We now begin a series of four lectures on the eternal destiny of the righteous and the wicked, including the kingdom and the judgement. For today we are going to focus on what God promises for his own people in the age to come. We’ll cruise through the entire bible (right from Genesis to Revelation), making key stops along the way to understand the golden thread, woven throughout scripture of the kingdom.
—— Notes ——
eschatology
understanding of the last things or end times
destiny of the righteous: kingdom
destiny of the wicked: hell
3 dimensions to kingdom
hope
gospel
way
we are just talking about hope right now
creation theology
the first book of the bible begins with a poem, detailing God’s creation of universe
Genesis 1
what repeats?
And God said
let there be
and God saw that it was good
and there was evening and there was morning—the ?? day
every stanza begins with, “And God said” and “let there be”
every stanza ends with, “and God saw that it was good” and “it was evening and morning”
more patterns
God creates heavens on day 1
God populates heavens on day 4
God creates the waters on day 2
God populates waters on day 5
God creates the land on day 3
God populates the land on day 6
Gen 1.26: The poem climaxes at the creation of humanity
first time God brings others into creation
the first thing he says about humans is for them to have dominion over everything else on earth
Gen 1.27: God made us in his own image
we are similar to him in some way
also similar to the angels (cf. v26)
he does not say the animals are in his image
Gen 1.28: first commands God gives
reproduce
rule the world
Gen 1.29: God gives his people food (vegetables, grains, & fruits)
robust creation theology is the foundation for eschatology
example of Gnostics who believed the physical universe was an accident
people generally believe God will get in the end what he wanted in the beginning
Isaiah 45.18
God’s plan is not to evacuate but to have his world inhabited
last book reflects the first book
Genesis records the beginning Revelation records the end
river flowing out of Eden river flowing from God’s throne
tree of life in the garden tree of life on either side of the river
gold, bdellium, and onyx a ton of different precious stones
God walking in the garden God dwelling with his people (see his face)
garden city
probationary permanent
satan deceives satan done away with
God curses ground no more curse
first marriage last marriage
what God originally wanted in the beginning he will get in the end!
typically people conceive of the end based on what they believe God originally wanted in the beginning
Promise to Abraham
Gen 17.4-8
father of a multitude of nations (not just Israel!)
to be God to you and your offspring
give you land Canaan as an everlasting possession
Promise to David
1 Chronicles 17.11-14
raise up one of your sins
he will build me a house
I will establish his throne forever
Psalms
Psalm 2.6-9
Psalm 37.9-11, 22, 29, 34
Psalm 110
Prophets
Isaiah 11.1-9; 25.6-9; 35
Micah 4.1-8
Amos 9.11-15
Zephaniah 3.8-20
Daniel: hinge (1st to use term “kingdom”)
Daniel 2.44
Daniel 7.13-14, 18, 22, 27
all of this background is critical because Jesus never takes the time to define the kingdom; he just expects his audience knows what he is talking about
Jesus
Luke 1.31-33
Luke 13.23-30
reclining at table with Abraham in kingdom
Matthew 5.5; 6.9-102
Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43
explain “kingdom of heaven”
Matthew 19.27-28
12 apostles judging the 12 tribes
Matthew 25.31-46
sheep and goats
Acts 1.3-8
Jesus kept right on talking about the kingdom after his resurrection
see also Luke 23.50-52 for Joseph of Arimathea waiting for the kingdom
Paul
Acts 3.19-21
Jesus is in heaven UNTIL the time for restoring all things
1 Corinthians 6.1-3
don’t you know you will judge the world?
1 Corinthians 15.24-28
reign until he puts all enemies under foot
2 Timothy 2.11-13
Apocalypse
Rev 2.26-27
Rev 11.15-18
—— Links ——
see KingdomUprising.com for more resources on the kingdom, including a video class by Victor Gluckin.
check out my own audio kingdom of God class starting at podcast 84
See other episodes in this Theology Class
Find more Restitutio classes here
For more on the kingdom of God see these posts
Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
