The Kingdom of God As Scripture’s Central Theme: A New Approach to Biblical Theology, Part 1

Editor Introduction to The Kingdom of God As Scripture’s Central Theme

Editors Introduction: David Burns’ proposal that the Kingdom of God is the central unifying theme of Scripture was published in two parts in the print version of Pneuma Review in 2001. Brought online in October 2014, we invite all readers to begin a conversation on the Last Days (eschatology) and approaches to biblical theology by leaving comments under the article.

Introduction

Have you ever wondered what God is doing? What is He up too? In this article we will be answering those questions by taking a look at the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the primary theme that binds the Scriptures and indeed all of history together. Only the kingdom theme flows easily from the pages of the biblical writers. It alone does adequate justice to the progressive unfolding of biblical revelation by viewing the historical covenants of redemptive history as keys to revelatory development in the Kingdom of God. It is also the only theme that incorporates within it all the major and minor subthemes of Scripture without doing violence to any of them. The Kingdom of God places our Lord Jesus at its center and emphasizes covenant as the vehicle of our redemptive relationship with God. In that respect it considers the Bible not only to be a book about covenant, but a covenantal book itself, governing the relationship of God with the subjects in his great Kingdom. Thus the Kingdom of God becomes the unifying theme of Scripture with covenant providing its structure.

Popular Approaches to Understanding the Scriptures

Before we go on to present a Kingdom centered approach to understanding Scripture, let us look at the two main interpretative schools which have dominated the conservative Christian community this century—Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism.¹ If you grew up in a Reformed church, you were taught Covenant Theology. If you grew up in an independent, Pentecostal, or Baptist church, you were probably taught Dispensational Theology. Each one of these approaches is helpful to understanding Scripture and has its good points, but in my opinion each also has its shortcomings. I have learned a tremendous amount about God and the Scriptures from the godly men of both schools. Any criticism of these systems in no manner implies disrespect. What better way is there to honor one’s teachers than to critically evaluate their teachings and to come to one’s own conclusions? To the degree that any of this author’s conclusions are accurate, they have been built upon the shoulders of his mentors. Any failure is due to his own shortcomings.

Covenant Theology

Covenant Theology generally sees covenant as providing both the unifying theme and the structure for Scripture. It is through covenant that God enters into relationship with man and brings salvation to him. Covenant Theology divides biblical history into two major covenants, the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace. A third covenant, the Covenant of Redemption, is the covenant that stands above history and becomes the basis for the Covenant of Grace. The Covenant of Redemption is an everlasting covenant established between God the Father and God the Son in eternity past before the creation of the world. It provides for the salvation of sinful man through the sacrificial death of the Son.

The Covenant of Works historically began with Adam and continued until the fall of man in the garden of Eden, but legally it is still in force today. Under it God promised Adam eternal life as long as he perfectly and totally obeyed his commands, but death should he disobey. The Covenant of Works shows the inability of man to save himself by attempting to perfectly obey the laws of God. Jesus Christ was the only one who could perfectly obey the law of God and thus satisfy the requirements of a holy and just God.

The Covenant of Grace began at the fall of man and continues throughout eternity. It brings into history and puts into action the plans of salvation made between the Father and the Son in the Covenant of Redemption. It is through the Covenant of Grace that God begins to rescue the human race from its sinfulness. God does this through two different dispensations or administrations of the Covenant of Grace, the Old Covenant Dispensation and the New Covenant Dispensation. The various covenants under the Old Covenant are stages in the development or revelation of the Covenant of Grace. The two dispensations are not different in kind but only in degree. They are both part of God’s single plan to bring salvation into the world. Their difference lies in their place along the historical path of revelatory development. In other words, as times goes on God reveals more and more of his plan of salvation, until his greatest revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes into the world.

