The Gospel of the Kingdom - The problem of purpose

Oftentimes when people preach the gospel, they speak of the ultimate goal as going to heaven and this is often inadequately understood by people thinking that when they die, they’ll just float up into the clouds and live some kind of ethereal existence singing church songs to God every single day without end. But that is not an accurate understanding. There’s much more to do in heaven than just sing songs and the present state of heaven as we know it is not the eternal state. The Bible talks about in the end times, heaven coming down to earth and God dwelling with His people there. It speaks of a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. God will cleanse the earth with fire and then renovate it, making it better, making the whole earth a garden, a paradise, like Eden.

God’s original intention with humanity was always that they would take care of the earth and rule over it and advance their dominion over the earth through culture and civilization. That’s what the true heaven will be like. It will be a perfect world with no sin, no evil, no pain, no suffering, no death, and all will live in harmony. We will all worship God but part of that worship is living in gratitude for the greatness of God for the perfect world we find ourselves in as we marvel, “how ever did I get here?” People will build and create things, help one another, explore with one another, enjoy food and each other’s company. It will truly be a paradise.

However, before that time comes, there will be a one-thousand-year period where death still exists but Jesus is physically reigning on the earth from His throne. For those who have chosen to believe in Jesus, they will rule and reign with Him and they will live in a community of sinless people. However, for the sinners and rebels and unbelievers, they will live outside the kingdom of God and life will be difficult for them. They must bring their wealth into the kingdom of God to be blessed and if they fail to do so, they will be cursed. It is the life they have chosen for themselves because they decided they didn’t want Jesus. Their suffering becomes the result of their own choice. But I do not know that once this one-thousand-year reign begins that they will be able to change their minds to be on the side of Jesus. For this reason, it is very important to make the decision now.

The gospel of the kingdom is the good news that we will be able to rule and reign with Christ one day from His earthly kingdom which will be a paradise. It’s about participation rather than merely existing. It will be a civilization, culture, and society on earth. It’s about God giving people faith and hope for a future where God will reverse the curse and restore all things. Jesus died to reconcile us to God so that we would have these great blessings if we believe in Him and repent.

The gospel of the kingdom is about gradually transforming the world to more quickly bring in the millennial reign of Christ. If we bring the gospel to the ends of the earth and every lost people group hears about Jesus, then Jesus will come and heaven will come down to earth (Mt 24:14). This should motivate us to be about the Lord’s work. The Bible says to look for and hasten the Lord’s return (2 Pet 3:12).

However, someone might interject, “Didn’t Jesus say that when He returns, He will not find faith on the earth?” Actually, no, Jesus never said that. He only said, “when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Lk 18:8). It was a question that Jesus never provided the answer for. He was only speculating according to His knowledge of the ways of man if things continue to go according to the current pattern, what may be a probable scenario. Jesus never answered His own question and I believe the reason for that is because He is leaving it up to us to be responsible for whatever outcome occurs. It’s our rodeo. The earth is our show. Psalm 115:16 says that “the heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.” We’re not to just sit back and let things play out. We have an active role in this. We can affect change. The earth is our responsibility. We can decide which way this turns out to be faithful or faithless. I believe that before Jesus comes, the bride of Christ, the church, must prepare herself and make herself ready for the Lord’s coming. At this present time, however, she is not ready. She is too distracted right now by the cares of the world, sin, and the pleasures of this life that she has grown complacent and lazy and cold. I believe Jesus is coming back for a pure and spotless bride and so the bride must prepare herself and make herself ready. Sure, we know that there will be a great falling away in the last days but this doesn’t mean that revival can’t happen at the same time, right before, or right after the falling away. It may even be that a great revival may separate the wheat from the chaff. Many will be caught up in the revival but those who don’t, will likely fall away, exposing who all the real and fake Christians really are.

