MAtthew & The KingDom

Pure and Simple Bible presents

MAtthew & The KingDom

3/27/2023

Matthew is the first of four gospel narratives about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Join Mike Criswell, preacher & author of the Matthew Commentary for the "Contending for the Faith" commentary series and PSB host Jonathan discuss this great book and the kingdom that Jesus came to build.

Pure and Simple Bible · 203 | Matthew and the Kingdom: part 1 of 2 (with Mike Criswell)

Pure and Simple Bible · 204 | Matthew and the Kingdom: part 2 of 2 (with Mike Criswell)

1 Comment

Dale Hope link

7/31/2023 05:26:58 pm

A couple of I thoughs.

Kingdom of God- I agree with you it should be defined as the reign of God, I explain it as the effective reign of God, It is where what God wants done is done. Mat_6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.. Mat_7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven and the parable of the two sons Mat _21:28-32 all confirm this. I think It is necessary to understand the Kingdom of God in the most basic sense.

The Kingdom of God must first be understood as obedience to God. You cannot understand what the kingdom of God is until you first.understand that it is “.... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Rom_14:17

Obedience isn’t about perfectionism which can turn into legalism. While obedience is critical it isn’t what one focuses on. Rather it is the process that leads to obedience. The process is actually our relationship with the Lord. Our dependance upon God and His grace leads to an inward transformation of Christ likeness. It is the process by which the human spirit or will is formed in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ and we become the kind of people who do the kind of things Christ would do if he were we.

The next thing that helps me to understand the kingdom is how covenants play a part in God’s establishing His kingdom or effective reign on earth. Here I will limit my comments to the covenant He had with Israel.

First the covenant was limited to Israel for the purpose of ushering in the reign of Christ. There are many types and antitypes used to foreshadow His coming and what that entailed.

Second there was the promise of a new covenant. The new covenant describes the inward transformation that would take plays upon the hearts that received the reign of God. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33).

So when John came saying, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” matt_3:2. It should be understood in the sense, Change the way you've been thinking about the kingdom. They had been thinking it was a literal kingdom. Instead it was to be a spiritual kingdom. “It was at hand” should be understood first in the sense it's in the person of Christ. He was to vividly demonstrate the reign of God. Second, it was at hand in the sense there was coming a change in the way God relates to His people. God would no longer have an exclusive relationship with one nation but God would have a relationship with all nations and people.

With these two things in mind it helps me to understand the way the kingdom was explained and spoken of.

When Jesus came saying the same thing as John, it should be understood the reign of God is here in me. This is the way of kingdom life, what the reign of God looks like. It is also speaking of the soon to come change in the covenant. It is as if God is saying, I’m soon going to make a change in the way I relate to mankind and when I do this is what it will look like. Here is what the reign of God looks like in its fullest sense.

When speaking to the Pharisees he said, “Mat 21:43 “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” He is speaking of the relationship that Israel had would ended and a new relationship would be formed.

When he rebuked the Pharisees, “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.(Matthew 23:13). The kingdom of God here refers to the reign of God under the current covenant. Their teaching not only presented a false understanding of what the reign of God was like but made those who obeyed their teaching twice the child of Hell.

When he said, “nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:21).He is referring to himself. The reign of God was on full display. This is much like when Phillip said to Jesus, show us the Father. Jesus could say you’ve seen the Father when you looked at me.

During the ministry of Christ we are told, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”(John 1:12). I understand this as disciples who began the process of learning, establishing the reign of God in their lives. The kingdom is one way God explains His reign but it isn’t the only way. Disciples learning from Jesus is another. Also the church as the body of Christ is another. S

MAtthew & The KingDom

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