The Kingdom [in class notes]

I think that I might have posted this before, but I ran across it and thought that I would share. It's basically notes from class about 3-4 years ago. Interesting how I forgot about it and it came back to me...

The Gospel of Jesus isn’t something that is easily explained, it’s more of something that is witnessed. When Jesus was on Earth, he preached about the Kingdom of God. He said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near.” However, in our day and age, that isn’t what we hear preached in the church. Unfortunately, we hear that Jesus only came to forgive us of our sins or that Jesus was only a great moral teacher. But that wasn’t the case because Jesus was more than just a great moral teacher; he was the Savior of the world. He didn’t just come to teach us about grace, forgiveness, mercy, and show us how we should live our life. He made something that appeared to be completely unattainable within our reach. Jesus was a stud in my opinion. He was God incarnate. That is something that man is unable to do.

The Good News that Jesus proclaimed was the availability of the Kingdom of God; something that is seldom heard of in the church today.

The Kingdom of God is the effective range of God’s power. God, being the Creator and sustainer of life, has rule over the entire Earth and creation. However, the only place that God’s power is limited is within the confines of the human heart. God cannot force us to love him.

Who

The Kingdom of God is God’s Kingdom, simply put. It is the effective range of his power. Jesus preached the availability of the Kingdom of God. It is available to everyone, whether Jew, Greek, prostitute, tax collector, beggar, Pharisee, Priest, etc.

What

The Kingdom of God is God’s Kingdom. It is the effective range of God’s power. The only place that the Kingdom is limited is within the boundaries of the human heart. It is where God rules and reigns, also known as the Kingdom of Heaven. Man had turned what he wanted the Kingdom to be into his own image, blinding all followers to the truth. The system that was in place for the Kingdom of God on Earth was not what God desired, which is why the Kingdom that Jesus preached was rejected. He manifested the Kingdom through the disciples.

Where

“The Kingdom of God is near” is a phrase that Jesus constantly repeated over and over. In some translations it reads that the “Kingdom of God is here.” The Kingdom of God is first seen at the beginning of Creation in the Garden of Eden. The relationship that God had with Adam and Eve was the Kingdom of God, but after the fall, it is also the reason why Jesus returned, to restore that relationship.

When

The Kingdom of God is here.

Why

Why the Kingdom of God?

It had fallen into religious and ethnic captivity.

What are the two Gospels that are most commonly preached in the church today?

The Gospel of the Left views Jesus as a teacher on how to love one another. It appeals to people who think that humans are pretty good. The Gospel on the Right preaches mainly on the forgiveness of sins. It knows that the problem with humanity is sin. However, the problem with these two Gospels is that they’re only half of the message. When a particular church leans only on one of these two Gospels, it is missing what Jesus was really preaching. But preaching only the Gospel of the Left and the Gospel of the Right, growth is stifled within a religious community. It wipes out any chances of spiritual growth, mainly because an individual begins focusing on either their sinfulness, and that becomes their only focus, or that they undermine Jesus and his work on the cross by thinking that his blood wasn’t necessary, but his lessons on life were. The big issue is that the church wouldn’t be trusting Jesus with its life.

How could we go about changing what we do?

We could start shifting the message and start preaching an available “with God” life and show them how to live that life.

What is Grace and how does an individual grow in that Grace?

Grace is God’s action in our life. I can grow in that grace through several different means, such as the spiritual disciplines. However, growing in grace only works within the Kingdom of God. If one tries to practice disciplines outside the Kingdom, it turns into legalism and buries people.