The message many Christians often preach today is, “you’re either going to heaven or you’re going to hell,” but the message that the early church preached along with Jesus was, “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mt 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; Mk 1:15). In other words, whether you like it or not, the kingdom of God is coming. You can’t change that. Prepare yourself and make yourself ready for when this day comes by repenting because if you don’t repent then you will perish—the wrath of God will come and you will not survive. Jesus is coming back to judge both the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim 4:1; 1 Pet 4:5). When Jesus comes back, it will be like the days of Noah where everyone was just going about their day-to-day life, eating, drinking, getting married, and then suddenly, the flood waters came and swept them all away (Mt 24:37). They didn’t have opportunity to get right with God on their death bed. People were in so much of a frenzied panic that praying probably didn’t even cross their minds. And even if they did pray, it would be too late. They were given ample opportunity but they squandered the time and refused to accept God and turn from their evil. God shut the doors of the ark and the flood waters came. When Jesus comes back this time, instead of the earth being destroyed with water, it will be purged with fire (2 Pet 2:10-13). It will cleanse away all evil and if you are on the devil’s side in that situation, you will be cleansed off the earth as well. This is part of God’s plan to bring about a sinless paradise but if you do not want God and this paradise, then you will be destroyed. The gospel of the kingdom is the anticipation of this time. For the believer, it is one of hope, faith, and peace; but for the unbeliever, it will be one of fear, dread, and regret.

Jesus’ followers all proclaimed “the kingdom of God” (Lk 9:2, 11, 60; 10:9; 16:16; Acts 8:12; 20:25; 28:23, 31). Matthew 4:23 says that Jesus went everywhere “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.” Gospel literally means “good news.” Jesus and His followers would proclaim the kingdom of God and along with that, heal those who were sick (Lk 9:2, 11, 60). Jesus even instructed His disciples to do this and when people were healed, they were to say, “The kingdom of God has come near to you” (Lk 10:9). Jesus said, “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Lk 11:20). He also said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst” (Lk 17:20-21). These phrases, “Come near to you,” “come upon you,” “in your midst,” indicate that the kingdom of God is a present reality. But that reality has not yet reached its ultimate fulfillment but the nature of the kingdom is the restoration of all things. That’s why when demons were cast out and people were healed, it was attributed to God’s kingdom working its way from heaven to earth. Healings and miracles were inbreaking events of the future kingdom like rays of light that break through storm clouds.

We are told to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10; KJV). This is to progressively usher in God’s kingdom from heaven to earth, for the divine realities and will of God to manifest in the physical. It’s God’s will for people to be healed and delivered from bondage. Jesus came to restore humanity from their broken and lost condition (Mt 9:13; Mk 2:17; Lk 4:18-19; Ps 147:3). This is all part of the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus and His followers healed diseases and cast out demons because Jesus came to restore the entire person. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:20 “For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.” It’s not just about getting to heaven when you die and intellectually accepting a set of beliefs but about being delivered, set free, and healed. Why some people are not healed, I do not have all the answers. But I do know that the kingdom of God has not yet been culminated because it is also a future reality that we presently hope for.

Jesus created each and every one of us unique. Both in this life and the life to come, He intends that we use our gifts, talents, and personality to serve Him in the spiritual kingdom that is now and in the physical kingdom that will be to come. God engineered and designed us to work. Work is not a curse but a blessing. It existed before Adam and Eve sinned (Gen 2:15). Being productive is engineered into the very fabric of our being. It’s good and healthy for us to create things, take charge, and accomplish tasks. That’s how we’re wired. Many people often fall into depression because they have stopped challenging their mind and body. They passively receive all the time without giving, without producing. Even modern-day science shows us that puzzles and playing instruments are good for mental health and exercise can bring someone out of depression. But a great many people instead waste their minds away on television, social media, and video games. I am not saying those things are sinful but certainly their excess can be harmful and cause our minds to turn into mush, disconnecting us from real life and the ability to operate and communicate well. A lack of purpose and direction in life is one of the reasons we are left broken and it is the goal of Jesus to fix and redeem all that is broken. He has come to restore every aspect of humanity to wholeness. He wants to lift us up to be everything that He has created us to be. But He certainly didn’t create us to waste our lives and spend all our time serving ourselves. We were created for community, to make the goodness of His name known, to serve as His ambassadors, and to make progress in the earth, exemplifying God’s creativity, knowledge, and love through our actions since we were made after His likeness.

