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| Image by Andrea Don, Pixabay |
When Jesus began his ministry it was the kingdom of God that formed the substance of his preaching.
‘Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.’ (Mark 1:14, 15 ESV)
In last week’s Watchtower Wednesday I drew attention to the Watchtower teaching on the Kingdom of God. They use this text to show they understand the good news Jesus preached was the good news of the kingdom. Nothing controversial in this, the message of the New Testament is a kingdom message. They say:
'Jesus Christ said that the Kingdom of God * was “at hand,” or had “drawn near,” because he, as the future King of that Kingdom, was present on the scene.’
The Kingdom
The asterisk pulls up a box in which we find their definition of kingdom: ‘The Kingdom of God is the government in heaven established by God to accomplish his will for the earth.’ Here they reference two texts:
1. ‘And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to other people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever…’ (Daniel 2:44)
This, of course, is the prophecy (v45) of the stone cut from the mountain that will break all the kingdoms represented by the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. From humble beginning’s (scattered followers of a crucified man) God’s kingdom will grow to fill the earth.
2. ‘Your kingdom come your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ (Matthew 6:10)
They pull two strokes here.
First, they swap the word ‘kingdom’ for the word ‘government.’ There is truly no excuse for this blatant smuggling of Watchtower teaching into the text. ‘Kingdom’ translates basileia meaning kingdom, kingship, royal rule. It has to do with the realm of a king, not the administration of a government.
Second, because both texts mention heavenly kingdom and earthly rulers (Dan.) and God’s will on earth as in heaven (Mt.), they brutalise the texts to say that they are talking about the earth being governed from a heavenly kingdom. Again, this is an egregious example of eisegesis. Look again at verse ten of the Lord’s prayer: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ They make it say, may the earth be governed from heaven as heaven is governed, but that is miles away from the plain meaning of the text.
Daniel makes clear a division between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdoms of this world. The prophecy is that those kingdoms will be destroyed by the stone cut from a mountain (probably Christ, Lk.20:18) and, from humble beginnings, God’s kingdom grows to replace them all with ‘a kingdom that will never be destroyed.’ There is no kingdom of heaven and kingdom of earth in this narrative, there is only God’s kingdom comprised of all citizens, heaven and earth.
The King
The Watchtower call Jesus ‘the future king of the kingdom,’ going on to say, ‘Jesus did not mean that the Kingdom had already begun ruling. In fact, he later indicated to his disciples that the Kingdom was still in the future. (Acts 1:6, 7) However, he had arrived right on schedule, in the very year that the Bible had foretold he would appear as the future King.’
So, the king arrived, healed the sick, made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the dead to be raised, finally conquering sin and death, and casting out the god of this world, all as a demonstration of his kingship, his right to reign then...nothing? No!
In Acts 1 the disciples are assuming the messianic age had begun and Israel’s national sovereignty would be restored. Jesus corrects them, telling them, ‘it is not for you to know the times or season that the Father has set by his own authority.’ What he says next is of vital importance:
‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’ (Acts 1:6-8)
Let’s put this in context. Jesus has explained to his disciples, ‘it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement; concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer; concerning judgement because the ruler of this world is judged.’ (John 16:7-11)
Earlier, he declared, ‘Now is the judgement of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ (John 12:31,32)
Conclusion
The king has come and heaven has invaded earth. Judgement has come, the ruler of this world is judged and cast out. The Spirit has come to indwell believers and equip them for the great work of declaring this good news to a lost and dying world. The disciples, and all who come after them, have been called out of this world to go out into this world to be Jesus’ Witnesses. Note carefully, not Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The god of this world is defeated, a new king is on the throne, whom God made ‘Lord and Christ’ (Acts 2:36) and our message to the world is that he is both Lord and King. Not the once and future king, but the king who reigns until everything is put under his feet.
‘He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making pace by the blood of his cross.’ (Colossians 1:17-20)
The gospel message is an invitation to bend the knee to king Jesus, reject this world and its defeated king, and live kingdom lives, by the power of the Spirit, in anticipation of the time when the work is complete, and there is one kingdom reigned over by one king, and, ‘the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.’ (Rev.11:15)
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