What is the Kingdom of God?

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”[1] That’s quite the promise Jesus made during His Sermon on the Mount. Despite the many worries and trials we encounter in life, Jesus tells us how to get everything we need. This begs the question, though: What exactly is the Kingdom of God and how do we seek it? 

While the word “kingdom” occurs 168 times in the Old Testament of the Bible (NLT version), most of the time it refers to worldly kingdoms like Israel, Babylon, and other nations. When God’s Kingdom is described, it is done without using explicit terms like the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven that are common in the New Testament.

Some well-known Kingdom descriptions in the Old Testament include:

• Daniel 2:44 – [The] God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will… stand forever. 

• Micah 4:3-4 – [In the last days,] the Lord will mediate between peoples and will settle disputes between strong nations far away. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. Everyone will live in peace and prosperity… for there will be nothing to fear.

• Isaiah 11:6-9 – In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. 

• Isaiah 9:6-7 – For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders… His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice… for all eternity.

• Isaiah 32:3-4, 35:6 and 65:19 – Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him… Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth, and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it… The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy… And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more.

These and other Old Testament descriptions of God’s Kingdom reveal its two primary characteristics: justice and peace. The Kingdom will be a place free from oppression, injustice, inequity, and sickness – and where our relationships with God, His creation, and each other are restored and conflict free.

The New Testament adds a great deal more insight into what God’s Kingdom will be like. The Kingdom of God is one of the leading topics, if not the leading topic, of Jesus Christ’s teaching. It is central to His core message, the Gospel (i.e., Good News). Consider Jesus’ words at the start of His ministry:

Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”[2] 

The word “kingdom” occurs 158 times in the New Testament (NLT version) and, unlike in the Old Testament, most occurrences (143) describe God’s coming Kingdom. The following terms are used (along with their frequency of occurrence):

• Kingdom of God (69)

• Kingdom of Heaven (33)

• The Kingdom (13)

• His Kingdom (6)

• God’s Kingdom (4)

• Your Kingdom (4)

• My Kingdom (3)

• The Father’s Kingdom (2)

• A Kingdom (2)

• A Kingdom of priests (2)

• Kingdom of Christ (1)

• Coming Kingdom (1)

• Eternal Kingdom (1)

• Our Kingdom (1)

• The Kingdom of the Father's dear Son (1)  

I recently examined all of the New Testament Kingdom scriptures, grouped them according to what they say about God’s Kingdom, and tallied the number of times each characteristic is mentioned. Here’s the complete list:

• 7 Is near (at hand)

• 3 Is already among you, within you, in your grasp

• 1 Would not begin right away in Jesus' time

• 1 Is not an earthly kingdom, is not of this world

• 1 Is close to those who understand that loving God and neighbor is more important than all the sacrifices and offerings in the law

• 1 Those who sacrifice house/family for the Kingdom will be repaid many times in this life and have eternal life in world to come

• 1 The Kingdom is living by God's power

• 1 It's about living a life of goodness, peace & joy in the Holy Spirit

• 3 Belongs to the poor; The poor will inherit the Kingdom

• 1 Belongs to those who are persecuted for doing right

• 2 The world will become the Kingdom of God & Jesus Christ

• 1 Jesus Christ will return one day and set up His Kingdom

• 1 Has been granted to Jesus

• 1 We are called to share in God's Kingdom

• 1 It gives God great happiness to give his "little flock" the Kingdom

• 1 A place where followers of Jesus will reign

• 4 Belongs to the childlike and humble like a little child

• 2 Can't be entered unless received like a child

• 2 Something we should seek above all

• 2 Jesus tells us to pray that His Kingdom could come soon

• 1 Is worth gouging your eye out to enter

• 1 We must suffer hardships to enter

• 1 Persecution makes us worthy for the Kingdom

• 3 Jesus preached, announced, taught, and talked about the Kingdom

• 2 Is Good News

• 2 Jesus told His disciples to announce it and tell people about it

• 2 Something that is preached

• 1 Preaching the Good News of the Kingdom was why Jesus was sent

• 1 Will be preached throughout the world

• 1 Our duty is to preach about the Kingdom

• 1 Announcing it is connected to healing

• 1 Was announced by John the Baptist, Jesus and others

• 1 Something Paul preached and argued about

• 1 Something that is explained & testified about

• 1 Something that was boldly proclaimed

• 3 Like a mustard seed that grows from the smallest to the largest garden plant where birds nest

• 2 Like yeast, a little of which permeates the whole dough

• 2 Like a farmer who scatters/plants seed

• 1 Like a farmer who plants good seed and lets good & bad seeds grow together…

• 1 Like treasure in a field, for which a man sold everything to buy the field where it was buried

• 1 Like a merchant who sells everything he owns to purchase a pearl of great value

• 1 Like a fishing net that catches fish of all kinds, then sorts them

• 1 Like a homeowner who brings gems of truth from his storeroom

• 1 Can be illustrated by a great wedding feast that many reject

• 1 Can be compared to a king settling accounts where the unforgiving will be tormented until they pay their debt of mercy

• 1 Like a landowner hiring workers

• 1 Like ten bridesmaids - five wise (who kept extra oil) and five foolish (who don’t get in)

• 1 Can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip, who gave bags of silver to his servants