For this reason, we must operate by the Manufacturer’s design specifications to find the greatest fulfillment. God has given to us His Word, the Bible, to show us this way. The laws of God that were given to us were never meant to oppress us and kill our joy; they were meant to lead us to the path of life where our greatest joys can be found. It is when we act contrary to God’s law that we are out of sync with God, others, and ourselves. It would be like using the wrong part to repair a machine. A part not made for a machine that does not fit or is made of the wrong material will surely cause the machine to sooner or later have errors, break down, or malfunction. Or perhaps we could compare it to a wrong or fragmented code in a computer. Such things may cause the computer to crash or for the program to not function properly. In a similar way, this is what sin does to us. It is the wrong programming contrary to the program we were designed for. We are broken because of it.

But just because you don’t think yourself to be broken, that doesn’t mean you are not. I remember when I was around sixteen or eighteen years old, I went to the eye-doctor and got glasses for the first time. They told me my vision was bad but I thought it was fine and I wasn’t too fond of the idea of wearing glasses. But then I put those glasses on for the first time, and I saw how everything looked clear and crisp. I thought that traffic lights were always supposed to be blurry because I thought that was merely the nature of light to be so but then I put the glasses on and saw that I was wrong. However, if I never had the eye-exam to tell me something was wrong and if I never tried out the glasses, then I never would have known that someone was wrong based upon my own experience alone. All that to say, there is a joy, peace, love, and breath of fresh air to be had in Jesus, unlike anything you have experienced. It’s as if the world is always night and all you’ve ever known was night but then the light comes on for the first time, you see the first sunrise, you breathe in fresh mountain air, and life is full of color. When you believe in the love of Jesus and turn from your sins, such an awakening can happen. I cannot necessarily guarantee it will happen that way for you though or that the experience will indefinitely continue. There are various reasons why it may not happen and it may not be your fault but if you were to experience such a thing just once, you would never forget it and you would continue to pursue Jesus until your dying breath, continually living in hope for the culmination of joy where there will be no restrictions and no hinderances to joy when Jesus comes to fully restore all things. But one must endure until the end to be saved to receive the fullness of their inheritance. Life as a Christian will not be easy as Paul and Barnabas have said, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

The gospel of the kingdom is about Jesus coming back but it’s also about inner transformation. It’s not about a prayer you pray one day to get your get out of jail free card, ticket to heaven, or fire insurance. It’s about a life continually lived unto God and growing into the moral nature of Christ. The gospel is about receiving new life in Christ and this is achieved through Christ’s indwelling presence where He lives in and through you. This isn’t a try harder do better religion but about Jesus working on your behalf to transform the way you speak, think, feel, and act. Jesus Himself is the gospel. He is salvation. It’s more than going to heaven after you die—it’s heaven coming down into your soul. It’s about the restoration of your humanity and fellowship with God.

We are sons of Adam and sons of God, daughters of Adam and daughters of God. We have an authority and responsibility from how God created us in our human state to fulfill the Adamic mandate and as Christians we also have an authority and responsibility to fulfill Christ’s mandate to bring the gospel of the kingdom to the world. It is when we live according to our design and purpose that the restoration of our humanity takes place because we are now living in alignment with heaven’s purposes. This is why it’s important for us to preach the gospel of the kingdom rather than merely this heaven or hell thing. A gospel that doesn’t address our identity and purpose is a message on crutches, lacking this aspect of Christ’s restoration for all things; and a gospel without repentance is a message that leads us further away from our identity and purpose and into the brokenness that we find ourselves stuck in. And a gospel message only about heaven without any inner transformation, is too far removed from our present reality and need—a mere facade that we might pretend numbs our pain. But the gospel of the kingdom brings us true restoration and healing. That is why it is good news.

