Presently, we’re involved in a study of N.T. Wright’s book, Simply Jesus, and beginning chapter 14, which is the final chapter of part 2 of his 3-part thesis.[1] What does the Kingdom of God, on earth, look like? Well, one could say: It looks like Jesus, during his public ministry, and that would be correct. Nevertheless, knowing the correct answer doesn’t really ‘explain’ anything or make the correct answer clear, in terms of knowing what it would be like, if one were **IN** the Kingdom of God. We are told in Luke 17:21 that the Kingdom of God cannot be found by walking to it ‘over there’ or coming to it ‘over here.’ Instead, the Kingdom of God is within man! So, what ‘on Earth’ does that mean?
After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus became what the scriptures refer to as the Firstborn: the Firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29), the Firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18), the Firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15). With the “return of God” to his people, that event marks the beginning of a new creation, wherein Jesus is the Firstborn! This is not, as the literal wording implies, a new (physical) creation like that found in Genesis 1:1-31. No! The new creation of God in terms of the Gospel is the New Covenant! The Mosaic Covenant was the old creation of the nation of Israel in Covenant with God. Nevertheless, that wasn’t an everlasting covenant[2] as Jeremiah 31:31 implies. Moses spoke of the last days or the latter days of Israel (Deuteronomy 31:29), when the character of Israel would be like the poisonous character expressed in the cruelty of Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 32:32-33). Peter wrote of those days, when he wrote about the skeptics who, knowing what Jesus predicted about the Temple and Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-38; Matthew 24:1-2), asked: “Where is the promise of his coming, for since the fathers fell asleep…” vis-à-vis Moses, Aaron and Joshua, “…all things continue as from the beginning of creation” (2Peter 3:3-4).[3]
The scoffers’ argument: “Where is the promise of his coming?” indicates several things. First, it indicates Peter’s 2nd Epistle was written prior to AD 70, when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans. Such an interpretation is not as many scholars believe, who claim the epistle was written close to or well into the 2nd century AD. Secondly, the scoffers’ argument presumes the Apostles preached that Jesus would return and judge Jerusalem, before that present evil generation that rejected Christ died out (Matthew 16:27-28; 23:36-38; 24:1-2, 34). If the Apostles preached there would be a delay of hundreds or thousands of years before the return of Christ, the scoffers’ argument means nothing and would persuade no one. Therefore, the establishment of the Kingdom of God, according to the New Covenant and the setting aside of the Old Covenant, as indicated in Moses’ prophecy of Israel’s latter or last days (Deuteronomy 31:29; cp. Genesis 49:1), had to occur in the first century AD.
Moreover, we need to keep in mind, as we think upon the arrival of the Kingdom of God, that heaven, according to the scriptures, isn’t a long way off. Heaven (the place where God lives) and Earth, the place where man lives are interlocked, as they were in the Garden of Eden, where man was permitted to enter the Presence of God at will, which was true until mankind rebelled and was cast out of the Garden (Genesis 3:22-24). The Tabernacle/Temple was modeled after the Garden of Eden. The Most Holy Place was where God dwelt, and it was separated from the Holy Place, by a curtain. The Holy Place was where the priests of God were permitted to worship, eat and fellowship with one another.[4] The outer courts were for the rest of Israel to come and bring their sacrifices, confess their sins and worship. Once the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the heavens and earth that symbolically stood with it were also destroyed (cp. Matthew 24:32-35). Therefore, the new heavens and new earth (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22; 2Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1) pointed to the New Covenant, wherein Jesus and his followers are the Temple, vis-à-vis the place where heaven and earth are interlocked (1Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 18-22; 1Peter 2:3-7).
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[1] Dr. Wright in Simply Jesus at this point triggered an understanding in my heart that took me on an interpretation of this part of his work, concerning which he would undoubtedly have mixed feelings. He probably wouldn’t agree with everything I say in this study. He addressed the issue of the new creation differently, taking us on a journey that took issue with our Platonic understanding of reality, interpreting heaven as a place, where solids can walk through doors (John 20:19), vis-à-vis heaven isn’t a non-physical place “beyond the reach of space, time and matter.”
[2] Jews today assume they are still under the Mosaic Covenant, which they believe is an everlasting covenant, but that understanding denies Jeremiah 31:31. The prophet implies an ending of the Mosaic Covenant will take place, and it will be replaced with something new.
[3] See my earlier studies in Peter’s 2nd Epistle: The Last Days and The Scoffers Myth.
[4] The curtain separating heaven and earth, vis-à-vis the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place, is symbolic of man being cast out of the Garden (Genesis 3:23-24), unable to reenter (cp. 2Corinthians 3:14-16).
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