The Kingdom of GOD

[Swordsmyth]

So your answer is yes? Correct? "The Kingdom of God", a worldwide political government authority that abolishes national sovereignty, to be controlled by a small group called the "Council", governed by the "Constitution of God". Isn't that right? You're basically just a Zionist under control of yet another Vatican created front group. A pawn for the implementation of world government. But in reality it's just a communist world government in line with the Vatican's plan. It explains your posting history quite a lot.

Ya know, you guys should keep your "secret" doctrines more closely guarded. Your opsec kinda sucks.

All Christians believe in the second coming of Christ and the Kingdom of GOD, it's in the LORD's Prayer: "Thy Kingdom Come".
Mormons do not believe in man trying to establish it before he comes unlike some other sects.

I'm beginning to suspect that you aren't being honest in this discussion.

[tfurrh]

All Christians believe in the second coming of Christ and the Kingdom of GOD, it's in the LORD's Prayer: "Thy Kingdom Come".
Mormons do not believe in man trying to establish it before he comes unlike some other sects.

I'm beginning to suspect that you aren't being honest in this discussion.

What thread did this spin off from?

[Swordsmyth]

What thread did this spin off from?

Libertarian Party Chair Rejects Liberty For Unborn Babies, Supports Legalized Murder

Before it got moved to hot topics. (which was possibly devil21's intent when he refused to bring the discussion here)

[tfurrh]

Is the Kingdom of God Strictly in the Future?

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2)

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15)

“Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:21)

“But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20)

[Swordsmyth]

Is the Kingdom of God Strictly in the Future?

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2)

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15)

“Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:21)

“But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20)

We can have it in our hearts at any time but it hasn't been instituted on Earth yet.

Matthew 6:10

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

King James Version (KJV)


John 18:36

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

King James Version (KJV)

[tfurrh]

We can have it in our hearts at any time but it hasn't been instituted on Earth yet.

Total agreement on the former, but not the latter. But we're probably both pretty comfortable in our beliefs. I was just kind of putting that out there. Lots of people don't even know that premillennialism isn't the only eschatology accepted by Christians... often even within their own denomination.

[Swordsmyth]

Total agreement on the former, but not the latter.

Where is it on earth then?

[tfurrh]

Where is it on earth then?

It has been instituted even if ruled from heaven.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matt 28:18

[Swordsmyth]

It has been instituted even if ruled from heaven.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matt 28:18

Having all power is not the same as instituting the Kingdom of GOD on earth, in the quote from John above Christ declares just before his crucifixion that for now his Kingdom is not on earth.

[tfurrh]

Having all power is not the same as instituting the Kingdom of GOD on earth, in the quote from John above Christ declares just before his crucifixion that for now his Kingdom is not on earth.

There is nothing unsettling to me with an "already/not yet" situation. I do think the Kingdom was instituted with Christ's ascension (or soon after), and I also think it will be even more realized with his second advent.

What is unsettling to me is the idea of an earthly kingdom, with a third temple, where we make sacrifices to the Lamb that was once and for all slain for my sin, where some of us walk around in glorified bodies while others are sinning and dying, and the devil is running loose rousing up gog and magog to fight in Armageddon PT 2

[Swordsmyth]

There is nothing unsettling to me with an "already/not yet" situation. I do think the Kingdom was instituted with Christ's ascension, and I also think it will be even more realized with his second advent.

I can agree with that, from one point of view it certainly can be a spectrum instead of a yes or no question.

But from the context of the discussion I was having that started this thread about a world government ruled by GOD it is yes or no and at the present time it is a no, that will change when GOD wants it to and not before.

[donnay]

Where is it on earth then?

Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is God most favorite place on earth and in the universe. This will be after the second avent and after the Lord's Day.

Revelation 21:1-7 (KJV)

21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

[Swordsmyth]

Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is God most favorite place on earth and in the universe. This will be after the second avent and after the Lord's Day.

Revelation 21:1-7 (KJV)

21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Yes, my point was that it doesn't exist on earth yet.

[TER]

This is a short description of what the Holy Fathers of the Christian Church teach:

The Kingdom of God is what Christ has brought to the world. The Gospel is full of Christ’s insistence that the Kingdom of God is given to men by His coming. It is a Kingdom not of this world, but of God, a Kingdom of everlasting life in union with God, the Trinity.

Thus, we define the Kingdom of God as life in and with God. The Orthodox believe that this life is communicated to men in the Church through Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is a life where men worship and obey God and do His will by the presence and power of His Spirit.

One saint has even defined the Kingdom of God as life in the Holy Spirit, which is the same definition given by Orthodox to the Christian Church itself.

What we know in the Church, in the Holy Spirit, of communion with God the Father through Jesus Christ, remains still a mystery. The Kingdom is really here, but in symbol and sacrament. At the end of the ages this Kingdom will come with observation, with power and glory, when Christ will be revealed and God will be “all in all.”