In summary, the gospel of the kingdom emphasizes healing, transformation, restoration, repentance, identity, responsibility, and authority. It’s not about an other-worldy existence but about a very real spiritual and physical reality coming to take over the kingdoms of this world to bring in peace by putting an end to sin and bringing in everlasting righteousness. Jesus will make sure of this work when He returns to the earth because the earth is the Lord’s and everything that’s in it. He will repay each person according to their deeds in His wrath but for those who obey and believe the gospel, they shall have peace forever.

This article was inspired by some of the teachings of Dan Mohler, Torben Sondergaard, and David Bercot along with my own insights. I also looked at all the Bible passages regarding the kingdom of God.

Appendix about the kingdom of God, eternal life, obedience to God, and rewards:

In Mark 14:25 Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” This indicates that the kingdom of God is a future day: Mt 7:21; 8:11; 16:28; 18:3; 20:21; 26:29; Mk 15:43; Lk 19:11; 21:31; 1 Cor 15:50; 2 Tim 4:18; Rev 12:10.

Romans 14:17 says, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This indicates that the kingdom of God is a present reality: Mt 11:11; 12:28; 18:1, 4; Mk 9:1; 12:34; Ro 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; Col 1:13.

In the Bible, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are the same thing. They are phrases used interchangeably (e.g. Mt 19:14; Mk 10:14). Matthew often called it the kingdom of heaven while Mark called it the kingdom of God. Whether or not a particular Bible verse is speaking about the future kingdom or the present kingdom, we must discern by the context and tense of the verses. For example, let’s take a look at these passages:

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”

1 Corinthians 15:50 “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (cf. Jn 3:5)

Galatians 5:21 “envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Ephesians 5:5 “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

All these passages were written by Paul and they all have the same or similar phrasing but 1 Corinthians 15:50 is clearly speaking about a future reality according to its context. The word “inheritance” also indicates a future reality. The phrase “will inherit” in 1 Corinthians 6:10 is a future tense verb along with “will not inherit” in Galatians 5:21 while “has an inheritance” in Ephesians 5:5 is in the present tense. But the present tense possession or lack of possession of an inheritance is the condition of having it or not so this still implies something in the future since inheritance is by nature something promised in the present but received in the future. Having said all that, all these passages indicate a future reality that one will have or not have based upon their behavior. What about the kingdom of God spoken of in Matthew 5? To me, it isn’t very clear if this is a present reality or a future one. The initiation of Christ’s spiritual kingdom began after He died, rose to life, and Pentecost happened and so as of the time Jesus spoke the Sermon on The Mount, this spiritual kingdom was still yet future. The verbs are also present tense along with future tense but then when we get to verse 12, it says, “for your reward in heaven is great,” seeming to indicate a reward promised to them in the present to be received in the future in the location of heaven. If we take verse 12 and apply it to interpret the rest of the beatitudes, then we would conclude that all of these things are being spoken of and promised for a future reality and reward. That would seem to make the most sense here and also more strongly solidified by verse 8, which says that the pure in heart shall see God.

But here we must ask ourselves if an inheritance in the kingdom of God is the same thing as being justified and saved from hell? It is possible that people can be saved and go to heaven but because of their evil behavior and unfruitfulness on earth, they forfeit all of their rewards in the millennium and in heaven like reigning with Christ. The possibility of this seems feasible considering that 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 says, “If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” This passage indicates that one person receives a reward and the other does not since the reward is not stated as given but is assumed to be lost since all the works were burned up. Without any works, there is no reward. Therefore, since the works were burned up, there is no reward. However, the person is still saved in the end. Rewards could be something like the position in heaven that someone lives, their influence in society and rulership over the earth, and maybe even supernatural abilities. The Bible doesn’t say so we don’t know for sure what these rewards are but those are some possibilities. Jesus does indicate though that the more we do for Him in this life, the more rewards we will receive in the life to come (Mt 19:29; Mk 10:28-31).

