Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Reading)
The Implications of the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 43)
The Scope of the Second Coming
Chapter 3 – Themes of the Second Coming
The Kingdom of God
One of the most obvious themes of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the kingdom of God. Further to that point, “the Second Coming” and “the coming of the kingdom of God” are, practically speaking, synonymous phrases. We can and do use the phrases interchangeably.
The kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesus’ teaching. By most counts, it (or one of its synonyms, such as “the kingdom of heaven” or simply “the kingdom”) is explicitly mentioned over a hundred times in the New Testament. Both John the Baptist and Jesus made it the announcing headline of their respective ministries.
Matthew 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus Himself tied His coming in glory to the coming of God’s kingdom, especially as the time of His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension grew near. Here’s an example. (Don’t let the chapter division distract you; Mark wasn’t the one who placed the chapter division between these two sentences.)
Mark 8:38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.“
Mark 9:1 And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
To better understand the phrase “kingdom of God,” let’s break it into two parts. The word “kingdom” has in the Bible a number of synonyms – such as, “government,” “administration,” “reign,” “authority,” “establishment,” and so on. With this in mind, we can easily find even more references to the kingdom of God than just the ones with the literal word “kingdom” in them. Consider a couple of examples.
Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Ephesians 1:10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth…
With the inclusion of synonymous terms like these, the number of 100+ explicit mentions of God’s kingdom in the New Testament rises accordingly.
As for the second part of the kingdom phrase – “of God” – we already know that “heaven” is a reference to deity. But the search for more synonyms will eventually lead us to a question: Is the kingdom of the Son synonymous with the kingdom of the Father…or something different? For example, consider these two citations. Are they talking about the same kingdom or two separate kingdoms?
Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Matthew 26:29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
I ask this question because we find this in Paul’s letters:
1 Corinthians 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
1 Corinthians 15:24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
This sentence implies an end to Jesus’ kingdom but we know from elsewhere in the Bible that the kingdom of God was to have no end. Are there two kingdoms in view? We’ll be answering this question in all three of the major implications of the Second Coming to be addressed in this book.
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