Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

180 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 1

13. In one way or another, all of Jesus’ kingdom parables (“The Kingdom of God is like. . .”) proclaim and/or explain this mystery. This understanding of the Kingdom is radically new. The first century Palestinian Jews needed to hear this message, understand it and believe it. This is the major concern of Jesus’ preaching and teaching. 14. Thus, we can understand Jesus’ teaching on the coming of God’s Kingdom as being both present and future. The Kingdom is now and it is not yet. Jesus announces the presence of the future. 15. This chart of the Kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus can help us see more clearly what he is saying. The chart is a time line from Creation into an eternal future (eternal in the Bible means unending time).

a. The age of the Kingdom is the age to come. We now live in both this age and the age to come.

b. The Kingdom of God has two moments, each one characterized by a coming of Jesus as the Messianic King to bring God’s reign.

16. The Kingdom of God brings the blessings of God. As the people of the Kingdom live now in the tension of both the presence and the future of the Kingdom, some of the blessings have already arrived for us and some await the consummation of the Kingdom in the future.

Present Blessings of the Kingdom a. The Gospel is proclaimed. b. The forgiveness of sin. c. The Holy Spirit indwells God’s people. d. Sanctification has begun.

Future Blessings of the Kingdom a. The Presence of God b. Resurrection bodies c. Full sanctification d. Shalom: peace, righteousness, joy, health, wholeness e. A new heaven and a new earth f. Judgment and destruction of all God’s enemies including sin, death, the devil and his demons, all evil

17. Let us not overlook the obvious fact that for Jesus his preaching about the Kingdom is fundamentally a proclamation about God.