This is what the Bible has to say about who enters into heaven and the kingdom: Entrance into the future kingdom requires obedience to God (2 Pet 1:10-11; Mt 7:21-23; 18:3). The eternal state of heaven also requires obedience to God (Heb 12:14).

The definition of eternal life (Jn 17:3). Eternal life mentions obedience (Mt 19:16; 25:46; Jn 3:36; Ro 2:7; Gal 6:8; 1 Jn 3:15). Eternal life also just mentions belief (Jn 3:16; 5:24; 6:40, 47). When someone becomes a Christian, eternal life begins when they repent and believe the gospel and it continues on into eternity. The definition itself “eternal life” does not indicate anything more like kingdom rewards; it’s simply the life that continues on forever in one’s relationship with Jesus. Because of these things, since eternal life mentions obedience as necessary, there seems to be no reason for interpreting the kingdom of God passages as anything other than salvation itself. Those who struggle with such sins would find no greater comfort to see the kingdom of God passages as anything other than eternal life since eternal life also mentions obedience as a necessary condition. In addition to that, 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 is not necessarily speaking of a person who is practicing evil deeds but rather a person who has neglected giving service unto God or doing that service in a wrong way or with wrong motives. That is the reason their works are burned up, not because of something like rebellion or the sins listed in the above quoted Pauline passages.

Now that we have established what the kingdom of God is and that it requires repentance for entering, how then do we interpret those previous passages? How obedient must one be to be saved in the end?

One way to interpret them is that those who will not inherit the kingdom of God are those who “practice” these evil deeds, who “are” these evil things in the present continuous sense. Therefore, this would not apply to those who are struggling with removing every trace of these evils and sometimes falling back into them in moments of weakness. Rather, it applies to those who have stopped fighting against sin, who continue in evil, who practice their evil, progressing further in it and becoming better at it as if training in a sport and becoming more proficient at it. It is the lifestyle that they have become—the path they have chosen to pursue. This would seem to be a reasonable interpretation considering that the following verses in 1 Corinthians 6:11-20 are exhortations to believers to flee immorality from the standpoint that these people are already “washed,” “sanctified,” “justified,” and temples of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, sinning against one’s own body is the consequential warning to this group of people if they were to disobey, not eternal damnation. The motive Paul gives them is to live according to who they are in Christ, to not grieve the Holy Spirit, desecrate the temple, to realize the price Jesus paid for them, and to glorify God by making the right choices. Paul does not fear them into obeying God by saying that they will be eternally damned every time they fail God but rather, he encourages them by showing the Corinthians how out of character such behavior is with their true identity. They “were” those evil things before they were saved but now they are not. Since that is so, they have the power to overcome the remnants of what they were; but such evil practices do not characterize them anymore. Those practices are what characterize unbelievers.

This seems to be the most reasonable interpretation of 1 Corinthians 6 according to the context and it makes further sense in light of the previous chapter where there was the incest type of immorality going on in the church with someone and it was an ongoing situation that was not resolved or snuffed out. Those who committed the incest were not stopping their evil but were continuing to go to church anyway. Paul instructed them to put the wicked man outside the church but did not make a definitive statement about his salvation but left it in God’s hands. Then he orders the Corinthians to not associate with any “so-called brother” if his life characterizes immorality, covetousness, idolatry, reviling, drunkenness, or swindling. Even here, he does not make a definitive statement about such a person’s salvation but calls them a “so-called brother,” merely leaving the state of his salvation in question. Yet at the same time, in the next chapter, he says that people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, he leaves the matter up to God and the truth would be their judge.

The gospel of the kingdom involves turning from sin and living unto God. Those who say otherwise do not hold to the truth.

“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light” (Eph 5:6-8).