For the Covenant Theologian God’s purpose in history is to bring glory to himself by bringing about the redemption of his people. A major concept in Covenant Theology is the emphasis upon there being one people of God, not two as their rivals the Dispensationalists claim. This single people of God consists of those who truly love God and follow his ways. Old Testament believers as well as New Testament believers are all part of the same plan of redemption. They are all part of the same family, the church, which is the true Israel of God. God’s work to redeem Israel takes place in this present age as he also works to redeem Gentiles. The next step in God’s program is Christ’s return to judge the resurrected wicked and righteous according to their deeds, and to usher in the eternal state.

Dispensationalism

For Dispensational Theologians, distinctive periods of time called dispensations provide the structure for Biblical History. Classical Dispensationalism, such as is found in the Scofield Bible, held to seven periods.² In each dispensation God places certain expectations upon man and in each man fails miserably. God’s purpose is to show man that he cannot attain perfection and is in need of redemption. The various dispensations of Scripture are progressive but distinct stages in the development of and the revelation of God and his plan of redemption.

A major organizational concept in Dispensational Theology has been the belief that God has two peoples, not just one as Covenant Theology states.³ These two peoples of God consist of Israel and the church. With these two peoples, God has two different programs, although they are related through Jesus the Messiah who is the Savior of both. Since Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah, God gave the Kingdom to the Gentiles and postponed the giving of the Kingdom to Israel until the end of the age. In the meantime we live in the Age of Grace or Church Age, during which God is working primarily among the Gentiles to bring them into his church. After Christ returns to rapture the church, the Great Tribulation will begin and God will work to bring about the redemption of Israel. Seven years later the Kingdom Age will begin, during which God’s promises to Israel will be fulfilled. At the end of the thousand years, God will bring the present age to an end and will usher in the Eternal State. Historically, Dispensationalists have equated the Kingdom of God with the future millennial reign of Jesus on earth, although some current writers believe that the Kingdom includes both the present and future reign of Christ.⁴

While it is often obscured by their emphasis upon dispensational distinctives, some form of the Kingdom of God plays an important part in their overall organization of and conception of redemptive history. Classical Dispensationalists, such as Lewis Sperry Chafer and C.I. Scofield, saw a dualistic theme around which the dispensations were organized—the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of God is universal and includes all mortal and supernatural beings who willingly submit to God. The Kingdom of Heaven is its earthy manifestation. It is the government of God on earth. Because of Israel’s rejection of Jesus’ offer of the earthly Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven must pass through various stages before it finds its fulfillment in the Millennium. At the close of the Millennium, the Kingdom of Heaven will merge into the Kingdom of God.⁵ The second generation of Dispensationalists, called Revised Dispensationalists, generally held to a universal or eternal kingdom concept around which the biblical dispensations were organized. The dispensations were viewed as time periods in which separate and differing manifestations of God’s Kingdom occurred.⁶ This means that the kingdom mediated to Israel and again during the Millennium is radically different from the spiritual form of the kingdom mediated to the church.

Some of the newer Dispensationalists, called Progressive Dispensationalists, have a more unified theology of the Kingdom of God as it unfolds in Biblical history. The dispensations are viewed as progressive stages of salvation history which find their fulfillment in the revelation of the eschatological kingdom of God.⁷ They divide redemptive history into four periods: 1. Patriarchal (Adam to Sinai). 2. Mosaic (Sinai to Christ’s Ascension). 3. Ecclesial (Ascension to Second Coming). 4. Zionic (Millennium and Eternity). While they distinguish between covenant and dispensation, they define them similarly and note their interrelatedness. A dispensation is defined as an “administrative or management arrangement,” and like covenant it is viewed as a description of the relationship between God and humanity.⁸ This leaves one wondering why they cling to a Dispensational rather than a covenantal structure for redemptive history.

