Resurrectio n and Life

The Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom and reigndom

What do you think of when you think of a kingdom? What do you think of when you think of a kings reign? While these two words were the same word in Greek (basilea), we have separated them into two synonyms with growing distance between the two. Kingdom now is normally thought of to be a word describing the physical location of a kings property, while reign is a much wider term encompassing such things as the time of the kings power, the persons of the kingdom, and the nature of the kings power, in addition to the physical location of that power.

Kingdom is used 56 times in the Gospel of Matthew alone look a few up and see which category the kingdom referent falls into: o Place o Time o Persons o Something else Kingdom in Matthew: Matt. 3:2; 4:17, 4:23; 5:3,

5:10, 5:19; 6:10, 6:33; 7:21; 8:11f; 9:35; 10:7; 11:11f; 12:25f, 12:28; 13:11, 13:19, 13:24, 13:31, 13:33, 13:38, 13:41, 13:43, 13:47, 13:52; 16:19, 16:28; 18:1, 18:3, 18:23; 19:12, 19:14, 10:23; 20:1, 20:21; 21:31, 21:43; 22:2; 23:13; 24:7, 24:14; 25:1, 25:34; 26:29

Kingdom and Gospel

The word Gospel (eu-angellion) literally means good news. It also had something to do with the idea of kingdom. When it was used in terms of kingdom it was normally used to announce one of three events: 1. The victory of a king over an enemy, (i.e. Good news! The Nazis have surrendered!), 2. The arrival of an heir of the king, (i.e. Good news! Julius Ceasar is born!) 3. The pronouncement of the statehood of a region (i.e. Good news! Puerto Rico is now a state!) Read Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Mk. 1:15 How is Gospel of the Kingdom being used?

Oooh heaven is a place on earth

In Revelation 21 we find that God has created a new heaven and a new earth and that these things are now combined as Jerusalem comes down from heaven to earth. The Kingdoms Gospel is the statehood of earth to become the dwelling place of both God and man. Heaven is not a particular place with borders, but rather an explanation of the proximity of Gods presence. Read Revelation 21:1-10 What will this heaven on earth be like?

Thy kingdom come

The Lords Prayer, the 2nd and 3rd petitions, read: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Luthers Small Catechism explains these petitions this way: 2nd Petition, What does this mean: The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also. How does this come? Gods kingdom

comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity. 3rd Petition, What does this mean: The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also. How is this done? Gods will is done when He breaks and hinders every plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow Gods name or let us Kingdom come, and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will. What do these explanations of the Kingdom of God teach us about what heaven and the resurrection will be like?

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