KNOW YOUR BIBLE BETTER

SUMMARY NOTES ON THE CHART - 'PROGRESSIVE SCRIPTURAL REVELATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD'

TWO PRINCIPLES 

The whole Bible is the account of God working to bring the Kingdom of God into the realm of humanity.

The theological history of the Old Testament, working through the dealings of God with a nation brought into being by His own purpose, progressively reveals how God’s Kingdom will be brought to mankind, and what its characteristics will be.

(The sections highlighted in red are God's acts of salvation at each stage of the revelation)

THE SEVEN STAGES – MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:

The Kingdom pattern established: God’s People (Adam and Eve) live in perfect harmony with God and one another, in the perfect garden He gave them.

The Kingdom pattern rejected: Adam and Eve reject this relationship in favour of making their own rules for living. God removes them from the garden: work becomes onerous: they will die under judgement. Harmony is no longer a common human experience. This becomes the pattern for the world we live in.

Despite God's rule being rejected by mankind, God demonstrates Grace by (1) providing clothes for Adam and Eve Gen. 3:21 (2) protecting Cain even after he murders his brother Abel Gen.4:13-15, and (3) rescuing Noah and his family when God sends the flood as judgement on the wickedness of the world. The Ark pictures salvation.

The Kingdom promised: God promises Abraham that he will be the father of a great nation which will have a land to live in of their very own. Abraham waits over 20 years for his first son to be born; his faith is tested. When Abraham is very old and Sarah’s womb is barren, Isaac is born. Principle: God brings life out of death and hopelessness. [He does that for every believer in Christ] The call of Abraham is the beginning of God’s plan of salvation to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The Kingdom foreshadowed:  God declares that with a mighty arm of judgement on Egypt He will redeem the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. He will be their God, they will be His people. He will take them to the Promised Land. The Exodus from Egypt is a salvation act picturing what happens when God redeems us who believe. He frees us from slavery to sin and death and undertakes to deliver us to heaven. This time the judgement falls on Christ. Salvation and judgement always go together.

The Kingdom Exemplified: David is the shepherd boy, brought out of obscurity and anointed king. Likewise Jesus appears from obscurity to preach the Good News of the Kingdom and shown to be the King of all. Jesus said he was ‘the Good Shepherd’. The killing of Goliath was a salvation act, it rescued Israel from complete defeat: David was Israel’s champion. Jesus Christ is the believer’s champion: he has defeated our great enemy. During David’s reign, because he was a great warrior, Israel was at rest from their enemies. Their national life flourished; they were prosperous and law-abiding. They kept the Law of Moses and fulfilled all the requirements for sacrifice and worship. Although David was faulted, his heart was God’s; he can be seen as a foreshadow of Christ.  Israel in the Promised Land foreshadows heaven.

The Kingdom foretold: After the deaths of David and Solomon, Israel separated into two kingdoms. The northern one went completely away from God and was eventually overrun and eliminated by Assyria. The Southern kingdom (Judah) staggered on for 100s of years going through phases of faithfulness to God and of complete neglect. The prophets repeatedly warned them of disaster but they did not listen. Eventually God judged them by giving them over to the conquering Babylonians who took them into exile for 70 years. The return to their land under Cyrus the Persian was a salvation act. The prophets spoke of a great time of restoration that was coming. To the faithful remnant of Israel they promised a new king with an everlasting kingdom: and a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness rules, thus picturing both the first and second comings of Christ.  

The Kingdom in the 'last days':  The NT regards the time between the first and second Coming of Jesus as the 'Last days'. The Kingdom is not the same as the Church. The Kingdom is much bigger than the Church; it is where God rules. But the Church is the earthly society or community of the Kingdom. The Church - 'the household of God  ... is the pillar and foundation of the truth' 1 Tim.3:15. But also the truth must be the foundation of the Church, for the Church witnesses to that truth,  proclaims that truth, and is an instrument of that truth.

The Kingdom near (at hand) and consummated:   Jesus Christ came and fulfilled all that was promised and hinted at in the story of God’s dealings with Israel. He is the great King with an everlasting Kingdom. He is the champion who has defeated our great enemy satan. But He was the servant King who achieved our salvation through suffering and death on the cross, only to rise again for eternal life. The life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth on behalf of all those who put their faith in Him was the ultimate salvation act. He was our representative and substitute. Because he died for us, we will not have to die under judgement, but riding on the promise of eternal life with Him – in our promised land – the new heaven and the new earth. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ as the judge of all the world and redeemer of the faithful will be the final salvation act.

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