A Brief Critique of Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism

Many unbelievers have been brought to Christ through the Covenantal and Dispensational approaches to Scripture. Many as well have grown in Christ through both of those systems. The problem is that Pentecostals and Charismatics have been primarily stuck with the limitations of either of those two options. Both approaches distort the place of Israel and the church in God’s plan of redemption. Dispensational Theology tends to rigidly separate Israel from the church, while Covenant Theology has the church replacing Israel. Both rob the Jews of their true eternal inheritance. Dispensationalism does so by limiting the inheritance to the Millennium and Covenant Theology by having the church spiritually fulfill the Old Covenant promises to Israel. Dispensationalism and Covenant Theologians have also historically denied the present work of God through signs and wonders as seen in the book of Acts. Both approaches see miracles and the so-called sign gifts as dying out by the end of the first century. The primary failure of both systems is their neglect in placing the Kingdom of God in its proper role and recognizing its primacy.

In spite of what they say, Dispensationalists tend to give their idea of Dispensationalism central place and to allow it to govern redemptive history, rather than the Kingdom of God. Kingdom in actuality becomes a subtheme of Dispensationalism. Thus, for Dispensationalists, the dispensational notion becomes both the central concept and the structure for redemptive history.

Covenantalists, while at times giving lip service to the centrality of the Kingdom of God, do so only in passing and neglect it in favor of their concept of covenant. When they do speak of Kingdom, it is presented from a New Testament perspective, rather than a full orbed biblical theology.⁹ For Covenant Theologians, the covenantal notion becomes both the central concept and the structure for redemptive history.

In summary, both Dispensational and Covenant Theology fail to recognize the centrality of the Kingdom of God and the relationship of the historical covenants to that grand theme. As a result, both impose a schema upon Scripture that does not do full justice to the development of redemptive history, particularly as it involves both the place of Israel and the implications of the nowness of the Kingdom in Jesus’ ministry, i.e. the place of signs and wonders. However, there is a third alternative, Kingdom of God Theology.

The Kingdom of God

To understand the Kingdom of God is to grasp what God has done, is doing, and will do in history in order to submit all creation and all people under his righteous rule. God is a King who has a Kingdom, and His purpose in history is to establish His Kingdom. God’s people throughout the ages, including his church today, have played an important role in the expansion of that Kingdom.

The idea of Kingdom permeates Scripture. Terms that reveal the idea of Kingdom include kingdom, throne, ruler, rule, law, obedience, covenant, nation, promise, blessing, curse, mercy, worship, bow, power, Lord, LORD (Yahweh), Son of David, Jesus Christ (Yeshua Messiah), Israel, and church, to name but a few. When you begin to view Scripture in terms of Kingdom, you will begin to understand the flow of Biblical history and how it all fits together in God’s plan to one day turn this upside-down world right side up. On that day his Kingdom will be here in its fullness. The old things will have passed away and the new will have come—new bodies, new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem, yet all without sin. In his Matthew commentary, John Peter Lange correctly observes that “the Kingdom of God embraces the whole history of the world. … The whole history of the world itself is simply the history of the restoration and transformation of the world into the Kingdom of God. … Every new stage in the unfolding and history of salvation is marked by a fresh extension and establishment of the Kingdom of God. …”¹⁰

God is King

God is the Almighty Sovereign King who sits upon his throne from all eternity. He administrates his rule over his creation and specifically over mankind through a relationship of covenant. The Kingdom of God gradually and progressively unfolds in Scripture through the covenants God establishes with his people. While God is the rightful ruler over creation, his rule over it in this present age is not yet fully realized. This is all according to his plan. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11).

The Israel/Church Relationship

For the Jewish people today, the church is that antisemitic Gentile institution which has arrogantly divorced itself from its Jewish roots and wantonly persecuted them throughout the centuries for their religious beliefs.¹¹ The church has earned this reputation well, but in so doing has separated itself from its true nature. Theologically speaking the church is not a Gentile entity. Rather, it consists of believing Jews and Gentiles sharing together in the covenant promises of God (Eph. 2:14-16, 19; Gal. 3:28-29). Under the New Covenant the church becomes the heir of the covenant promises, not in place of Israel but because of Israel (Eph. 2:11-18). The promises belong to Israel, but through Jesus Christ they have been extended to believing Gentiles as well. Together in Christ Jew and Gentile form one body, one people of God—the church (Eph. 3:6).¹² God’s present and future work with Israel is for the purpose of bringing from both groups the full number of the elect into that body (Rom. 11:12, 25-26).

