Kingdom of God and Its Relation to the Church

This study material from Desklib explores the concept of Kingdom of God and its relation to the church. It delves into the teachings of Jesus Christ and the implications of the Kingdom of God on Christianity. The report highlights the different interpretations of the Kingdom of God and its relation to the church from various perspectives. It also discusses the debatable affiliation of the two and their implications on the religion.

Running head: KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
Abstract
The aim of the study is to establish the concept of Kingdom of God and state its relation to
the church. Kingdom of God is one of the principle teachings of Jesus Christ that stated at the
New Testament of the Bible. The relation of the Kingdom to the Church is also mentioned
that states that both are not synonymous though they have some implications on the religion.
The church is a means while Kingdom of God is the end to Christianity.

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................3
2.1 The Kingdom of God.......................................................................................................3
2.2 The relation of church with The Kingdom of God..........................................................5
3. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................8
4. Bibliography...........................................................................................................................9

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
1. Introduction
The Kingdom of God is one of the principle components of the teachings of Jesus
Christ in the New Testament that is drawn on the backdrop of Second Temple Judaism from
the time of Genesis to Revelation1.It is considered as the fundamental subject of Jesus’s and
forms the basal theme of the church founded by Him through his followers. The relation of
Kingdom of God to the Holy Church forms one of the primary basis of the Christianity and is
debatable on certain points of relevance. In this report, an analysis on the topic of Kingdom
of God will be done stating its relation to the church from different perspectives. The
following paragraphs will highlight some of the main teachings from The Kingdom of God
along with its debatable affiliation to the Church.
2. Discussion
2.1 The Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God is one of the indispensable aspects of preaching by Jesus Christ
in the New Testament that is the second part of Christian Bible, the first part being the Old
Testament that is based on Hebrew Bible. The New Testament deliberates the guidance and
person of Jesus including the first-century Christianity. The New Testament is relatively
relevant to the spread of Christianity to the world. Kingdom of God is an absolute
government of the Jehovah God2. Jehovah is the personal name of God assigned by himself
in the Bible (Isaiah 42:8). Jehovah is the rendition of the God’s name in English that has been
used for centuries by his worshipers and is one of most recognized forms of names3. The
view of the kingdom advanced during the time of restoration of Israel to the time of the
Davidic Kingdom and the mediation of God in the history through the medium of Danielic
1Marshall, C. D. (2015). Kingdom come: The kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus. Wipf and Stock
Publishers.
2Brown, R. E. (2015). An introduction to the New Testament. Yale University Press.
3Wallace Jr, W. S. (2017). Who Is the Lord?.

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
Son of Man. The Son of man is a phase used the Hebrew Bible and various apocalyptic works
of intertestamental period and is a contrast that is drawn as a contrast of human beings against
God and angels4. The Kingdom of God, which is also known as “The Kingdom of Heaven”,
rules from the nirvana. There are a number of differentiations found in the Kingdom of God
though it shares certain common characteristics like human kingdom that reigns on Earth.
Jesus who was appointed by God to promote goodwill and positivity on the earth will rule the
Kingdom of God. Jesus will in turn select all the kings who will rule on Earth and later with
him in heaven5. Unlike normal governments run by human beings, the Kingdom of God will
have an eternal reign and the subjects can be from any ancestry and origin. The morality of
God’s kingdom not only just erases wrong from the minds of the people but also imparts
morality to the subjects. According to Bible, Jehovah loved with whole heart, mind and soul
that states the laws of Kingdom of Heaven. It does not subjugate its subjects and enrich its
kings but allows all who follows Him to live a life of Paradise on Earth. When Satan was
ruling over the Earth, Jesus came as the angel bearing the message of the arrival of Kingdom
of God to the people of the Earth6. Christian interpretation of The Kingdom of God is used to
mean Christian conduct, a method of world evangelization and sometimes the interpretation
of the word is also based on theological leanings in eschatological contexts of scholar
interpreter.
The origin of Kingdom of God does trace back to Old Testament and forms a major
phase in the Synoptic Gospel, the gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke7. This forms one of the
fundamental teachings of Jesus that he proposed to preach to his disciples. The word
Kingdom has three interpretations in it – the first interpretation represents kingdom as Jesus
himself, the second interpretation represent kingdom as the heart and mind of the faithful
4Moloney, F. J. (2013). Constructing Jesus and the Son of man. Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 75(4), 719-738.
5Tozer, A. W. (2015). The pursuit of God: The human thirst for the divine. Moody Publishers.
6Boyd, G. A. (2014). Satan and the problem of evil: Constructing a Trinitarian warfare theodicy. InterVarsity
Press.
7Bultmann, R. (2014). The Gospel of John: a commentary (Vol. 1). Wipf and Stock Publishers.

