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by Doug Johnson
or a moment, close your eyes and wrap your mind around this phrase: The Kingdom of God. What picture developed in your mind? Many people, even those with religious backgrounds, draw a blank. Many confusing ideas about God's Kingdom often make it a hazy and distant concept, raising more questions than answers. Is the Kingdom of God in heaven? Is it on earth? Who will be in it? Is it here already, in our hearts? Are you part of it now? Will you be part of it in the future? What will you do there?
These are valid, thought-provoking questions for which God's Word provides clear, authoritative answers. Throughout the Bible God focuses His servants - men, women and children, past, present and future - on that Kingdom, and He promises that all people of all ages will eventually have a chance to see the destiny, and hope, He has planned for their lives.
Researching the Kingdom of God also steers us to a personal question: Does it impact your life now? We live in a high-tech age that is bombarding our senses with thousands of distractions, all screaming for our attention. Can the Kingdom compete with Hollywood, personal computers and life in the '90s? Can it be real to us? If so, how should it affect us?
Let's take a brief journey, in Bible-study format, and find out what you need to know about the Kingdom of God.
Discussion: What is a kingdom, anyway?
The Greek word for kingdom is basileia, "primarily an abstract noun, denoting sovereignty, royal power, dominion," which also can be "a concrete noun, denoting the territory or people over whom a king rules..." (Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).
These meanings are standard in political science, which commonly identifies four characteristics of a state or kingdom: It must have rulers, subjects, laws and territory.
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