Seeing one people of God under the New Covenant does not negate ethnic, cultural, or historical differences (Rom. 1:16; 3:29). More importantly, it also does not do away with the special position that Israel has within the span of Redemptive History, either past, present, or future (Rom. 3:1-2; 9:4-6; 11:25-32). Israel has played a significant role in God’s kingdom work and she continues to do so. This is an important concept because it is only through Israel that Gentiles have any hope of salvation (John 4:22; Eph. 2:11-13). Under the Old Covenant, Israel alone existed as the one and only chosen people of God. However, under the New Covenant, the one people of God has been expanded from Israel to also include Gentiles. Thus, God is not finished with Israel (Rom. 11:1-2); he has not temporarily set Israel aside; Gentiles have not become Israelites; nor has the church has become new or true Israel. Rather, the church consists of the original heirs to the covenant promises, believing Israel, and those believing Gentiles who through Israel’s Messiah have been given the privilege of sharing together with Israel in the covenant promises (Eph. 2:11-22; 3:6).

Embracing all peoples under a New Covenant as a new people of God called the church has been God’s goal from the beginning. He did not choose to stop his plan with Israel, or to abandon Israel. Rather, through a despised and downtrodden people God has always planned to bring his gracious work of redemption to all peoples (Rom. 16:25-27; Eph. 3:6-11). Israel was and is the catalyst. Remove the catalyst and the reaction stops. Remove Israel from God’s redemptive plan and all hope of salvation is gone.

The olive tree of Romans 11:17-24 symbolizes the new people of God by picturing the natural olive branches that remain as believing Israel and the wild in-grafted olive branches as believing Gentiles. Gentiles can only gain inheritance by being grafted into the olive tree. Both groups share in the nourishing sap from the olive root. Whether the root represents Jesus (Rom. 5; 9:5), Abraham (Rom. 4; 11:1), the Patriarchs (Rom. 9:5; 11:28) or the covenant promises given to Abraham (Rom. 4:16; 9:4), it is still a Jewish root.¹³

The branches that were cut off symbolize unbelieving Israelites who are not privileged to enjoy the benefits and blessings of God. Being a natural heir of Abraham does not guarantee reaping the covenant blessings, but disobedience does guarantee reaping the covenant curses. Romans 11:25 says that in the present age there is a hardness in part (not in totality) upon Israel. In concluding his parable of the tenants Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (Matthew 21:43, NIV). Strictly within the context of the passage, the responsibility for the propagation of the gospel of the Kingdom will be taken from the corrupt religious leaders who spiritually guide the nation (Mt. 21:45) and given to the disciples (ethnos as group or people). The parable in no way implies that God is finished with the Jews or has temporarily set them and his Kingdom program aside, as some have said.

Aside from biblical proof, there is also historical proof of Israel’s divine election, even within our own time. The establishment of Israel as a sovereign nation in May 1948 was an absolute miracle. The growth of the Messianic Jewish movement in recent years is significant. Jews are embracing Jesus as their Messiah in greater and greater numbers. God is not yet finished with Israel. In fact his greater work with Israel has not yet begun (Romans 11:25-27), but when it does Gentiles will reap even greater blessings, for “if their transgression means riches to the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring” (Romans 11:12, NIV).

