The present influence of the Kingdom
March 5th, 2007 by JohnO
From the last post about the Earthly Kingdom, we recognize that the Kingdom is not here now. Yet the Kingdom has some influence today. I think the “already/not-yet” language used today doesn’t adequately describe the truth the Bible declares. This is because the Kingdom is not here, therefore it can not be “already”.
On a side-note, the Kingdom of God is not the universal sovereignty of God. Yes God is declared to be the King and Creator - but that is never in reference to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is always viewed as an eschatalogical event in the NT. God’s sovereignty brings about the Kingdom.
As I’ve stated before, the nearness of God is expressed on more than a temporal scale:
and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off {in protest} against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
Luke 10.9-11
But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Luke 11.20, Matt 12:28
Notice above in the first text, Jesus tells his disciples to tell them the Kingdom is near unto the people they evangelize to. But he tells them to say this to both people who accept their preaching, and those that deny their preaching. So it isn’t to mean that the Kingdom is come to those who believe, or those who believe then enter the Kingdom. In the second text, healing and supernatural power is attributed to the Kingdom coming upon someone.
But in none of the present dominion sayings does Paul suggest that anyone enters or inherits the dominion in the present. That activity is always seen as happening in the future. This in turn means that the dominion as a realm is for Paul, as for Jesus, only a future entity. To put it another way, for both Paul and Jesus the dominion in present is seen in a primarily spiritual way, focusing on the way it changes human lives, rather than in a material or physical way.
Witherington, Problems, pg. 178
In Paul’s writings we see the same concepts conveyed in different language. Perhaps our major misunderstaning on the issue is a result of our focus primarily on Paul’s words first, before we understand Jesus’ words. If we understand how Jesus views the influence of the Kingdom today, then we can begin to understand Paul on the same subject.
For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.
1 Cor 4.20
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Romans 14.17
The context of the first text infers that Paul is talking presently, specifically when he comes to visit them. The second text is set in the midst of issues that separate believers, and the Kingdom is brought into the picture as the unifying item of the faith.
What I had never considered previously, was the relationship between holy spirit and the influence of the Kingdom presently. We understand that on the most basic level, the spirit is God’s operating influence on the world. Therefore when God acts, for example in healing, the spirit is in action. Yet Jesus also said that the Kingdom has come upon them in the same example.
When the Kingdom comes, what do we understand the role of the spirit to be? We understand that we will be resurrected unto perfection. We will have the law written on our hearts, and we will be cleansed and be given a new heart, and we will be given a new spirit (Ezek 36.26). Joel 2 is originally set in the context of taking place after the Day of the LORD.
Therefore I submit that we truly only know in part (1 Cor 13.9), we only have a downpayment. We long for the fullness of our restoration, and the fullness of the spirit. I submit that the Kingdom and spirit are intimately tied together. We experience a renewal partially today. When we hear the Gospel, and repent, we are made a new creation. However we still await a new birth - resurrection. We experience a partial affect of the spirit according to 1 Cor 13.9. We experience knowledge in part as well. Therefore through the spirit, which is the power of the next age, the Kingdom age, we experience in part - though it is not here.
I think this is the language and understanding we are to glean from Scripture about how we should talk presently about the Kingdom. Thoughts?
Good points John.
I think that the “near not here” idea is correct when it comes to the Kingdom. Scott Deane, a Professor I had for a Synopitics class spoke of the spirit’s working now as “the powers of the age to come spilling over into this age.” I like that perspective.
Even with the present power of God showing the power of the coming Kingdom in this age, the coming age is still the primary focus of Jesus. For example:
Matthew 7:21-23 - “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
So even those who manifest or show the power of the age to come now may not enter the Kingdom when it comes. Amazing.
Also, in light of your question of the spirit, doesn’t it make sense with the words of Jesus during the last supper. The spirit would come and fill the role of Christ with the disciples once he leaves. But how long would it be this way?
John 14:16 - I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever (eis aion - into/unto the age )
The Helper would with the with the disciples until the Kingdom comes…which shows the importance of the spirit now and the Kingdom then.
VG
As you say, the Kingdom is PRIMARILY the eschatalogical reality of a literal Kingdom. But since you point out that Jesus said when he casts out a demon the Kingdom is come upon them, I don’t know if it’s right to say that the kingdom is not here in ANY sense. There are those few references to the Kingdom being present in a “seed” form, a hidden form. They are definitely not the primary sense of the Kingdom, but as George Ladd describes it, the kingdom is here in that sense, though not the complete sense. He points out that the word kingdom can refer to the rulership and authority of the king, as well as the realm over which he reigns. The realm is future, the power and authority are seen even now, as a preview of what is to come. (I wrote about this on my site if you want to chack it out - http://www.godskingdomfirst.net/KingdomCome.htm#mysteries)
Jesus spoke in several parables about the Kingdom being in a hidden form - the wheat and the tares, the dragnet, the mustard seed, etc. The seed, he said elsewhere, is the word of the kingdom. The word and the spirit are closely tied together, as Victor pointed out. If the Word and the spirit are here, and the power and the nature of the kingdom can be foretasted now, it seems like that is the hidden form to which Jesus referred. So while the complete consummation of the kingdom is not here yet, the seed form is. Jesus described this slightly different portrayal of the kingdom of God than what many were expecting to see right away, which is why it would be in the category of the “mysteries of the kingdom” and why he spoke about it in parables.
[…] This book is fantastically written. Although it reads like the audience should already know what the Kingdom is, the author isn’t pained to define what it is - but mostly what it isn’t. Fortunately it wasn’t the Kingdom of Israel, and it isn’t the Church. The people that make up the Church, the Body of Christ, are the people of the Kingdom, naturally. Unfortunately, the Kingdom is somehow here now, and at the same time, still coming. I find this language very cumbersome, and uneasy. It doesn’t help to convey meaning - I’ve written before on this topic. Steven Baugh has a helpful way to talk about this subject with his phrase “the Kingdom proper”. […]