Define the judgment seat of christ
Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures there is prophecy concerning the establishment of an earthly kingdom of Israel that would be ruled by Jehovah Himself and would conquer all of the other kingdoms of the earth. If the Church, which began at the first coming of the Messiah, is what is often meant by “the kingdom,” then what do Jesus and Paul mean when they refer to entrance into the kingdom as something yet to happen? The Lord said, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom,” (Matthew 7:21) and Paul asked, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not enter the kingdom?” (1 Corinthians 6:9) What they meant can best be explained when one considers what the original audience would have understood this kingdom to be. All the Church is called to be is the humble, mysterious body of believers that effectively submits to God’s rulership in this age. (Ephesians 3:1-10, Colossians 1:24-27) Nor today has she been called to be any great, dominating world force. This Church, this “kingdom in mystery,” was not revealed to the prophets of old. However, this aspect of the kingdom can best be described as “the kingdom in mystery.” Mystery defines the New Testament Church. We are indeed God’s kingdom, so long as we submit ourselves to our Lord Jesus. Let this be a lesson for our church meetings today. (Colossians 1:13) So now, from the earthly perspective, as his Church, it is our responsibility to work this truth out practically, that the heavenly kingdom we now belong to can have an expression, through us, on the earth. Indeed, from the heavenly perspective, God has already transferred his saints from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son. This is exactly what the Church life is meant to be – God’s kingdom. God, through Jesus Christ, can now reign as King in the hearts of His believers and over His Church.
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With the establishment of the Church, there is now to be a group of people on the earth who, through the leadership of Jesus by His Spirit, are effectively submitting to God’s rulership. Remember, the “kingdom” is the rulership of God. This makes good sense considering what was established by His first coming. Most see this as referencing Jesus’ first coming. In Mysteryīoth Jesus and John the Baptist spoke of an imminent arrival of the kingdom. Therefore, for our present purposes these terms will be used interchangeably. There are, I believe, subtle differences between these two phrases, “the kingdom of the heavens” and “the kingdom of God,” but for the most part they are the same. There is great similarity between the phrase “kingdom of the heavens,” and “kingdom of God.” God is in heaven, so it can easily be said that heavenly rulership is specifically related to God’s rulership. Thus both John and Jesus referred to this kingdom as either the “Kingdom of the heavens” (primarily in Matthew) or the “Kingdom of God.” (Genesis 28:12, John 1:21) This Messiah would commence the restoration of rulership of the heavens over the earth. Despite common misunderstanding, this statement is not a reference simply to eternity future (“heaven”), which in Revelation is called “The New Jerusalem.” Rather, when John spoke of a coming kingdom, he was specifically referring to the coming of the Messiah, who Himself was the ladder connecting the heavens and the earth. In the statement, “the kingdom of the heavens draws near,” the kingdom was, in a sense, referring to an entity on the earth whose rulership will be in the heavens.
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The simplest way of describing what Jesus and John the Baptist meant when they used the word “kingdom” in the gospels, is that they were referring to a rulership. This would not be such a problem if “the kingdom” was simply a modern Christian expression used diversely to summarize various Biblical concepts, similar to the believer’s “walk with God” or their “personal relationship with Jesus.” But considering the fact that “the kingdom of God” is an expression and a concept used often in the Scriptures, some clarity on its meaning seems quite necessary. This phrase is used far more often, sadly, than it is understood. click the PDF icon to download.įew topics in all of Scripture are given the amount of prominence that is given to the concept of “the kingdom of God.” The trouble is, however, that if you were to ask ten different Christians chosen at random to define this “kingdom” you would likely get ten very different responses. Note: This work is also available for download as a PDF file.