The Kingdom of God: Eternal, Spiritual, AND Profoundly Literal!

When most Christians hear the phrase the kingdom of God, they rarely think of the land of Israel or the people of Israel. On its own, the word kingdom invokes a king and a castle in a mystical far-away land. When people hear the word kingdom and Bible in the same sentence, they tend to think of some ethereal and far-off realm where God dwells and rules on His throne.

And it’s true–God does rule in heaven from His throne, ordering the universe. The kingdom of God is spiritual; however, it is not only spiritual.

What is a kingdom? It is a place where the will or decree of the king is done. 

There is a sense in which this Kingdom of God is eternal, as is mentioned in the Psalms. “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations” (Psalm 145:13 NASB95). 

The topic of the kingdom is also one of the key themes mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount: 

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 NASB95).

Jesus called His followers to be people who were worthy to inherit the Kingdom in the Messianic Age. Second Temple Judaism separated the ages into two ages: this age (olam ha’zeh) and the age to come (olam ha’ba). People who followed God and His ways were people who anticipated the coming Messianic Age. 

Yes, the Kingdom of God is spiritual, but there is a physical aspect that is often neglected. 

Christians typically associate the biblical term "kingdom" with a spiritual kingdom versus something physical. The physical world, according to this mindset, is typically associated with the fleshly, worldly, and sinful, while the spiritual world is typically associated with godliness, holiness, righteousness, etc. However, such a sharp and opposing dichotomy is not supported by the Bible. It is a both/and rather than an either/or.

The idea of a human kingdom was first developed in Genesis. God intended humanity (the image bearers of God) to rule over creation and be stewards. God would forever remain King (having ultimate authority), but humanity was granted a position of authority and stewardship.

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” (Genesis 1:26 NKJV).

Both the OT and NT affirm a high view of creation and man (Gen 1-3; 1 Cor. 15; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; John 3:16). When God finishes each facet of creation, He calls it good (tov) and blesses it. Man is the chief pinnacle, and God tells him to “be fruitful and multiply.”

Why do I bring up creation in a discussion about the Kingdom of God? When people have a low view of God’s creation, then there is a tendency to have a low view of the physical as well. God made man in His image and made us embodied creatures that have spiritual, physical, and emotional elements. That is why God later tells Israel to love Him with all their faculties and not just the “spiritual side” (Deut. 6:4-9). If the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob values the physical creation and calls it “good”, then so should we.

So where did this idea of the physical being bad and the spiritual being good come from?

The ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, said that all the physical things on earth are basically copies of more perfect things that are found in the heavens. Death was seen as a release from the imperfect to the perfect.

Fast forward a number of years, and some early Christians adopted a view called Neoplatonism (a newer form of Plato's thinking adapted with Christian theology). This thinking emphasized the spiritual as more important than the physical. Passages in the gospels and other parts of the Bible were reinterpreted through a “spiritual lens.”

“Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, He answered them, ‘The Kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.’” (Luke 17:20–21 ESV).

Early Christian leaders responded by affirming the goodness of creation in accordance with Genesis. However, the false dichotomy of spiritual versus physical still infects the thinking of Christians today. I am not saying that the spiritual element of God’s Kingdom is not important, but that the overt focus on the spiritual has made us neglect the physical.

A passage that helps balance this out is found in the book of Acts. The disciples spent time with Jesus before the Ascension, and the main thing that was on their mind was the Kingdom of Israel! 

“So when they had come together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?’” (Acts 1:6 ESV).

Since early Christians only had the Tanach (Old Testament), which is the same Bible that the Jewish people use today, what kingdom were the early Christians looking for? They were looking for a Davidic king to rule over Israel with a restored temple, the exiles gathered in, and an era of peace unknown in human history (Isa 2:1-4, 9:1-10, 11:1-9; Jer. 31; Ezek. 36-48, etc.). Now the vision was partially fulfilled but not in the way the early believers expected. 

If Christians today want to regain the vision that the early disciples had, then they must read the Scriptures that they read and hold fast to the same hope that they did. The land, people, and promises of God are all part of this vision. Simply put, in order to have a complete view of the Kingdom, one must understand the importance of the physical land of Israel. 

“‘David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.’” (Ezekiel 37:24–28 NKJV).

Based on these passages, there must be both spiritual and physical elements of the Kingdom. And what is happening in Israel today–the regathering of the Jewish people, the restoration of the land, miracles, etc.–is a move of God to accomplish His mission to bring redemption and set up His kingdom. 

I used to think that when I died I would spend eternity playing a harp on a cloud somewhere in the cosmos. However, the Bible speaks of God redeeming and restoring the earth. This is the view portrayed in the Bible and supported by the early Christians who valued creation in a way that is often neglected in our generation. 

Today the popular view is to let the earth that God created all burn and be done with–a form of escapism. When people look to escape from this earth and its troubles, then they do not invest as much in culture, relationships, and the physical. However, when we better value the physical, then we can come to see the beauty in God’s creation. Yes, it is distorted by sin, but it is still good and beautiful. 

Even now, God’s Kingdom operates in all spheres. But there will come a time when the Kingdom will come in all its fullness, and God’s glory will shine on the earth like never before (Isa. 66:22; Rev 21-22).

God states that He will eventually set up a Kingdom that will have Jerusalem as its capital, and the world will bloom like the garden of Eden (Ezek 36:35). God has chosen a specific location (Israel), for His Kingdom. That is why there is such intense fighting over the Promised Land.

The Enemy of our souls knows that Israel is the end game where the Kingdom of God will be set up for all eternity. However, many followers of God have not considered the land of Israel important because they have focused too much on the spiritual instead of the physical. 

When Jesus was speaking of the Kingdom of God, He was thinking of the Davidic throne that would be established from Jerusalem. Until the coming establishment of that Kingdom,  we are to live under the gracious commands of God in a way that proclaims His kingship and authority–awaiting the physical arrival of the age to come.

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