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
people having love for God in them while the third interpretation calls Kingdom as the
Christian church.
The term Kingdom of God has no practical interpretations but has a number of
theological analysis. In official declaration, Dominus Jesus, the declaration for the
congregation of Doctrine of Faith, states that the kingdom of God cannot be severed either
from Christ or from church8. According to the Eastern Orthodox or the Orthodox Catholic
church, the second largest Christian church, Kingdom of God is present within the church
that can be interacted to believers. To Christians, the Kingdom of God has an intuitive
meaning while some scholars believe it to be associated with Christian lifestyle, some state it
as a method of world evangelization while others state it to be a future world to come that has
ultimately made it as a theological agenda.
One of the major discussion concerned with the Kingdom of God is whether it is a
real kingdom or a figurative one. The church considers the Kingdom of God as a substantive
kingdom that Jesus preached with his disciples. The kingdom is a literal one that would be
established on Earth when Jesus will return to the Earth. The rules will be,as the Kingdom in
which they are living now that will begin with Baptism, the removal of the sinful man and the
rebirth of the human mind that will be dedicated to God9.
2.2 The relation of church with The Kingdom of God
The relationship between the church and Kingdom of God is a delicate and eminently
factual question. Due to the various ways that the church has construed this relationship, an
ecclesiology has been raised. The church’s mission and identity raises certain implications,
which make the question a debatable topic.
8Brunner, E. (2014). The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith, and the Consummation: Dogmatics: Vol. III .
Wipf and Stock Publishers.
9Spinks, B. D. (2017). Early and medieval rituals and theologies of baptism: from the New Testament to the
Council of Trent. Routledge.

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
The liaison between the Kingdom of God and the church is often misconceived.
According to the Christians, churches and kingdoms are identical and are the two names of
the same concept. Geerhardus Vos argues that the view of Jesus as an organism of men and a
church is found casually in his previous teaching. Jesus’s conclave of men is what Kingdom
of God always seemed like10. A number of parables of wheat, chaff and fishnet (Matt. 13:47–
50) have evidence to the fact. Nevertheless, in reality these two are absolutely different from
each other as the Kingdom of God is very important to the church. From the primitive
directive that Jesus proclaimed in (Mark 1:15) that states that the Kingdom of God is coming
near so every human being should repent and believe in the good news which makes Jesus
the establisher of the Kingdom of God. According to the Gospel, Jesus was invariably
preaching about the kingdom or government of God11. With Jesus, the twelve apostles were
sent to preach the same gospel though in the original theme, the word church has been
mentioned twice.
The Kingdom has a much wider perception than the church. The Kingdom covers
every aspect of life that is under the governance of God. Every human activity done on God’s
will is included in his Kingdom that included every area he rules and every business that runs
on Biblical theory12. God wants to expand his idea of kingdom into every area of life in two
different ways. According to Jesus (John 3:5), a man cannot be included in the Kingdom of
God unless he is made up of Water and Spirit. According to the Christian beliefs, men are
born through the concept of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus will deliver the people
from the power of devil that arises sickness. The church has no such implications on the lives
of the individuals other than being a religious place to offer prayers and confess about the
sins committed.
10Vos, G. (2015). Pauline Eschatology. Ravenio Books.
11Byrne, B. (2015). The hospitality of God: A reading of Luke's gospel. Liturgical Press.
12Breed, B. W. (2014). Nomadic Text: A Theory of Biblical Reception History. Indiana University Press.

