Paper 170 Overview: The Kingdom of Heaven

Jesus preached his last sermon at Pella on Saturday, March 11, which focused on the kingdom of heaven. He explained that the kingdom of heaven was not about an earthly kingdom with a king, but rather about a spiritual relationship between God and believers. Jesus tried to help his followers understand that the kingdom was about experiencing God as a loving Father and treating others as family.

Throughout history, the concept of the kingdom has been misunderstood as people confused it with the Christian church organization. Jesus taught that the kingdom is primarily a personal spiritual experience where God's will is done in the believer's heart. The early followers later turned this spiritual concept into a social organization called the church.

On a Saturday afternoon in March, Jesus gave an important sermon at Pella about the kingdom of heaven. This was one of his most notable talks during his public ministry. He fully explained what the kingdom of heaven meant, which was different from what many Jews thought about earthly kingdoms.

Jesus knew his apostles and followers were confused about the terms "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God," which he used to mean the same thing. The idea of an earthly king was deeply rooted in Jewish thinking. Jesus did not directly oppose this belief at first, but in this sermon he tried to clarify the spiritual nature of the kingdom.

In Hebrew scriptures, there were two main ideas about the kingdom of God. The prophets described it both as something real in the present and as something to hope for in the future when the Messiah would come. John the Baptist taught this future kingdom concept to his followers.

Jesus and his apostles taught both present and future ideas of the kingdom. Two other ideas about the kingdom were also common at that time. These included the Jewish idea of a worldwide supernatural kingdom and the Persian belief of good winning over evil at the end of the world.

Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven begins with believing two important truths - that God is our Father and all people are brothers and sisters. He said accepting this teaching would free people from fear and make life better in several ways. The kingdom would give people new courage, confidence, higher spiritual values, and a noble purpose for living.

Jesus wanted to replace the idea of a kingdom with God as king and people as subjects with the concept of a heavenly family. In this family, God is the Father and people are his children who freely serve others and worship God. Jesus taught that the kingdom exists both in this world as the desire to do God's will and in heaven as the place where love for God is perfect.

Jesus taught his followers that they needed to develop a righteousness that went beyond just following rules like some religious leaders did. He said that simple childlike faith is the way to enter the kingdom, but after entering, believers need to grow in righteousness to become mature children of God.

Jesus explained that experiencing God's forgiveness involves four steps: forgiving others, loving others as yourself, practicing high moral standards, and developing true righteousness as a result of love. The kingdom causes believers to show their faith through loving service to others. When the kingdom truly comes to earth, it will bring enhanced spiritual values rather than just better social conditions.

Jesus never gave one exact definition of the kingdom. During his sermon, he described five different aspects of it. These included: the personal spiritual experience of believers with God, the growing community of believers, the invisible spiritual beings in heaven and earth, the future better fulfillment of God's will, and the final spiritual age of light on earth.

Jesus emphasized five main points about the kingdom: the importance of each person, the power of human will in shaping experience, spiritual connection with God the Father, the joy of serving others, and the superiority of spiritual values over material things. Although progress of kingdom ideas seems slow on earth, believers should focus on establishing the kingdom in their own hearts rather than waiting for some future event.

After Jesus left earth, his teachings about the kingdom were influenced by Greek ideas about spiritual and temporal realities. A big change happened when the Messiah of the kingdom became the Redeemer of the church, which grew from Paul's work and was based on Jesus' teachings mixed with other ideas.

Jesus' original concept of the kingdom nearly disappeared as his followers changed his teachings. Jewish believers kept waiting for Jesus to return and establish a worldly kingdom. Non-Jewish Christians followed Paul's teachings, which led to the belief that Jesus was the Redeemer of the church rather than the proclaimer of a spiritual kingdom. The church became a substitute for the spiritual kingdom Jesus had taught about.