Kingdom of God (Christianity)

However, in the Parable of the Mustard Seed,[7][better source needed] Jesus seems to indicate that his own view on how the kingdom of God arrives differs from the Jewish traditions of his time.

Jesus' predictions of his return make it clear that God's kingdom is not yet fully realized according to inaugurated eschatology but in the meantime the good news that forgiveness of sins is available through his name is to be proclaimed to the nations.

Thus the mission of the Church begins and fills the time between the initial coming of the Kingdom, and its ultimate consummation with the Final Judgment.

Christian interpretations or usage of the term "kingdom of God"[9] regularly make use of this historical framework and are often consistent with the Jewish hope of a Messiah, the person, and ministry of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, his return, and the rise of the Church in history.

The term "kingdom of God" has been used to mean Christian lifestyle, a method of world evangelization, the rediscovery of charismatic gifts and many other things.

[1][2] Matthew is likely to have used the term Heaven due to the fact that the background of his Jewish audience imposed restrictions on the frequent use of the name of God.

[4] However, in later Judaism a more "national" view was assigned to God's Kingship in which the awaited Messiah may be seen as a liberator and the founder of a new state of Israel.

[22][23] The second interpretation (also by Origen) is that the Kingdom represents the hearts and minds of the faithful captured by the love of God and the pursuit of Christian teachings.

[22][24] The third interpretation (influenced by Origen but brought forth by Eusebius in the 4th century) is that the Kingdom represents the Christian Church composed of the faithful.

[11][27][28] In this view (also called the "consistent eschatology") the Kingdom of God did not start in the first century, but is a future apocalyptic event that is yet to take place.

[29][30] Thus the denominational attempt at incorporating the ideals expressed in the Acts of Apostles regarding the sharing of property within the Christian community came to interact with the social issues of the time to produce various interpretations regarding the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.