The Millennium and New Creation

For Kingdom Theology, the Millennium is another step in the program of God under the New Covenant as he works toward the full coming of his Kingdom on earth. In that age believers will reign and rule with Christ on earth in a manner that is not realized in the present age (Rev. 2:26-27; 5:10; 19:15-16; 20:4). A restored and redeemed Israel plays a prominent role in that rule (Isa 2:2-4; 11:1-10; 14:1-2; Zech. 8:20-23; Acts 1:6-7).

However, the goal of biblical eschatology is not the Millennium, although it is an important step, but rather it is the full realization of the Kingdom of God on earth in the New Creation. For some reason we tend to stop our eschatology with the millennium as if the eternal state is somehow totally cut off from and has no relationship to this present creation. The redemption of the cosmos is also part of God’s program: Romans 8:19-21 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (NIV)

The New Heavens and New Earth of Revelation 21 & 22 are not the beginning of a new age that is wholly unlike and unrelated to the present, but is the final redemptive work of God in bringing newness to all of his creation. In other words, the final step in the coming of God’s Kingdom under the New Covenant is the creation of the New Heavens and Earth. As we will continue to live but in resurrected bodies, the heavens and the earth will also continue but in their renewed forms. Living on this earth in our renewed bodies we will again be given the opportunity to fulfill our original creation mandate of ruling over the earth as God’s images. It is this period of time to which the Old and New Testaments look in eager anticipation.

The Bible has much more to say about the final state of God’s Kingdom than we often realize, because much of what we usually pour into the Millennium properly belongs to the New Creation. While the Millennial fulfillment of God’s Kingdom is only partial and anticipatory of the New Creation, the New Heavens and the New Earth is the final fulfillment of those Old Testament prophecies that speak of the future age of the Kingdom. The New Creation passages of Revelation 21 and 22 contain strong allusions to and quotes from Old Testament passages that speak of the age of the Kingdom.¹⁴ In fact, the bulk of Revelation 21 & 22 can be reconstructed from messianic passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel, demonstrating that the true fulfillment of those passages is found in the New Creation.¹⁵ God’s promises to Israel of land, temple, worship, etc., will be eternally realized on the new earth. Thus, believing Israel will live on the new earth in the promised land forever, enjoying the fulfillment of the covenant promises for which they have long waited (Ezek. 48:31-34; Rev. 21:12-13). Believing Gentiles will enjoy the eternal blessings as well, as they share with Israel in those covenant promises (Isa. 60:3,5; Rev. 21:24-26). And so God will forever tabernacle with his people in that new creation (Rev. 21:3).

Key Definitions Relating to the Kingdom

1. KINGDOM: The Kingdom of God can be defined as the dynamic rule and reign of God in History whereby He works to submit all things unto Himself (I Cor. 15:24-25).

God’s Kingdom consists of at least four key elements. Understanding the relationship between these categories is essential in determining how the Kingdom of God unfolds in the pages of the Bible.

-RULER: The LORD God Almighty (II Chron. 20:6; Ps. 103;19; Dan. 4:17; Rev. 19:15). God is the ruler of his Kingdom. There is no other. Without him there would be no Kingdom.

-RULED: The Subjects of the Kingdom. Includes all Creation, but specifically all who submit to Him (Ps. 1:1-2; Ps. 89:30-33; Rom. 10:3; James 1:22-25; 2:8, 12; 4:7-8, 11).

-RULE: The Law of God. God administers his rule through a covenant relationship with his people. God’s rule is a covenant rule (Ps. 19:7-8; Mt. 5:17; Rom. 8:1-9; Gal. 6:2; James 1:25). The concept of covenant will be discussed below.

-REALM: The domain of God’s Kingdom. In the present age God rules by right (dejure—by right) over all creation (Ps. 103:19; Col. 1:16-20), but His rule is only actualized (defacto—by fact) wherever His reign is recognized and accepted (Mt. 5:3; Luke 17:20-21). At the New Creation God’s rule over all his creation will be totally realized and accomplished, for all things will have been brought under his submission (Phil. 2: 9-11; I Cor. 15:24-2-29).

