The gospel of the kingdom (Jesus, reject, Earth, Sodom)

[beloved57]

Exactly what is the gospel of the kingdom ? Jesus said that this gospel would be preached as a witness right before the end of time as we know it ?

Matt 24

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

[angellous_evangellous]

Matthew 5:3-12 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

In short, it is a kingdom where the poor are blessed, the mourners are comforted, etc. In order for this blessing to happen, God has to completely change everything in the world - it is conceived of as a complete cosmological shift - God will have to destroy everything and create it anew in order to make the first last and the last first.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by beloved57

Exactly what is the gospel of the kingdom ? Jesus said that this gospel would be preached as a witness right before the end of time as we know it ?

Matt 24

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

What? A gospel that will be preached as a witness of Christ in the latter-days? Uh... Since you're a newbie, I think I'm going to pass this time around. But this is mighty tempting.

[Boop]

Originally Posted by beloved57

Exactly what is the gospel of the kingdom ? Jesus said that this gospel would be preached as a witness right before the end of time as we know it ?

Matt 24

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

I think it is our nature to dramatize the 'End' as being cataclysmic when it may simply be figurative of: "The first shall be last and the last shall be first" wherein the 'End' comes first. The End or eschatology is a beginning.

[sandy whitelinger]

Originally Posted by Boop

I think it is our nature to dramatize the 'End' as being cataclysmic when it may simply be figurative of: "The first shall be last and the last shall be first" wherein the 'End' comes first. The End or eschatology is a beginning.

How quaint. what do you do with Lufe 21:33 "Heaven and earth shall pass away..."

Or II Peter 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

If you choose to make them figurative and not literal, what Biblical precept do you choose to apply to those specific verses that makes them figurative. Or does the idea of the world passing away screw up sone of your doctrines. Or do you just not like the idea and choose for yourself to have it mean something else.

Perhaps it means just what it says. A novel concept.

[angellous_evangellous]

Originally Posted by sandy whitelinger

How quaint. what do you do with Lufe 21:33 "Heaven and earth shall pass away..."

Or II Peter 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

If you choose to make them figurative and not literal, what Biblical precept do you choose to apply to those specific verses that makes them figurative. Or does the idea of the world passing away screw up sone of your doctrines. Or do you just not like the idea and choose for yourself to have it mean something else.

Perhaps it means just what it says. A novel concept.

It's a mistake to think that the biblical writers were so stupid that they could not use metaphorical or symbolic language. Some of us may so tasteless and intellectually bankrupt so as to always express ourselves in a literal sense - though I personally have never met anyone who does this. This includes, of course, people who with a double-standard speak symbolically but demand that the Bible always be read literally; it's a classic hypocricy.

[joeboonda]

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God, is simply the Gospel. When Jesus began preaching, for three years He said the Kingdom of God was at hand, because He was here to fulfill scripture by suffering, dying, and rising again the third day for our sins. The Gospel is simply, we all have sinned, the wages of sin is death, Christ died, paying the wages of sin for all who simply believe in Him, that His death was sufficient, and accept the free gift of salvation. Thus Christ lives in every believer, we are His hands, feet, cells, through which He works today. We are the body of Christ spreading the gospel, feeding the hungry, helping the poor, etc. The Kingdom of God is here among us, it is us.

[Bick]

A-e, being knowledgeable of the Greek scriptures, please verify that in Matthew, the phrase, "the kingdom of heaven", is literally, "the kingdom of the heavens."

This, to me, ties it to what Daniel describes in Dan. 7:27 "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

Jesus in his earthly ministry to Israel, preached "repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand." The Messianic kingdom on the earth has been the hope of Israel for centuries. He came as a servant and the nation rejected him, except for a small remnant of believers.

IMO, that whole section of "the sermon on the mount", while containing principals that are valid in every age, is basically the rules for living then, and in the coming Messianic Kingdom.

[angellous_evangellous]

Originally Posted by Bick

A-e, being knowledgeable of the Greek scriptures, please verify that in Matthew, the phrase, "the kingdom of heaven", is literally, "the kingdom of the heavens."

Sure, in the Greek, ouvrano,aj appears both in the singular and pluaral, and it seems to me to be interchangable, like referring to the sky as "sky" or "skies."

Here are some examples in the plural:

ESV Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

BNT Matthew 5:3

Maka,rioi oi` ptwcoi. tw/| pneu,mati( o[ti auvtw/n evstin h` basilei,a tw/n ouvranw/nÅ

ESV Matthew 5:45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

BNT Matthew 5:45

o[pwj ge,nhsqe ui`oi. tou/ patro.j u`mw/n tou/ evn ouvranoi/j( o[ti to.n h[lion auvtou/ avnate,llei evpi. ponhrou.j kai. avgaqou.j kai. bre,cei evpi. dikai,ouj kai. avdi,koujÅ

Here are some examples of singluar:

ESV Matthew 5:18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

BNT Matthew 5:18

avmh.n ga.r le,gw u`mi/n\ e[wj a'n pare,lqh| o` ouvrano.j kai. h` gh/( ivw/ta e]n h' mi,a kerai,a ouv mh. pare,lqh| avpo. tou/ no,mou( e[wj a'n pa,nta ge,nhtaiÅ

ESV Matthew 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

BNT Matthew 11:23

kai. su,( Kafarnaou,m( mh. e[wj ouvranou/ u`ywqh,sh|È e[wj a[|dou katabh,sh|\ o[ti eiv evn Sodo,moij evgenh,qhsan ai` duna,meij ai` geno,menai evn soi,( e;meinen a'n me,cri th/j sh,meronÅ

[angellous_evangellous]

Here are some examples of singluar:

ESV Matthew 5:18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

BNT Matthew 5:18

avmh.n ga.r le,gw u`mi/n\ e[wj a'n pare,lqh| o` ouvrano.j kai. h` gh/( ivw/ta e]n h' mi,a kerai,a ouv mh. pare,lqh| avpo. tou/ no,mou( e[wj a'n pa,nta ge,nhtaiÅ

ESV Matthew 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

BNT Matthew 11:23

kai. su,( Kafarnaou,m( mh. e[wj ouvranou/ u`ywqh,sh|È e[wj a[|dou katabh,sh|\ o[ti eiv evn Sodo,moij evgenh,qhsan ai` duna,meij ai` geno,menai evn soi,( e;meinen a'n me,cri th/j sh,meronÅ