- The Kingdom can draw near to people (Mt 3.2; 4.17; Mk 1.15); it can come (Mt 6.10; Lk 17.20), arrive (Mt 12.28), appear (Lk 19.11), be active (Mt 11.12)
- God can give the Kingdom to people (Mt 21.43; Lk 12.32), but people do not give the Kingdom to one another
- God can take the Kingdom away from people (Mt 21.43), but people do not take it away from one another - although they can prevent others from entering it
- Men and women can enter the Kingdom (Mt 5.20; 7.21; Mk 9.47; 10.23) but they are never said to erect it or to build it
- People can receive the Kingdom (Mk 10.15; Lk 18.17), inherit it (Mt 25.34), and possess it (Mt 5.4), but they are never to establish it
- They can reject the Kingdom (Lk 23.51), pray for its coming (Mt 6.10), and seek it (Mt 6.33; Lk 12.31), but the cannot bring it
- People may be in the Kingdom (Mt 5.19; 8.11; Lk 13.29), but we are not told that the Kingdom grows
- People can do things for the sake of the Kingdom (Mt 19.12; Lk 18.29), but they are not said to act upon the Kingdom itself
- People can preach the Kingdom (Mt 10.7; Lk 10.9), but only God can give it to men and women (Lk 12.32)
Ladd states:
The source and the character of Jesus' Kingdom are of a higher order than this world; it comes from God and not from this world. The Kingdom is the outworking of the divine will; it is the act of God Himself. It is related to human beings and can work in and through them; but it never becomes subject to them. It remains God's Kingdom. It is significant that although people must receive the Kingdom, this individual human act of reception is not described as a coming of the Kingdom. The Kingdom does not come as men and women receive it. The ground of the demand that they receive the Kingdom rests in the fact that in Jesus the Kingdom has come into history. God has done a new thing. He has visited His people in Jesus' mission, bringing to them the messianic salvation. The divine act requires a human response even though it remains a divine act.
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3 comments:
Good list. I'm going to keep it. Question--What is meant by "we are not told that the Kingdom grows"? Another question--what is in the kingdom besides people?
I cannot say what Ladd meant but I can tell you what I understood ...
The growth point is to address the wrong notion that the Kingdom will grow through time by us recruiting into it until one day everyone is "in". Or that if I practice more healing (tongues, whatever) that the Kingdom is growing. I think you and I agree that this misunderstanding is often behind the words "the Kingdom is growing".
When I use the phrase, I am simply meaning that through the ebb and flow of things understood, the Kingdom seems to be more active. But even that is poorly worded. Perhaps the best way to say it is that our King appears more active and therefore His Kingdom is more evident.
Comparatively speaking, the activity of the Kingdom (or should I say Jesus) is small today and will be great in the end. "Growth" is not the proper term for what happens between now and then. It is small now and big then - period.
Regarding what is in the Kingdom? There is a King and His reign is universal. Clearly the affect of his Kingdom touches all things. If I delineate between participants in the Kingdom versus what is affected by the Kingdom, then I'd say the earth, etc. are not "in" the Kingdom, simply affected by it - ultimately made new right?
With that thought, I think we are speaking of active participants. Live people are in it.
I suppose that leaves the dead, the yet-to-be born, and spirits (good and evil, i.e., angels and demons). I have presumed only living beings in the context we use the phrase in the Bible. So if any of the others are in, I would need to see the Scripture and think about that more.
randy - I'm going to renege on the "who is in" piece. I think I over thought it and in doing so I said things I'm not to sure about and perhaps more than Scripture says.
I'll answer by focussing on the eschatological nature of the Kingdom and say only one born of water and the Spirit can enter - I read that to mean in the end, only believers.
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