Who will receive the Kingdom?
The more I study scripture, the more I see the theme of the Kingdom running throughout it. Consider - when God first created Adam and Eve, what was their role? They were first of all created differently than all the other creatures - God formed man in his own image, and gave him the job of filling the earth and subduing it. Man was to rule over the birds and the fish and every creature than moves on the ground. Man was given complete dominion over the plants, and every other aspect of creation. Isn't that, in itself, a kingdom?But then, he messed up. He took of the one item that was forbidden to him, and in essence, he disqualified himself from ruling over the earth. As we know from elsewhere in scripture, Satan is considered to be the Prince of this World. Man failed in his role, and Satan continued in his role as prince of this world.
So God put into place another plan - this time, he would establish a nation of people chosen by him, and out of this nation would come a mighty ruler, who would establish this kingdom. The people of this nation would rule along with this mighty king, and a kingdom would be established over all the earth.
This king, of course, was Christ, and when John the Baptist preached, his message was clear - "The kingdom of heaven is at hand!". However, the religious rulers of the nation of Israel would not acknowledge him as King. They continually resisted him, because his teaching was contrary to the established 'religion'. He was more concerned about the attitudes of the heart, then with the formalities of the religion.
Finally, a decision is made. Consider the following passage:
Matthew 21:33 - 44 (NIV)
Quote:
| "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone ; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." |
Who are the characters in this parable? There was a landowner, who represents God the Father. He established a vineyard (ie - the earth), and put some people in charge of it (the Nation of Israel). He sent his servants (the prophets) to collect the fruit, and the servants were all killed. Finally, he sent his son (Jesus), figuring they would accept the son, and instead, they killed the son. When the landowner returns, those tenants will be dealt with severly.
Now - notice the significance of verse 43: "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit."
What is this referring to? It was at this point that Jesus stopped offering the kingdom to the nation of Israel, because they had continually rejected his message. He is now offering it to a different group of people. Who are those people? The church - it is now the church that is primarily working to produce the fruit, and the church will now be given a significant role in the coming kingdom.
However - we would be blind to ignore the warnings of scripture. It is not quite correct to say that the church will be the recipient of the kingdom. After all, mankind as a whole had been in the position of being the recipient of the kingdom, until the Fall; Israel had been in the position of being the recipient of the kingdom, but due to their disobedience, they lost out. Likewise, Christians who are disobedient should have no expectation of being rewarded with the coming kingdom. Like the unfaithful servant, they face a judgment during the kingdom for their disobedience.
Just a couple of final points to make here. First of all, I MUST emphasize that the loss of reward and the judgment has nothing to do with eternity; remember - our ETERNAL salvation is secure through the work that Christ has done on the cross. These passages do not have eternity in view - they are discussing the Millennial Kingdom.
Secondly - I do not intend to imply that God is finished with the Israelites at this point. In Replacement Theology and Islam, Trent makes an excellent point, that I preached on several months ago. In Jeremiah 33:33 - 37, God makes it very clear that the nation of Israel will continue to exist as a nation, and that God will continue to deal with them as a nation. Even with their disobedience, from these verses it is clear that they still have a role to play. So although the offer of the kingdom has been removed and given to another people (the church), it is clear that Israel will still be a part of this kingdom in some fashion.
As always, comments are welcome!
Posted On Nov 27, 2005 at 3:36 PM
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Brian's BlogMost articles on this blog describe what is known as "Kingdom Theology" - they deal with the doctrine of the Millennial Kingdom.If you are just finding this Blog, I would suggest that you start with the first article, rather than picking up in the middle. Enjoy your reading! ABOUT ME Current PostsA scriptural scavenger huntWhat do we want to be remembered for? How do we measure our churches? The Parable of the Sower What is Worship 
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