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
Even the Kingdom will expand whenever the Christians will transfer different
conditions of their lives under the will of God. With the application of the principles of God
in those activities that are under his jurisdiction, they have the right to be a part of the
Kingdom of God. The authority of God expands in the same manner as Christians apply His
rules into their lives and areas of workings. On the other hand, church has no such divine
expansion policies as the kingdom and has to be expanded by physical means. Their monks
through physical and spiritual connection with the Christians can preach the ideals and
ideologies. The Kingdom of God runs on five spheres of authority and the concept becomes
real when every sphere of authority is administered according to the will of God13. Every
sphere of the world that follows his authority is under his kingdom whereas every sphere that
contrasts this authority is beyond his governance. According to the rules of Kingdom of God,
everything that is beyond the kingdom falls under the Kingdom of darkness, which is ruled
and controlled by Satan characterized, by disunity and conflict as a result of human sin14. The
only way to withdrawl the darkness is to resort to the means of Jesus that has resulted in the
warfare between two parties. The common people resort to the construction of church to act it
like a place of retreat from the world, to support Christians in their daily lives. Nevertheless,
the church has become weak and irrelevant to the face of the world, as the church has been
converted into a recruiting session and borstal institution for the Kingdom of God. The
church recruits members by affirming the gospel and sends Christians to preach the gospel to
the world. Christians should exercise authority in accordance to the Holy Bible. Though Jesus
has talked about the Kingdom of God perpetually preaching the good news about the
kingdom, he has mentioned the word church twice. However, the church spreads only the
13Carter, A. (2013). Authority and Democracy (Routledge Library Editions: Political Science Volume 5) (Vol.
5). Routledge.
14 Azadegan, E. (2013). Divine hiddenness and human sin: The noetic effect of sin. Journal of Reformed
Theology, 7(1), 69-90.

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
Gospel of the church and personal salvation. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God and the
governance of God are not mentioned in the teachings of the church.
The church is only one component of the authority of Kingdom of God. Though it is
denoted as a single entity, the church should always work of Holy Spirit in order to establish
the Kingdom of God. Jesus has never looked for just a church but a triumphant church that
has entranched the governance of God along with the Holy Spirit.
3. Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be asserted that Kingdom of God is the governance of God with
all his rules and ideologies that has been preached by Jesus in The New Testament. There is a
definite relation between the church and Kingdom of God though they are termed
synonymous. The church is a means to establish the Kingdom of God in all the spheres of the
world whereas the Kingdom is the end that should be established. Both has its own
implications in the religion.

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
4. Bibliography
Azadegan, E. (2013). Divine hiddenness and human sin: The noetic effect of sin. Journal of
Reformed Theology, 7(1), 69-90.
Boyd, G. A. (2014). Satan and the problem of evil: Constructing a Trinitarian warfare
theodicy. InterVarsity Press.
Breed, B. W. (2014). Nomadic Text: A Theory of Biblical Reception History. Indiana
University Press.
Brown, R. E. (2015). An introduction to the New Testament. Yale University Press.
Brunner, E. (2014). The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith, and the Consummation:
Dogmatics: Vol. III. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Bultmann, R. (2014). The Gospel of John: a commentary (Vol. 1). Wipf and Stock
Publishers.
Byrne, B. (2015). The hospitality of God: A reading of Luke's gospel. Liturgical Press.
Carter, A. (2013). Authority and Democracy (Routledge Library Editions: Political Science
Volume 5) (Vol. 5). Routledge.
Marshall, C. D. (2015). Kingdom come: The kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus. Wipf
and Stock Publishers.
Moloney, F. J. (2013). Constructing Jesus and the Son of man. Catholic Biblical
Quarterly, 75(4), 719-738.
Spinks, B. D. (2017). Early and medieval rituals and theologies of baptism: from the New
Testament to the Council of Trent. Routledge.

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KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH
Tozer, A. W. (2015). The pursuit of God: The human thirst for the divine. Moody Publishers.
Vos, G. (2015). Pauline Eschatology. Ravenio Books.
Wallace Jr, W. S. (2017). Who Is the Lord?.