What Does The Bible Say About Church and Culture pt. 4
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Intro
So far we’ve talked about how God has set up the world in a way that the powers take care of the worlds basic needs as well as how the Israelites were intended to lay the foundations for a new way of life under God. Today, I want to talk about some specifics about what exactly is the Kingdom of God and how that might differ from what a lot of people -especially Christians- might think the Kingdom of God is.
Difference between Kingdoms
How would have Jesus’ original audience understood the words “Kingdom” or “Empire?
How do the meanings of “Kingdom” or “Empire” change when paired with God like the phrase “Kingdom of God?”
What does the “Kingdom of God” mean for you? How do you think the Bible/Jesus/ the earliest Christians understood “Kingdom of God?” In its simplest form, the words we use to describe the Kingdom of God is how, “Jesus came to do what the prophets of Israel said God was going to do through his people under the leadership of God’s appointed ruler.” So before we get too far into this conversation, I want to take the time to ask the basics of what this thing called the “Kingdom of God” is.
Who, What, Where, When, Why, How of the Kingdom of God
“Who” of God’s Kingdom
Who is the “who” of the Kingdom of God?
Read
Acts 3:25-26: Started with the people of Israel
Ephesians 2:13-16 + 19-21: God’s people were intended to create a new Humanity in place of the Jew and non-Jew distinctions, built upon Christ.
Philippians 3:20: It has its own citizenry of a particular group of people.
1 Peter 2:4- 9: it is a chosen people who are holy and a royal priesthood belonging to God. Its people are “being built into a spiritual house.”
1 Cor. 3:9-17: a people that is being rebuilt and refined. They are God’s temple.
Who is the “who” of the Kingdom of God?
Who is the Ruler and who are the subjects of this Kingdom? God is the ruler and His chosen people/people who submit to Christ, are his Subjects.
How does this “Ruler” to “Ruled” relationship compare with the empires of this world? Why is this significant?
This is an important question: Do we as the “who” in God’s Kingdom do the work of creating a new kind of person that follows Jesus? OR ARE we that work that Christ is trying to build?
Why is this distinction important?
“What” of God’s Kingdom
What do you think the “what” of the Kingdom of God is? à What is the Kingdom of God? Whatever you answer, it is certain that it is the fulfillment of Israel’s expectations. The Kingdom of God was not a generic call that answers humanity's general sense of loneliness, but rather it is a specific fulfillment of the expectations of Israel, a specific people group belonging to God.
Having said that, What do you think Jesus’ disciples thought Jesus’ kingdom was going to be? (Spiritual, physical, political, metaphorical, etc.?) Jesus would overthrow Rome, establish a new regime, and put God’s people on top of the world! They thought it was going to be an established, physical, political kingdom here on earth. But what is wrong with that line of thinking? à It’s to small!
To answer the “What” of God’s Kingdom, let me ask you: After Jesus rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, Did the Disciples think that they were going to be the ones who would bring God’s Kingdom? No!
So why? Why did they realize that they were not going to be the ones who will bring God’s kingdom here on earth? Who had already brought God’s Kingdom? Jesus! It's because Jesus had already brought it!
Jesus had already brought God’s Kingdom, and their job was to be witnesses to this fact. As Dr. Nugent says, God’s Kingdom is the “Fulfillment of Israel’s hopes. It is the reign of God over his people on behalf of all creation. It is the new world order that the prophets foretold. It is everything God’s people longed for, and more. It is Israel’s God intervening in world history to make a better place within this world.” (p. 67, Nugent).
Where is God’s Kingdom?
Abraham’s descendants would be a blessing to all nations, where?
Daniel envisions God’s Kingdom (the imagery of the rock that fell from heaven) would replace the Kingdom’s, where?
Jesus says that the meek will inherit the what? Which is where?
In Matt 4:17; 10:7; Luke 17:20-21, Jesus tells his followers how the Kingdom will come near to who, who is where? He tells us that the Kingdom will be among God’s people, who are where?
The Lord’s prayer asks for God’s will to be done where, as it is in heaven?
Romans 8:19-22 talks about where and what will be glorified and revealed?
Matt. 17:11; Acts 3:21; Col. 1:20 talk about the reconciliation and restoration of where?
Revelation 21:2+10 shows the new creation coming out of where to rest where?
The Scriptures talk a lot about a Kingdom that will include and encompass the earth. This Kingdom will definitely extend beyond the earth, but it never abandons the earth behind to be destroyed or forgotten.
When is God’s Kingdom?
The best way to explain when the Kingdom of God is, is by saying that it is “now, but not yet,” or “already, but not yet.” This is called Partially realized eschatology, which means that Israel’s hopes have been fulfilled, but not completely.
What entity exists today that has outlasted every single Kingdom of this world? What entity exists today that embodies this thing called the “Kingdom of God?” it’s the church!
For example, God already sent his Messiah, but his people still live in a world of sin. God has started a new creation through the church, but the earth and the rest of creation are still experiencing labor pains and groaning to be made new. We are brought a new life through the promise of the resurrection, but we still experience pain, sickness, death, disease, and evil in this world. So God has started lots of things, but not everything has happened yet.
A great example of this idea is from 2 Peter 3:9 which says that “the Lord is not slow about his promise, as something of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”
Why is God’s Kingdom needed?
Why do you think the kingdom of God is needed? Try to answer with something other than “sin.” Explore ideas involving the implications of sin, what is has done, what we were intended to be, and the purpose of the whole Bible story leading up to Jesus and fulfilled in Jesus.
How Does God’s Kingdom Come?
It comes as a gift
How does a new Kingdom as a gift stand in contrast with how other empires of the world operate.
Is a gift rejectable? Is a worldly empire rejectable?
Why is it important that God offer a rejectable gift, a rejectable Kingdom?
Why must this gift be rejectable?
It eliminates Human free will. Then it makes God’s kingdom no different from worldly empires that force themselves upon its inhabitants. In fact, if God’s Gift was not rejectable, then it would mean that if God can force his Kingdom of people, then so can the world’s leaders. The empires would “just be following God’s example of course.” Thus God would therefore validate the way the world does things and how they lead. Plus, if God is perfect and has all the power, then the kind of irrevocable gift would be total and absolute! And it would therefore be the worse conceivable reality of creation because we could not rebel, oppose, or differ from it in any way. It would be worse than any human empire by a factor of infinity.
Who brought this new Kingdom? Jesus of course!
Is this kingdom already here? Remember the phrase “now but not yet.”
So why do we (us, churches, Christianity) think that we can bring the Kingdom of God if it is already here?
If we are not tasked with bringing God’s Kingdom – because Jesus already brought it and it is here now – then does that mean we just do nothing? No of course not! God’s people still have lots to do. God didn’t make the church for no reason. But our role is not to fix the world so that we make it into God’s Kingdom, rather our role is to bear witness to this new Kingdom that God has established through the power of the Holy spirit and share this good news of God’s saving work throughout creation! Our job is to bear witness to the things that God is doing. Bearing witness doesn’t just mean to talk about it, but bearing witness with our lives is how we represent the Kingdom of God. Living differently from the world around us is how we testify and bear witness to this new thing that God is doing that started with Jesus.
Take away
What is the most significant thing you learned today?
What does that mean for your faith and what the purpose of the church is?
Copyright © 2016 John Nugent. All rights reserved. All credit for this material belongs to Dr. John Nugent at Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing, Michigan.
Nugent, John C. Endangered Gospel: How Fixing the World is Killing the Church. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2016.