Thus because we Orthodox believe that the Kingdom is already given to those who believe, and that the righteous dead have even a greater access to this Kingdom than we have on earth because of our mixture with the evil of this age, we insist that “heaven” is not a locatable place within the space of our created universe, but a spiritual, divine, condition of existence which will fill the universe at the end of time. It is “eternal life” already revealed to the saints in death and to the holy people of God within the sacramental life of the Christian Church.

https://oca.org/questions/teaching/kingdom-of-god

[pcosmar]

Where is it on earth then?

Luke 17:21
“Neither do they say, 'Behold, here it is!' and 'Behold, from here to there!', for behold, the Kingdom of God is within some of you.”

Aramaic Bible in Plain English

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now, My kingdom is not of this realm."

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

[TER]

The Kingdom of God is here, now, and accessible for people. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

This is why Christ came into the world, so that He might send down the Holy Spirit, as explicitly taught by Him.

Those who seek Him, find grace. And some experience the Kingdom here, and they are called Saints.

For Christ took upon Himself the weakness of man, “and became sin”, so that through perfect love, He would heal our fallen nature, and restore us to glory, and allow us even now to experience the Kingdom of God within these bodies of clay we are created with, which decays every day.

The Lord and Savior, the One whom the prophets foretold. The ‘Emmanuel’, that is, the “God with us”. He is the Son of the Virgin as foretold by the Prophet Isaiah,- the Child Who will come to save Israel. He is the Logos of God, as mentioned in the first sentence of the Gospel of John,- Who was in the beginning, and with God, and was God.

He is the Son of David, and the High Priest of Heaven. He is the Incarnate God-man, Who entered into this fallen world, and beyond human comprehension, united His eternal divine nature together with our created human nature, and became the gate and means whereby we enter into divine communion with our Father in Heaven.

By His sinless death on the Cross, He destroyed the power of sin, and thereby destroyed the consequence of sin, which is death. By His suffering, we are healed. By His death, we are given eternal life.

And not only eternal life, but communion with the Father, a life truly fulfilled, within the ineffable love of God.

In the image of the Father of the Prodigal, Who runs out to meet us and embrace us, and Who forgives us and put upon us a new robe (baptism- the death of the old creation into a rebirth of a new one), a ring (chrismation, that is, the seal of Holy Spirit), and a feast (Holy Eucharist, that is the Bread of Life), so that we may come home and enjoy our company and blessings.

We have become inheritors once again of the Kingdom. Adopted sons and daughters in Christ.

Made possible by His holy Ascension, we are given access and indeed participation into the divine nature, as taught by the Apostles and experienced by His Holy Church. For His Risen Human Body sits at the Right Hand of the Father, and He Who walked through the walls and ate with His disciples, is the First-fruits of our future new creation. Our flesh has been deified by His deifying flesh. What it means to ‘put on the fullness of Christ’ as taught by His Apostles. What was once considered supernatural and called Christ-like, is revealed to be what is truly natural, as it was intended, and indeed what it truly means to be Christian. Namely, a child of God.

Through Christ, we are empowered and strengthened and made into true nature and being. ‘For those who have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ’. Christ enters into our being and our experience of life, and purifies it and sanctifies it, together with the Holy Spirit. Through such God-given grace, the body can enjoy the fruits of the Spirit, as taught by His Apostles and experienced by His Church. These include love, and joy and hope, amongst others.

These are not theories. These are experiences of the Saints, which include the Apostles.

We await for the Parousia, when our Lord will return to judge the world, and He “will become all in all”, and the new creation is inaugurated with a Wedding Feast, of the Lord and His Bride, (which is the Church), and the Kingdom of Heaven will be populated by those who love Him.

Nevertheless, this eschatological Kingdom already exists with God, Who is neither affected nor afflicted with time. And the experience of the 2000 years of Christianity has shown that those who live a repentant life, in obedience to God, and within the sacramental life of the Church, most often have experienced the Kingdom of God in this world. This is not to the exclusion of real acts of grace and the Holy Spirit working within creation outside those above conditions. For the Spirit will blow where He wills. But most frequently, most reliably, and through all time, it has been such Christians as described above who have demonstrated the fruits of the Holy Spirit and the presence of God within their hearts and minds.

This is, after all, the Kingdom of Heaven, namely the presence and indwelling of God.

[tfurrh]

We still sing hymns that reflect the belief of Christ as a king at present.

Crown Him With Many Crowns
Come though Almighty King
Praise Him Praise Him
All Hail The Power of Jesus Name
Joy to the World
(to name a few)

These hyms were written by Christians who believed Christ was presently reigning.

[donnay]

Yes, my point was that it doesn't exist on earth yet.

Correct it is not here yet,

[Swordsmyth]

We still sing hymns that reflect the belief of Christ as a king at present.

Crown Him With Many Crowns
Come though Almighty King
Praise Him Praise Him
All Hail The Power of Jesus Name
Joy to the World
(to name a few)

These hyms were written by Christians who believed Christ was presently reigning.

Yes, he is reigning in heaven but his kingdom has no earthly territory at present.
He commanded us to pray that GOD's kingdom would come and his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[tfurrh]

Yes, he is reigning in heaven but his kingdom has no earthly territory at present.
He commanded us to pray that GOD's kingdom would come and his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Ah, but he has a kingdom

[TER]

Luke 17:21

The Lord said “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you”

God’s Kingdom is wherever God’s presence is.