• 4 Is difficult for the rich to enter

• 2 It's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get in

• 2 Is eternal

• 1 Is unshakable

• 2 Is narrow-gated

• 1 Is for a chosen few

• 1 Is reverse ordered

• 1 Is closed to rejectors

• 1 Requires turning from sin

• 1 Is without sin and evildoers

• 1 Sinners get in before religious leaders

• 1 Not inherited by those following the desires of their sinful nature

• 1 Will not be inherited by those who do wrong

• 1 No immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom

• 1 Requires righteousness better than Pharisees

• 1 Will be taken away from the unfruitful

• 1 Not everyone who calls out "Lord" will enter

• 1 Religious law experts don't enter, and they prevent others from entering too

• 1 Blocked by the Pharisees & teachers of religious law

• 1 If you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you'll be called least in the Kingdom; if you obey/teach God's laws, you'll be called great in the Kingdom

• 1 The Father alone knows the date and time of the restoration of the Kingdom

• 1 Only God the Father has the right to say what positions people will hold in the Kingdom

• 2 Something people are waiting for

• 1 Everyone is eager to enter and urged to enter

• 1 Something you work for in some sense

• 1 Entrance is given to those who work hard to prove they are called

• 1 Fit only for the forward looking

• 2 Where God's power casts out demons

• 1 Can't be detected by visible signs or by your speculations

• 1 Some chose not to marry (i.e., they become eunuchs) for the sake of the Kingdom

• 1 Requires water and Spirit birth

• 1 Will be preceded by horrors

• 1 Prepared for God's sheep since the foundation of the world (i.e., those who helped the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned)

• 3 Is where Jesus will next drink wine

• 1 Fulfills the meaning of the Passover meal, which Jesus will not eat again until in the Kingdom

• 1 Jesus granted the disciples the right to eat/drink there, and to judge the 12 tribes of Israel

• 1 Something Jesus would "come into" and is an implied paradise

• 1 Peter was given the keys to the Kingdom and the power to forbid and permit things on earth and in heaven

• 3 Some will not die before seeing Jesus "coming in His Kingdom"

• 1 The Kingdom message leads to belief & baptism

• 2 We are a Kingdom of priests

• 1 Christ will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father after he returns and has destroyed every ruler, authority, and power

• 1 We are rescued and transferred from the Kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God's Son

• 1 Cannot be inherited by the physical

• 1 Timothy claimed he would be delivered from evil attacks and brought safely into the Lord's heavenly Kingdom

• 1 John called himself a partner with other believers in God's Kingdom

• 1 Many Gentiles will feast in the Kingdom. Many Israelites will not

• 3 It holds secrets

• 1 Some are/aren't permitted to see its mysteries

• 1 Some don’t understand the message of the Kingdom

• 1 Some will not die before seeing it

• 1 Had blessings bestowed upon it

• 2 The greatest now will be least important in the Kingdom

• 2 The least in the Kingdom is greater than the greatest on earth

• 1 Where the last will be 1st and the 1st will be last

Here are some high-level Kingdom insights we can take away from this list:

• God’s Kingdom is “both now and not yet.”[3] God’s Kingdom was partially established when Jesus Christ came to earth; is meant to be exemplified in the lives of His followers; and will be fully established upon His return. 

• The Kingdom of God is incredibly Good News that is meant to be shared with others. This is something Jesus, John the Baptist, Jesus’s disciples, the apostle Paul, and many other Christians did in the early days of the church – and something we are commanded to do as well.

• The Kingdom is something to be desired more than anything else.  

• The Kingdom is a place that is free of sin and evil.

• The Kingdom holds surprises. While it will be devoid of sin, it will be full of sinners; and many who profess faith in God and claim to do good works on His behalf will not gain entry.

• The Kingdom is characterized by Kingdom principles, i.e., radically counter-cultural ways of thinking and behaving that enable people to live truly meaningful and flourishing lives. In God’s Kingdom, those who are the greatest today will be the least; the poor will be welcomed; the rich will find it exceedingly difficult to enter; and the childlike and humble are its only citizens.

In the simplest terms, the Kingdom of God is the perfectly just, peaceful, loving, and flourishing government that God will establish on earth at the return of Jesus Christ – a government unlike any that mankind has experienced throughout history. The fact that such a government is on its way is incredibly good news.

So how does one seek the Kingdom? The answer is simple – by living according to its principles. The Apostle Paul once wrote, “the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.”[4] Elsewhere he wrote, “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”[5]

Jesus taught His followers to surrender their lives to Him, humble themselves, and be rich in good works and generosity.[6] He told them they needed to become servants in order to be leaders, and He even washed His disciple’s feet just before they abandoned him to demonstrate the extent to which we should serve others.[7] And He taught us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who hurt us.[8]

Can you imagine a world governed by these principles? It’s hard to do when you consider all of the chaos, violence, arrogance, selfishness, and self-promotion in our world today. But this is exactly the sort of kingdom God has promised to those who love and follow him. And it’s the kind of kingdom God wants us to represent in our lives today.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Matthew 6:33.

[2] Mark 1:14-15.

[3] Amy L. Sherman, Kingdom Calling: Vocational Calling for the Common God, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2011, Page 44.

[4] 1 Corinthians 4:20.

[5] Romans 14:17.

[6] Matthew 10:39, Luke 14:11, 1 Timothy 6:18-19.

[7] Luke 22:26, John 13:1-17.

[8] Luke 6:27.