2. COVENANT: Covenant is the loving, holy, and just relationship that God makes with those in his Kingdom. It is means by which the kingdom rule of God is implemented. The historical covenants of Scripture are advancements in the coming of the Kingdom of God to earth.

The Concept of Kingdom in Scripture

1. The purpose of God in history is to establish His Kingdom and thereby bring glory to Himself (I Cor. 15:24-28).

From the beginning of this present world until the present God’s purpose has not changed, and it never will. His purpose has always been to establish his kingdom among men in such a manner that would bring glory to his name. God’s purpose in this respect has never been thwarted nor has God ever been diverted from this purpose. He will work until all things are submitted unto him and his kingdom reigns over all.

Even before the fall of man into sin in the Garden of Eden, God was working to make his Kingdom more evident. This can be seen in the progress of creation culminating in the making of man in God’s own image. God created man to rule over, to care for, and to work with creation in order that the glory of God inherent within it might be brought out more clearly. Man’s purpose on earth was to be reflective of God’s rule over all creation. The serpent’s purpose was to do all he could to steal what was God’s and to attempt to make it his own. He desired to make God’s kingdom his kingdom. When the first couple was deceived by him, he thought he had succeeded. Little did the serpent realize that the sin of Adam and Eve did not crush the purpose of God, but rather it served to accomplish God’s purpose of establishing his kingdom, for in the midst of God’s covenant curse upon the parties involved a promise of redemption was given. Through the seed of the woman there would come a deliverer who would crush the head of the serpent and deliver a crushing blow to all his progeny (Gen. 3:15). The rest of history is an account of the battle between the two kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan. However, in his sovereignty God has already predetermined the conclusion of the battle. God and his Kingdom will be victorious. There is no other option. Satan as a created being is under the authority and power of God. His kingdom can only have apparent temporary success and only as it is granted by the Creator. Ultimately his kingdom is doomed to failure and eternal judgment, and in fact, under Jesus it has already been dealt the decisive blow. Until its final day comes, God, because of his great mercy and his desire for all men to come to repentance, allows the battle to continue.

2. Covenant is the means by which God progressively works in History to establish His Kingdom (Heb. 7-8; Eph. 2:12 “Covenants of promise”).

Since the creation of man, God has had a relationship with man. Scripture always pictures this relationship in covenantal terms. Man has no option as to whether or not he wishes to be in covenantal relationship. God as the sovereign king places everyone under covenant. Man can choose to willingly be in covenant relationship and reap the blessings of obedience; or he can choose to rebel against the covenant relationship and reap the curses of disobedience. Being in covenant relationship with God does not guarantee salvation. The covenant relationship binds one legally to God so that one is held accountable for his acceptance or rejection of God as the rightful sovereign over his life.

Each of the major covenants of Scripture builds upon and expands upon the ones that precede it. With the establishment of each successive covenant, the Kingdom of God comes into the world with a greater presence and clarity. The coming of God’s Kingdom into the world culminates with the New Covenant. The New Covenant is the last and final covenant to be established by God with his people. It was initiated at the cross and will find its total fulfillment at the New Creation. Under the New Covenant, the promises of the Kingdom are brought to a new level, and as such they are the fulfillment of the Messianic Kingdom anticipated by the Old Testament prophets. The first coming of Jesus did not exhaust the messianic expectations, for they are presently partial and await the second coming when they will be totally fulfilled. Under the New Covenant the Old is not violated or annulled, but rather the purpose or intent of the Old Covenant as God intended is kept and maintained. Old forms may be abrogated and new forms may be introduced, but the principles behind the forms remain the same.¹⁶ Jesus himself said he did not come to destroy the Law or Prophets but to fulfill them and that not even the tiniest marking would disappear from the Law until the end of the present creation (Mt. 5:17-20).