Those who have the Holy Spirit within them, have God within them, and as the Lord said, the Kingdom of Heaven within them.

[pcosmar]

Luke 17:21

The Lord said “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you”

God’s Kingdom is wherever God’s presence is.

Those who have the Holy Spirit within them, have God within them, and as the Lord said, the Kingdom of Heaven within them.

TER,, Some here can not understand me when I say I walked as a Free Man inside Prison. This is why.

I walk with Him the same today.. Ever-present.

[TER]

TER,, Some here can not understand me when I say I walked as a Free Man inside Prison. This is why.

I walk with Him the same today.. Ever-present.

Yes, my friend. When we pray “thy Kingdom come”, we are not merely praying for the eschatological Eighth Day, the New Creation in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven when God will be all in all.

We pray for His Kingdom now, in this world, in this time, to be in front of us, in our midst, and within us. We pray that He might come to us, and make union with us, as the Lord prayed in the Garden, that we may all be one. We pray for Christ to come sup with us, and make His abode in us, and clothe us, and strengthen us. We pray to unite the divine nature with our own human nature, in the image of the God-man, Who is the First-fruits of what we become through transfiguration. Our lives and our very ontological being, transformed into holiness, through Christ-like communion.

When one has the Holy Spirit, they have one foot in the temporal world, and the other in the eternal Kingdom. And though they may be in chains, or in captivity, they transcend the world and all its temporal constraints.

[pcosmar]

When one has the Holy Spirit, they have one foot in the temporal world, and the other in the eternal Kingdom. And though they may be in chains, or in captivity, they transcend the world and all its temporal constraints.

and yet try to explain that duality.. I have tried.

it is why I call myself a Druidic Christian...I live in both worlds,, but I really want to go home..

And if you hear such news,, Celebrate .

[ClaytonB]

and yet try to explain that duality.. I have tried.

it is why I call myself a Druidic Christian...I live in both worlds,, but I really want to go home..

And if you hear such news,, Celebrate .

What an excellent thread. I'm late to the party but here are my thoughts, FWIW:

- The Kingdom of God is designated as such in contrast to the corrupt kingdoms of men. It is a kingdom of peace, justice, unity and genuine freedom. The difference between God's kingdom and the kingdoms of men is like that between day and night. "For God loved the world so much that he gave up his only son..." Compare this to men's kingdoms which are founded on envy, hatred and avarice. If John 3:16 were written about human kings, it would begin, "For the king despised his subjects so much that he led them into a great slaughter in order that he may expand his frontiers a little."

- Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God in both present and future tenses -- it is already and not-yet. Jesus already sits at the right hand of the Father and when he returns, he will return as a conquering king. From the point-of-view of the creature (us), there will no longer be any practical distinction between Son and Father ... the Son will have ascended to the throne as heir, fulfilling the oneness which he explained he has with the Father (e.g. John 10:30)[footnote 1].

- Depending on how elaborate your eschatological views are, you may believe that there are any number of events that will occur before the fullness of God's kingdom is revealed on Earth. However, all eschatologies that fall within the umbrella of orthodoxy agree on one event that must occur: every knee must bow, and every tongue must confess that Jesus is Lord of all, see Philippians 2:9ff. It is absolutely essential to understand that the Father is the acting person of the Trinity in the subjugation of all things under the Son's feet (Psalm 110:1). Jesus already has all power in heaven and Earth. If he subjugates his enemies through might instead of righteousness, then his kingdom is no different than the kingdoms of men which is the entire point that the Devil is trying to prove as he battles against God's one, true heir.

- Between our time and the time when every knee has bowed and every tongue has confessed, there will be unprecedented, worldwide suffering. Fictional depictions always end up illustrating this suffering in visible terms (natural disasters, human deaths, etc.) but tend to overlook the spiritual dimension. The apocalypse is a revelation of things hitherto unknown to mankind, including the true nature of angelic beings, whether fallen or glorified. But it is not a spectacle, that is, it is not a vulgar display of supernatural phenomena for the sake of the diversion of the masses, as if God has any need to indulge in such pointless activities. In any case, humans cannot survive a direct encounter with the unveiled glory of God, so that is not what the apocalypse is.

- The Scriptures are intentionally vague about the exact sequence of events in the apocalypse (why would a king give away his written battle plans to his enemy?) but one thing is clear: all religion, including the visible Christian church, is going to be destroyed from the public sphere by the antichrist. "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God." (2 Thess. 2:4) All the same, the miraculous power of God will preserve his chosen people (whether Jew or Gentile), Mark 13:20. It is hard to understand why we have to suffer so much but one thing I am sure of -- our suffering in following Christ is part and parcel of how God reveals to us what the Kingdom of God really is. God's power is such that it moots all human conceptions of power (Psalm 2:4, Isaiah 40:15, etc.)

[1]The Son's ascension to the right-hand of the Father and inheritance of all things (John 16:15) is clearly explained in the New Testament and is not to be confused with the heresy of modalism (i.e. that Jesus is the Father).