The Two Kingdoms

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

In 1 Chronicles 29:11, “the kingdom” is described as “all that is in the heaven and in the earth”. This is undoubtedly the kingdom of heaven, the reign over the literal, physical, visible people, creatures, and things in the universe.

According to Daniel 2:44 & 7:27, God shall set up his reign over the kingdom of heaven and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

When John the Baptist and Jesus Christ came preaching to Israel, they said that the setting up of God’s reign (the kingdom of heaven) was near (at hand). [Matthew 3:1-2 and 4:17]

In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, Jesus preached the famous sermon on the mount to prepare them for the soon coming reign of Christ on the earth. The following should be noted concerning this sermon of our Lord:

1. Chapter 5: verse 8 has to do with the “King of glory” [see Psalm 24].

2. Chapter 5: verse 9 seems to put a condition on being “called the children of God”.

3. According to what Jesus said in Chapter 5: verse 22, Paul would “be in danger of hell fire” if he was in the kingdom of heaven. [See 1 Corinthians 15:36.]

4. According to Chapter 5: verses 29-30, you should sever and throw away your body parts to prevent “that thy whole body should be cast into hell”.

5. Notice the mention of Jerusalem as “the city of the great King” in Chapter 5: verse 35.

6. Notice how well Chapter 5: verses 43 & 44 blend in with the old testament [see Psalm 139:21-22 and Proverbs 25:21-22].

7. Now notice especially that verse 44 lists conditions for being a child of the “Father which is in heaven” according to verse 45. [And this time, it does not merely say, “be called the children of God” like in 5:9.]

8. In Chapter 6: verse 9, Jesus tells them to pray “Our Father” which is a Jewish national title for God – not a Christian title for God.

9. Chapter 6: verse 10 has the Jews in the tribulation praying for God to set up his kingdom [Luke 1:31-33] on earth.

10. Chapter 6: verse 11 has them asking for manna during the wilderness journey in the tribulation.

11. The end of the prayer (verse 13) mentions that everlasting kingdom.

12. Chapter 6: verses 14 – 15 gives forgiving as a requirement for gaining God’s forgiveness. This is, of course, in direct contrast to all my sins being forgiven when I got saved [Colossians 2:13].

13. The sermon on the mount was to Jewish disciples only [see Chapter 6: verse 32].

14. Jesus had to tell them to “seek the kingdom of God” because they were only seeking the kingdom of heaven and had no idea about the kingdom of God or spiritual things. [See John 3:10.]

15. Chapter 7: verses 15-20 give a strong implication of works for salvation, especially verses 18-19.

According to Matthew 8:11-12, some “children of the kingdom” of heaven “shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” There are lost children of the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (Matthew 9:35)

“ This gospel of the kingdom ” is given in Matthew 24:4-13. His disciples asked him in Matthew 24:3, “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” His coming is to set up his reign on earth over the kingdom of heaven, the everlasting kingdom. Jesus spoke for ten verses and then said, “This gospel of the kingdom” meaning what he had just said.

This is not the gospel that Paul preached (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).


Characteristics of The Kingdom of God

Jesus had to tell them to “seek the kingdom of God” (in Matthew 6:33) because they were only seeking the kingdom of heaven (their prophesied Messiah to set up his everlasting kingdom) and had no idea about the kingdom of God or spiritual things. [See John 3:10.] Israel, nationally, never did seek the kingdom of God.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you”. While both kingdoms were said to be “at hand”, the kingdom of heaven is nowhere said to have come.

In fact, Jesus told Pilate that the kingdom of heaven had not yet come. “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.” (John 18:36)

There are, of course, verses that show similarities between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. For an example, see Matthew 19:23-24. However, just as a cat and a dog have some similarities but are not the same animal, the two kingdoms are both kingdoms but not the same kingdom.

Mark 14:25 compared to Matthew 26: 29 and Luke 22:15-18 shows that during the reign of Christ on earth both kingdoms will be present.

Joseph of Arimathaea, according to Mark 15:43 and Luke 23:50-51, waited for the kingdom of God. He and other disciples obviously were waiting for the baptism with the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:4-5) on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1) at which time and thereafter the new birth (John 3:3-6) could take place.

According to Luke 16:16, “the kingdom of God is preached” since John. “The law and the prophets were until John”. This, of course, implies that the kingdom of God was not preached before John.

According to Luke 17:20-21, the kingdom of God is not the literal, physical, visible people, creatures, and things in the universe as the kingdom of heaven is. The kingdom of God is obviously spiritual – “is within you”.

Luke 19:11 either shows that the title “kingdom of God” is sometimes used for the kingdom of heaven or is just in reference to the kingdom of God coming at the day of Pentecost.

Luke 21:31 with Matthew 24:33 and Mark 13:29 shows that the title “kingdom of God” is definitely sometimes used for the kingdom of heaven.

According to John 3:3-6, a man has to be born again to enter the kingdom of God. This is in direct contrast to Matthew 8:11-12, where it is clearly seen that some children of the kingdom of heaven (verse 11) “shall be cast into outer darkness”.

Acts 14:22 uses the title “kingdom of God” speaking about the earned reward of reigning with Christ in the kingdom “if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:17-18).

Romans 14:17 emphasizes the spiritual kingdom of God.

According to 1 Corinthians 15:50, our new body will not consist of “flesh and blood” although it will consist of “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39-40).

Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-5, and 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5 are other passages speaking about the earned reward of reigning with Christ like Acts 14:22.