The Kingdom of God:
Present and Future
By Peter Amsterdam
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The “kingdom of God” was a central theme of Jesus’ teaching throughout the Gospels, and is found in key points within the Gospels, such as in the Lord’s Prayer, the Sermon on the Mount, the Last Supper, and in numerous parables. While the phrase “kingdom of God” is not found in the Old Testament, the concept of God’s kingdom, His kingship, is present in numerous Old Testament verses, such as: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.”1
Throughout the centuries the Jewish people saw God as a king, both in a universal sense of ruling over all the earth and specifically as their king, with themselves as His people.2 God called the ancient nation of Israel in a special way to live under His rule and to acknowledge His kingship—His reign and His commandments. Unfortunately, Israel didn’t generally live in the manner God laid out in His commandments. Because of this, the prophets sent by God began to speak of the need for renewal of heart:
“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. … And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”3
Scripture spoke of one who would come, who would sit on the throne of David, who was understood to be the coming Messiah:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.”4
In Jesus’ day, this Messiah was long anticipated. The general understanding regarding the Messiah was connected to the hope and expectation of deliverance or salvation from the foreign occupation the Jews had been under after their return from exile in Babylon. For centuries they had been under the rule of the Greeks, Ptolemies, and Seleucids. Then, after 100 years of self-rule, they fell under the rule of Rome. They longed for the time when they would no longer be ruled by foreigners. They looked forward to the promised Messiah delivering them from foreign rule and setting up the kingdom of Israel—which they considered the kingdom of God—once again.
Thus there was excitement when people heard of a man who was doing miracles and speaking of the kingdom of God. Perhaps the time had come for the deliverance of the nation of Israel, freedom from the foreigners, and the setting up of the physical national kingdom that they had been waiting for. However, Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom went beyond the expectation of a political or geographical entity. Instead, He in essence redefined and replaced the Jewish expectations regarding the kingdom.
A present or future kingdom?
When Jesus spoke of the kingdom, sometimes He said that the kingdom had arrived and at other times spoke of it as yet to come at the end of the age/world. One author explains that the Old Testament time period was the preparation for the kingdom; Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection was the kingdom’s establishment; and the final judgment will be the completion.5
Following are verses which speak of God’s kingdom entering this world through Jesus and His ministry.
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”6
Jesus points out here that not only is the kingdom not something physical, but that it is presently in their midst. While these verses speak of the kingdom being present, the following verses put it in the future:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”7
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”8
Other sayings and parables that speak of the kingdom also set it in the future.9 So is the kingdom something that was present in Jesus’ day (and continues to be present today), or is it only a future kingdom which arrives at the time of judgment?
When the kingdom is seen as the dynamic reign of God, it can be understood to be both a present reality initiated through the ministry of Jesus as well as a future manifestation which will be perfect and complete.
Entering the Kingdom of God
Jesus’ miracles were an indicator that the kingdom of God had come and was present, at least in part, during His ministry. Jesus also conveyed the meaning of the kingdom of God through His actions and teaching. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was “the one” or if they should look for another, Jesus responded by saying: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.”10
Jesus was revealing information about the kingdom through His teaching. He told numerous parables illustrating what the kingdom of heaven is like or can be compared to: a grain of mustard seed; a man who sowed good seed in his field; leaven; treasure hidden in a field; a net that was thrown into the sea; a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.11
His dining with the outcasts of Judaism—the tax collectors and sinners—touching the unclean, forgiving sins, and healing on the Sabbath all gave a deeper understanding of the Father’s grace, love, care, and mercy, and the nature of His kingdom.
His teaching the disciples to pray “Our Father in heaven” brought them into a new relationship with God, making them part of His family.12 Entering the kingdom of God means entering a new relationship with God. It is through making a decision for the kingdom that one becomes part of it.
We see the need for such a commitment through the Gospels’ call to repentance: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”13 The woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair possessed a new attitude of love and gratitude toward God because her sins had been forgiven.14
When God reigns in our lives, our attitude of trust and faith reflects what is expressed in the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”15 For those who put their trust in God and enter a relationship with Him through the sacrifice of His Son, the kingdom of God becomes a present reality.
When people enter the kingdom, the center of their life shifts. They become regenerated, born of the Spirit. They yield to God’s reign and put their trust in Him. As is seen in Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere, one is to live a higher ethic: forgive others, love one’s enemies, and more.
While Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom had some similarities to what was generally taught in Judaism, His teachings went beyond traditional Judaism as He redefined its meaning. He demonstrated through His life and death and resurrection that the kingdom of God wasn’t an ambiguous future hope; through Jesus’ coming, it had become imminent and demanded an immediate response.
On top of that, He taught that entrance to the kingdom was not limited to the Jewish people, but anyone could enter. The focus wasn’t on physical Israel, but rather on all those who would become God’s people through their renewed hearts and new birth. Jesus made it clear that entrance into God’s kingdom wasn’t limited to Israel when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, telling her that “the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”16
The completion of the kingdom comes when Jesus returns to set up His kingdom on Earth. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”17
Living in the Kingdom
Entering the kingdom through belief in Jesus grants us eternal life, but eternal life isn’t something which only begins once one dies. Eternal life, like the kingdom of God, is also a present reality. Eternal life for us as believers has already begun. While our physical body will eventually die, our spirit will continue to live eternally with God. Our spirit, our essence, the person we are today, will simply exit the door of our present earthly life through death and step into the eternal continuation of our lives.
In the meantime, we are also meant to be living within the kingdom of God in the present. How? By relinquishing what can be seen as our own “kingdom.” Each of us has been given a measure of autonomy and authority from God in the form of free will. As such, we have in a sense been given a “realm” in which we can make freewill choices. This is part of being made in the image of God.
When we enter the reign of God, the call is for us to integrate our “kingdom”—what we have reign over—with His kingdom. We are to align our will with God’s and let His will guide our lives, including our inner thoughts and outward actions.
Living in God’s kingdom means living day by day as one who has a personal, interactive relationship with Him—a relationship which encompasses our earthly life and then continues on throughout eternity.
Originally published July 2015. Adapted and republished July 2021.
Read by John Laurence.
1 Psalm 45:6; Psalm 22:28 NAU.
2 Psalm 103:19.
3 Ezekiel 36:26–27.
4 Isaiah 9:6–7.
5 J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology: Systematic Theology from a Charismatic Perspective (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 290.
6 Luke 17:20–21. See also Luke 16:16.
7 Matthew 7:21.
8 Matthew 25:34.
9 Matthew 8:11–12; 5:18–20; 13:24–30, 47–50.
10 Luke 7:22.
11 Matthew 13:31, 24, 33, 44, 47; 22:2.
12 Matthew 6:9.
13 Mark 1:15.
14 Luke 7:36–50.
15 Matthew 6:10.
16 John 4:23.
17 Revelation 11:15.
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