What is this Kingdom of Heaven?

What is this Kingdom of Heaven?

 This idea of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God is the subject of both Jesus’ and his Apostles’ teaching and preaching. It is also spoken of in the OT Scriptures, although most people overlook what the OT says. Jesus himself spent the three and a half years of his public ministry speaking about this subject, and his Apostles also gave their lives to the promulgation of this same teaching. In fact this subject is one of the most common threads that run all the way from Genesis to Revelation. 

Understanding this is a key to understanding the purpose of God and thereby the purpose of life. Unfortunately, like so many other Biblical concepts, people tend to ignore the OT Scriptural foundations of this subject and impose on the record their own preferred interpretations.

The following parable of Jesus is designed to show us that we humans are easily side-tracked by present experiences, goals and rewards. In the greater scheme of things we often end up with a misplaced sense of value, trust and judgement.

Luke.12:16-21. Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul’, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”  But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

The sense of misplaced value is very apparent. The most common example of this is seen the accumulation of material things. If you follow this path you will be considered wise and prudent, and honoured in society. In contrast, Jesus takes the longer view, for he is thinking and speaking in terms of God’s perspective. The spirit of the prophets before him expressed the same type of thinking. The following well known reference sums this up by declaring that all the pursuits of humanity, apart from God, are without any lasting value -

Luke.9:25. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?