I know the Kingdom of Heaven is here on Earth but the Bible talks about certain sins preventing people from the KOG which must be something different… Is it heaven? Why do you think or not think so?
In the future the kingdom of heaven and earth will be united in Christ.
Jesus offered the earthly kingdom to Israel, but it was not accepted by the nation. In the future after the tribulation it will be accepted and Jesus will rule the earth for 1,000 years.
Christians today saved by the grace gospel are already translated into the kingdom of Jesus and we are seated with him in heavenly places.
Both will be combined in Jesus in the future.
So, the sinners mentioned can’t get to Heaven?
Good question…
And I’m going to give you my thoughts on it.
It sound like the kingdom of heaven is God’s rule
The kingdom of God is GOD’S rule ON EARTH- ISRAEL
IT SEEMS THE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND KINGDOMOF God are united. So that God’s will/ rule is done in both heaven and on earth.
So they are essentially the same.
What sins keep us out might be having your own queendom or kingdom by doing your own will, or not submitting to God’s will.
The kingdom is not eating nor drinking but righteousness, peace, and joy in the holyghost
…to add a step further God’s actions…but I’ll have to verify.
In my view believers are to pursue peace with all man for without it you cannot see the kingdom.
For in Christ one pursues what is in the kingdom, hence getting caught up in the actions of God
So if His kingdom is Love, then love, if the kingdom is peace, pursue peace.
I think it can get a bit complicated when we try to define it in very specific ways.
For me, the Kingdom of God is less about a place and more about God’s rule and presence. Jesus talked about it as something that is both “already” and “not yet.” It’s something we can experience now in how we live, but also something that will be fully realized in the future.
And about your question, I don’t think the Bible presents it as “some people are good enough and some aren’t.” It’s more about relationship and turning toward God. None of us are perfect, and that’s kind of the point.
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But there’s a verse in Rev. that mentions those who “will not inherit the kingdom of God” and one of the sinners mentioned are drunkards of which I am. Though, I need some reason to stay alive in all the hell I wouldn’t try to describe as it is unbelievable, but the beer helps enough that I barely survive daily. I need to know God will accept me even though I am using beer as medicine. It helps ALL of my disorders and Autism…
The KoG encompasses all of the known and unknown universes and dimensions or spiritual realms. The Kingdom of God is at hand (as near as your hand or even closer if you invite Him). And it is a spiritual thing, so we are not able to understand it with our intelligence or logical mind.
The only way I have found to become one with (Him!) is by going inside myself to the secret place and opening my spirit to His Spirit.
‘Secret Place’ means…we are 3 in 1 (spirit/soul/body) created in God’s image and likeness. God is a Trinity (Father/Son/Holy Spirit). The Temple is always built with 3 parts, (Outer court/Inner court/Holy of Holies). Ever ince Jesus came and died and was resurrected the veil was torn down and His Followers are the Temple now. The Temple of God is inside of you. Scripture says so, we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and so this is the secret place inside of you where you meet the Holy Spirit and the Lord Himself.
You Are the temple. Go into your Holy of Holies and turn your heart and spirit towards the Lord and pray to Him. Be honest. It does not have to be eloquent, just honest.
That’s how you seek Him. That’s where you seek Him. Spiritually. Those who do not meet the Lord here in the secret place will never understand or hear His voice. Keep coming back to the secret place. Spend time with Him there. Help me Lord I messed up again…
You know how scripture says, Abide in Him? Become one with Him? This is where you do that. Our spirit and soul are connected and always fight over who gets to control the body’s actions. When you leave the world behind and go to the secret place you are allowing your spirit to dominate and being in the secret place while out in the world is NOT hard to do. You merely reserve a piece of your consciousness in the back and front of your consciousness and you do what you have to do, but the Lord is right there with you,you are abiding in the Lord and acknowledging His presence and control.
Psalm 91:1
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty…/KJV
This all sounds less than… Judaism. I’m just gonna convert to the kingdom of God rather than BS anymore. If YHVH, isn’t himself he might send me to hell but he is so I’m not scared.
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There might be other ways besides getting drunk, if that’s what you’re implying, @Trist. After all, the Bible says, “Eph 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”
I believe the Kingdom of God is peace of mind (and peace of mind comes from doing what God told us to do).
My impression of the way the Bible uses the phrase “kingdom of God/heaven,” @Trist, is that it has three meanings:
- It refers to God’s rulership over the whole creation and all of humanity. However, a majority of humans are rebels against his rule, but they are part of his kingdom.
- It also refers to the church (the people of God), a number of whose members are hypocrites (genuine unbelievers acting like believers). When I was a pastor, I didn’t know ultimately who they were.
- The kingdom also refers to the people who have submitted to God’s rule through faith in Jesus and are committed to following him.
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Hi Trist,
The Kingdom (rule) of God is overall. But the kingdom (rule) of heaven, is a subset. It is the rule of Jesus (of heaven) through Israel in the millennium. That is why it is only written about to the Jews in Matthew. The prophet Daniel spoke about it and it has been a great promise for Israel.
In the kingdom of heaven parables Jesus was reminding the Jews of what that rulership would look like and who would enter.
I think we should understand first and foremost that the kingdom is not a location at all.
The word we translate as “kingdom” is the Greek word basileia. We translate that as “kingdom”, but unfortunately in modern times we then bring in our ideas of what a “kingdom” is, of a particular place ruled by a king. It is best, perhaps, understood as “a king’s dominion” that is, the power, authority, and the right to rule of a king. The kingdom of God is God’s royal authority, it is God-as-King.
It’s not here nor there, it’s the fact that God is, indeed, King: God rules.
The phrase “kingdom of heaven” is simply a synonym for this; here “heaven” is best understood as a euphemism for God. Whenever Matthew uses “kingdom of heaven” in his Gospel account, we find “kingdom of God” used in Luke and Mark. These, truly, do mean the exact same thing. Here “heaven” is a euphemism for God, we should think of it as the royal power and authority God has, as He is enthroned in “the heavens”–the heavens are to be understood as describing God’s loftiness. Heaven isn’t a place, at least not when it is used of God, it is a way ancient people conceived of divine power. So when Solomon says, “The heavens cannot contain You, not even the heavens of heavens” he is speaking of how God is so sublime, so lofty, so beyond everything that not even the highest hights of the heavens can contain Him.
Let’s take a step back here: in the ancient world “the heavens” basically means “the sky”/“skies”. It’s everything we see when we look “up”. Not even the highest hights of everything seen, or conceivable, imaginable, or fathomable is capable of containing God–so God rules above everything, beyond everything. He is Lord over all things.
And so “heaven” came to be viewed as the beyond-everything where God exerts His power over everything. And so when Matthew uses “kingdom of heaven” he means “kingdom of God”, he means God’s lofty, supernal, supreme authority as King.
So then the kingdom is the reality that God is King. When Jesus talks about the “kingdom of heaven/God” He is saying, “This is what it looks like for God to be King”.
So then how can a person be excluded from the kingdom? By rejecting God’s way of being King. So in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, when we read that one cannot see the kingdom of God without new birth, it does not mean “going to heaven when you die by being saved” (at least this is not the immediate meaning). It means that without new birth a person cannot be part of what God is doing through Jesus, who is bringing about the redemption of all things by His life, death, and resurrection. For, ultimately, God is going to bring about the renewal of all things–but without new birth, we are remaining in our present state, in the current state of death and sin, without redemption, and are denying the newness and redemptive renewal that God is bringing to us and all creation.
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