The Kingdom of God Is Like:

Below is a paper I wrote for my New Testament Bible course. God gave me some great revelation for this paper and I wanted to share it! Enjoy! :)

The Kingdom of God Is Like

            In this essay, I will discuss the different aspects of the kingdom of God. We will look at the teachings of Jesus concerning the nature of the kingdom as well as the role He played in bringing it forth.

            In the article, “And Finally...the Kingdom of God Is Like This…” Tame encourages students to take practical life occurrences; even ones unrelated to the kingdom of God and describe it with a correlating feature. This is seen to enable one to realize more aspects of the kingdom of God in light of the world around them (Tame, 2005). With the subject in mind, and the world of experience at ones fingertips, metaphors that describe an aspect of the kingdom of God can form very quickly. One example given in her article is the constant process of reading a computer manual to better understand how to operate it properly. If one desires to know the full capacity of a computer, a great deal of constant studying must take place. The same is true to the kingdom of God, one must study the aspects presented in scripture to understand all that it holds (Tame, 2005). Jesus revealed so much of the nature of the kingdom of God while on Earth. He displayed the foundation upon which the kingdom was laid, the material to which it was built, and the décor that filled its courts, so to speak. Jesus reveals that God is the foundation and His word is what holds up the walls (John 1). Moreover, the virtues of a servant’s heart for the lost filled the inner parts of the kingdom, which made it strong (Luke 19:10).         

            Duling points out in his article, “The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus” one way to see the kingdom of God is as a “tensive symbol” (Dennis, 1982 p. 10). What Duling is saying is that the kingdom cannot be condensed, or expressed in simple terms. The kingdom of God can only be explained by the example set by Jesus Christ. He explained the kingdom of God in many parables, and was a living representation of the kingdom. In his article, “Messianic Ethics: Response to the Kingdom of God” Wiebe lists three important ethical principles Jesus displayed to the Jews. He covers the ethics of fulfillment, the ethics of repentance, and the ethics of community. The first speaks of the new possibilities of the kingdom, one not strictly about following the law but the importance of relationship with God and the outflow of the relationship being obedience to His commands. The second speaks on the importance of repenting of the sins of their hearts not merely the actions of their hands. Lastly, he talks about the importance of one believing in the proclamations of Jesus and spreading it to the community so others might believe (Wiebe, 1991). The kingdom of God is wanting those desiring a relationship with their Creator, repenting of the sin of their hearts, and believing whole-heartedly. Not stopping there but igniting a spark in the people around them so that they will believe and be saved as well.  

Jesus teaches that He is the provider in Matthew 15 with the bread and fish; He also taught how to heal when the blind came and they could see, the lame could walk, and the mute could speak again in His presence. He gave the signs of error in Matthew 16, warned about sin in Matthew 18, and revealed the power of forgiveness when one is repentant in John 7. These are all pictures of how Jesus desired His people to walk in authority and not allow obstacles such as self-righteousness in works, sin, and un-forgiveness to keep you from the kingdom of God. All His acts, everything that He taught revealed the servant-hood of the kingdom. The kingdom of God was about giving not taking, bringing life, and destroying death. Niswonger points out in his book, “New Testament History” that the Gospels dedicate a fair amount of text to the week that Jesus is crucified (Niswonger, 1988). This tells even more that the kingdom of God is one that serves, by giving on behalf of the world. Jesus died so that humanity might live free from the payment of sin and the separation from God. After Jesus is raised from the dead, He again walks amongst His people and serves them once more before leaving. Presenting himself to His disciples, He exemplified to them that He is The Rock. The diamond is the rock of rocks, and the significance in a diamond is that nothing except itself can penetrate it. Jesus taught that in order to enter the kingdom of God one must believe in Him and only through Him could one find God. He gave His own life, raised Himself from the dead, and returned to the Father all on His own accord. Just as a diamond is the only way to enter into another diamond, Jesus is the only way to enter into the kingdom of God.    

In conclusion, the kingdom of God is not one that can be explained in simple terms, yet can be seen in all aspects of life. Jesus revealed that the kingdom of God and the role He played, as the Messiah was one of servant-hood. Jesus came as a living representation of the kingdom of God to humanity and revealed that He was the door to the kingdom.  

Reference

Duling, D. C. (1982). The Kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus. Word & World, 2(2), 117-126. http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0000791249&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Niswonger, R. (1988). New Testament History. United States of America: Zondervan Publishing House.

Tame, K. (2005). And finally … The Kingdom of God is Like this …. Expository Times, 116(7), 252. doi:10.1177/0014524605052454 http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=19459087&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Wiebe, B. (1991). Messianic ethics : response to the kingdom of God. Interpretation, 45(1), 29-42. http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0000835299&site=ehost-live&scope=site