church at the service of the poor, supporting guerrilla and peasant revolutions, assuming many postulates of the so-called “theological liberalism”, instead of having take into account the call of the apostle James to patience in the face of all injustices, waiting for the coming of the Lord, the only one with the personal right and capacity to judge and establish justice on earth (cf. James 5:7 and vv, above ).
In short, all of these tendencies forget God’s character of grace and patience, not judgment and power, of this present age. He forgets that in the absence of the divine King, the Church, his wife, shares in his humiliation and rejection by the world.
And for this reason it is also the small flock to which the Father has been pleased to give the Kingdom (Lk. 12:32; cf. 2 Tim. 2:12). It will be at the coming of the Lord, but not before, that she will sit with Him on His throne.
(f) The glorious Kingdom,
established on the earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-10). (See MILLENNIUM.) Then the promises of the prophets will be fulfilled.
This era will end with the destruction of the earth and the heavens and with the Last Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15).
(g) The eternal Kingdom.
After the final and definitive triumph of the Lord, the eternal state will be established in which Christ will hand over the Kingdom to God and Father, after having suppressed, during His reign and final victory, all hostile power (cf. 1 Cor. 15:24 -26), so that “God may be all in all” in a new heaven and new earth in which justice will dwell (cf. 2 Pet. 3:13) (cf. also Dan. 7:14, 27; Rev. 22:3-5; 2 Tim. 4:18).