3. The Kingdom of God under the Old Covenant is a shadow in comparison to its New Covenant revelation.

The promises, forms, and institutions of the Old Covenant point to the future realization of the Kingdom of God under the New Covenant: Hebrews 10:1 “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves” (NIV). This does not in any way diminish the ways in which the Kingdom of God was revealed in the Old Testament. The Old Covenant manifestation of God’s Kingdom was a very real and important part of the redemptive history that Israel experienced. For example, the entire sacrificial system instituted by God under the Old Covenant was just as necessary and efficacious, as is the work of Christ under the New. God had predetermined the offering of the Lamb of God as the once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of mankind (Acts 2:23; Heb. 7:27). It was on that basis that God could forgive any repentant sinner under the Old Covenant just as surely as he forgives under the New: Hebrews 9:22-23 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (NIV) If God’s forgiveness under the Old Covenant was somehow inferior to the New, then none of the Old Covenant saints have any hope of salvation. Yet, as we read the Psalms we rejoice with the saints of old in the forgiving heart of God: Psalm 130:3-4 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. (NIV) It was the legalistic distortion of the Law, often accompanied by unholy living, that both the Old and the New Testaments condemn (Isa. 1:10-14; Hos. 6:6; Mt. 5:20; Gal. 3:1-3).

At times the Kingdom of God is obscured in the Old Testament by the pagan nations which rule the earth as agents of Satan. The prophets look forward to the day when God’s Kingdom will subdue the kingdoms of this world and fill the entire earth (Dan. 2:31-35; 7:13-14).

4. As anticipated by the prophets, the Kingdom of God has now come under the New Covenant, but it is not yet here fully.

With the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the New Covenant, the long awaited coming of God’s Kingdom in its fullness is partially realized (Mt. 3:1-2; 11:12; 13:24-43; Luke. 17:20-21; Col. 1:13). The words and works of Jesus are all signs that the Kingdom has come, is still in the process of coming, and is yet to come (Mt. 4:23-25; Luke 11:14-20; 21:31). After Pentecost, the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit serve to demonstrate that the Kingdom of God is continuing to advance with power (Acts 4:29-31; Rom. 15:19; I Cor. 2:4; 4:20).

We presently live during the “already, not yet” aspect of the Kingdom: The Kingdom is here to a much greater degree than under the Old Covenant but not yet fully. This age is an age of tension where the wheat and the tares grow together (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43). It is an age where we experience the blessings of God in part, but we also endure the suffering of living in a fallen and sinful world as sinful and fallen people who are constantly attacked by the Kingdom of Darkness. It is an age of spiritual power wherein the power of God can be demonstrated through the exercise of his gifts as his people call in earnest upon his holy name and as God himself chooses to reveal himself (Acts 4:24-31). Yet because the Kingdom is not fully present, demonstrations of God’s power are incomplete and partial (I Corinthians 13:8-12), and there are also times when God chooses not to act. Yet, when his power is experienced, they are proof of his presence and of his Kingdom, the fullness of which is yet to come (Hebrews 6:4-5).

5. Under the New Covenant in the age to come, the Kingdom of God will be fully realized.

The final steps in the consummation of the Kingdom of God are initiated with the second coming of Jesus and are completed with the creation of the New Heavens and Earth (Rev. 11:15-18; 19:11-16; Rev. 21-22).

This article has proposed that the Kingdom of God is the central unifying theme of Scripture, with covenant being the vehicle by which God progressively works in history to bring his Kingdom into the world. In our next article we will consider some of the passages that serve to demonstrate the central role the Kingdom of God has in both the Old and New Testaments.

May his Kingdom come and his will be done both in our lives and yours.

PR

Part Two will appear in the Spring 2001 issue.

