Title
© Mr. Arakelian
C HAPTER 3 Section
First Theme: The Glory of the Kingdom The kingdom of God is God’s people living in God’s domain under God’s rule.26 Christians in a multitude of times and places have agreed that God inaugurated a kingdom through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. From the very beginning of his earthly ministry, the gospel of Jesus was, after all, the good news of the kingdom of God (Matthew 3:2; 4:17, 23; 24:14). This kingdom will not be consummated or fully realized until King Jesus returns to earth—but that doesn’t make the kingdom of God any less true or real here and now! Another term for the kingdom of God is “the kingdom of heaven.” The ancient Hebrews occasionally used “heaven” or “the heavens” as a respectful way of referring to God. In keeping with this custom, the Gospel According to Matthew employed “kingdom of heaven” as a synonym for “kingdom of God”—but not because the kingdom of heaven is somehow different from the kingdom of God! When we compare parallel passages in the Gospels, it is very clear that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are two different phrases that describe one identical reality (compare Matthew 8:11 with Luke 13:29, for example, or Matthew 11:11 with Luke 7:28).
48