The kingdom of God: Map and timeline

Good news, two expectations and a kingdom within reach.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15)

Good news

The gospel is not good advice but good news. A herald comes running from the battlefield and shouts: “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7) News is not something you wait for — news is announced, and the world is never the same again.

What it announces
In Jesus, God is taking up his reign — here and now, not only after death. Heaven is not an emergency exit from earth; the kingdom of God is heaven moving in here.

When a king gains new territory, on paper it belongs to him at once; but it takes a while before he actually establishes his rule over it. This good news was proclaimed by John the Baptist, then by Jesus, then by the disciples — and now by us.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10 · The Lord's Prayer

“Thy kingdom come. That is, may your reign be realised here, as it is realised there. I usually take the word there on three levels:

1) as in the sinless world beyond the horrors of animal and human life; in the behaviour of stars, trees and water, in sunrise and wind. May there be here (in my heart) the beginning of such beauty.

2) as in the lives of the best people I know; in those who really bear their burdens and ring true, and in the quiet, busy, ordered life of good families and really good monasteries. May this too be here.

3) and in the usual sense: as in heaven, among our blessed dead.

The word here, of course, cannot be taken only as “in my heart”, but also as in this college — in England — and in the world in general.”

C. S. Lewis: Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, p. 29

Two expectations

The Jews of Jesus' day looked for the end of this age in two ways. John the Baptist expected a sudden break; Jesus proclaimed gradual growth — and the whole good news rests on that.

1 — A sudden break

The first concept: with the coming of the Messiah this age ends all at once — one dramatic transformation of everything. The kingdom of this world ends, the kingdom of God begins.

Perhaps this is exactly what John the Baptist was looking for when he asked from prison: “Are you really the one who is to come?” (Matthew 11:3) He was expecting a radical break — and it wasn't coming.

2 — Gradual growth

The second concept is gradual — and this is the one Jesus leans towards: the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all, which grows into a tree; like yeast that quietly works its way through the whole batch of dough. (Matthew 13:31–33)

Since the coming of the Messiah the two ages overlap. We live in the time of “already — not yet”: the Kingdom is already here, and it is not yet everywhere. The good news is: it has already begun!

Your little kingdom

Dallas Willard: you have a kingdom too — it is the range of your effective will. Wherever what you want gets done (your time, your words, your desk), that is your little kingdom.

Salvation, then, is not just a ticket for later. It is an invitation to place your little kingdom inside God's — to learn from Jesus to rule your own the way he rules his.

Eternal life doesn't begin after death. It begins now.

Dallas Willard: The Divine Conspiracy

Who is forcing their way in?

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.”

Matthew 11:12

Who are these “violent” ones? Tax collectors, prostitutes and outcasts who burst through the gates of the Kingdom at a run — while the experts in Scripture stand in front of the gate blocking the way. The paralysed man breaks through the roof, the bleeding woman pushes through the crowd. A heart full of repentance and longing for Christ is worth more than all knowledge.

“But for some of the people who hear it, something happens! The message, the royal announcement, does them good like a hot drink on a cold day… It refreshes them. It gives them energy. … It is like someone who has been completely deaf from birth suddenly hearing the opening of a Mozart symphony after a successful operation. Suddenly a whole new world opens up to them, one they could never have imagined before.”

N. T. Wright: Simply Good News, pp. 28–37

“The primary function of the church is not evangelism but to be the place of God's dwelling on earth. … Many people will be drawn in without any special strategy, simply because of the health of the people.”

Dallas Willard: Rethinking Evangelism

Tim Mackie adds: Jesus' gospel is not a ticket to heaven after death — it is the announcement that God's reign has begun, and an invitation to live in it right now. And the King reigns from the cross: an upside-down kingdom.

BibleProject: Gospel of the Kingdom

Sources

Bema podcast (Marty Solomon) — a Jewish teacher trained by rabbis expounds the Christian message of Scripture with an emphasis on its roots
Dallas Willard — The Divine Conspiracy · lecture Rethinking Evangelism
N. T. Wright — Simply Good News

Apostolic street evangelism — sermon by MH · Psalm 96:1–3 · Isaiah 52:7 · Matthew 10:1–14 · Matthew 11:12
Tim Mackie — BibleProject: Gospel of the Kingdom (video)