Part 2 of The Kingdom of God As Scripture’s Central Theme

Notes

1. Another approach to Biblical interpretation called Kingdom Now Theology is found in some Charismatic circles. The adherents view the church as a manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth. As in Covenant Theology, the church is believed to have taken the place of Israel. The church’s mandate is to convert all of civilization to Christianity. Only after this occurs can the second coming of Christ take place. One of the difficulties with Kingdom Now Theology is its overemphasis on the nowness of the Kingdom. It fails to give adequate weight to the incompleteness of the Kingdom in the present age. They have forged ties with the Reconstructionist movement of the Reformed camp, since their theologies are similar. Like Dominionism or Reconstructionism, Kingdom Now Theology is preterist and postmillennial in its eschatology. See “Is Reconstructionism Merging with Kingdom Now?” News Watch (a column from the Christian Research Journal, Fall 1988, page 5) by William M. Alnor.
2. Rev. C. I. Scofield, ed., The Scofield Reference Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1945), 5.
3. Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today (Chicago: Moody Press, 1981), 44-47.
4. Blaising, Craig A. & Darrell L. Bock, editors, Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church (Grand Rapids; Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 37-67.
5. Rev. C. I. Scofield, ed., The Scofield Reference Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1945), 996, 1003; Lewis Sperry Chafer, The Kingdom in History and Prophecy (Philadelphia: Sunday School Times Co., 1926), 52-62. Also see Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism: An up-to-date Handbook of Contemporary Dispensational Thought (Wheaton, IL: Bridgepoint), 297. Bock gives an excellent summary of the progression of dispensational thought. He sees three primary developments which he categorizes as Classical, Revised, and Progressive. This present article makes use of this helpful terminology.
6. Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism: An up-to-date Handbook of Contemporary Dispensational Thought (Wheaton, IL: Bridgepoint), 39-46; J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978), 433-475.
7. Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism: An up-to-date Handbook of Contemporary Dispensational Thought (Wheaton, IL: Bridgepoint), 127-128.
8. Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism: An up-to-date Handbook of Contemporary Dispensational Thought (Wheaton, IL: Bridgepoint), 127-128.
9. Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979), 41-54. While not viewing Kingdom as the central theme of Redemptive History, Willem VanGemeren’s The Progress of Redemption (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988) does discuss its development in both the Old and New Testaments (169-177, 347-355, 460-464).
10. John Peter Lange, Lange’s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 8: The Gospel According to Matthew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960), 2-3.
11. Out of respect for a Jewish friend and the entire Jewish community, I will not dignify the word antisemitism by capitalizing semitism and separating it from anti by means of a hyphen. Antisemitism is an euphemism for hatred of the Jews. In 1879 it was coined by Wilheim Marr, a German anti-Jewish spokesman. It is not directed against all Semites but against Jews only. See Joshua ben David Halevi Ellison, N.D., DD., Ph.D., Christian Antisemitism: Breaking the Cycle (Unpublished manuscript presented at the Blossoming Rose Symposium on Israel XII, Sept. 14-17, 2000, Bridgeman, MI), 3.
12. Col. 3:11-12, 15 refers to Jews and Gentiles together as God’s chosen people and members of one body wherein there is no inequality.
13. David D. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1992), 413. See also Ariel & D’vorah Berkowitz, Take Hold: Embracing our Divine Inheritance with Israel (Israel: First Fruits of Zion, Inc., 1999), 103-108; Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1989), 3-16.
14. Dispensationalists generally apply these passages exclusively to the Millennium and Covenant Theologians generally apply them spiritually to the church in the present age. How can either finite period totally fulfill the eternal promises of God to Israel? God did not wash his hands of Israel at the creation of the church nor will he at the close of the Millennium. The Millennium is only another step, albeit a significant one, toward the Kingdom coming in its fullness.
15. See my chart showing the parallels of those passages in The Kingdom of God (unpublished manuscript), 126.
16. Take for example the old form of animal sacrifice and the new form of the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The two forms may be different but the principle behind both remains the same: Heb. 9:22: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (JNT).

From the Spring 2001 issue of Pneuma Review
Part 2 of The Kingdom of God As Scripture’s Central Theme