[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Whenwas the Kingdom of God established? [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Wasit established in the Beginning when God created the heavens, theearth and life? Or was it established later? We can speculate, but wedefer our own understanding to our faith in God, and if we cannotderive the answer from our faith in God, so be it. For faith involvesthings which we cannot fully understand, although God has shown atleast that He is willing to reason with us, when in Isaiah 1:18 Hesays, “Come now, let us reason together...” But that limits us tothat which God wants us to reason about in His Domain. But since ourforefather ate from the Tree of Knowledge, we are not limited onearth as to what we may gain our understanding about, and in thatregard, everything is fair game.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Soit is with that understanding that we may wonder when God's Kingdomwas established. It seems that we first have to define the word“kingdom.” Dictionary.com defines “kingdom” as follows: “2.anything conceived as constituting a realm or sphere of independentaction or control...” Well, in that respect, God's Kingdom firstexisted at the time of the Creation. Not only did he create theheavens and the earth, and life on the earth, He had full controlover it all. He controlled what the heavens and the earth should looklike, and He controlled what man should look like. In his wisdom Hedid not give man wings, so all man's offspring didn't have wingseither. He did not give animals the ability to think like man, but Helimited the animals' thinking to that which they needed to do tosurvive. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Godcreated and controlled the Flood that came about during the time ofNoah, controlling it so it lasted 40 days and nights. He scatteredthe people during the time of Babel, so in that regard He wascontrolling too. In effect, in all this, God said “This is myKingdom.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Itseems though, that not everyone saw the earth as part of the Kingdomof God. Can a kingdom be established when very few people are awareof its existence? The answer may depend on what the word “establish”means. Dictionary.com defines the word as follows: “1. to found,institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis: toestablish a university; to establish a medical practice. .. 4. tocause to be accepted or recognized: to establish a custom..6. toenact, appoint, or ordain for permanence, as a law; fix unalterably. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Regarding1., there is no doubt that God built the heavens and earth and lifeitself. Regarding 4., the recognition may have existed among a fewpeople just after the Beginning, but then that recognition decreasedproportionately as more people populated the earth, from the time thepeople were scattered from Babel. Many had gone after other gods,believing it was those gods who created the heavens and the earth,and who has control over life. And at that point, although God'sKingdom existed, you wouldn't know it from living among such people.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Wethen come to number 6, which says, “to enact, appoint, or ordainfor permanence, as a law; fix unalterably.” In that respect, it canbe said that God established His Kingdom with Abraham and hisoffspring, declaring him to father a great nation in God's name. Hedetermined that in a world in which many followed other gods, Abrahamwould be most receptive to the Kingdom on earth established by God.We don't know why God chose Abraham in particular, when his name wasAbram, for we only know from Genesis 11 who Abram's father was, thenin Genesis 12 the Bible jumps right into 12:1-2 which says, “Nowthe LORD said1 to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred andyour father's house to the land that I will show you. And I WILL MAKEOF YOU A GREAT NATION, and I will bless you and make your name great,so that you will be a blessing.'” This happens to us all at leastonce a week, right? [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Itcan be rightfully said, then, that God's Kingdom always existed, butas it turns out, the nation under Abraham did not include the rest ofthe people in the world. God's Kingdom was always there, but at thetime, it was only the nation of Abraham that God wanted to bestowbenefits of the Kingdom that others wouldn't have, so it would seem. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Atthe time the Hebrews of Moses settled into the Promised Land, itappears that God was willing to extend the benefits of His Kingdom toothers, but starting with those that the Hebrews would encounter. Leviticus 19:34 says, “You shall treat the stranger who sojournswith you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself,for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”Well, to love a stranger who has no knowledge of God's Kingdom as onewould love themselves, would include sharing with the stranger theknowledge of God's Kingdom. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Ifthe stranger were invited into the home of a Hebrew, the strangerwould inevitably see certain behavior of the Hebrew which is donebecause of God's Kingdom, and the stranger may thus come to know theexistence of the Kingdom of God for what it is. Jesus saw this asthe calling to spread the Word of God to the rest of the world,particularly since you cannot love someone as you do yourself withoutsharing the good things you have. In that sense, God's Kingdom willnot be established until the entire world accepts Jesus'understanding from God as to how we should conduct ourselves...lovingGod with all our heart, soul, might and mind, and loving eachother aswe love ourselves.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Wasit established in the Beginning when God created the heavens, theearth and life? Or was it established later? We can speculate, but wedefer our own understanding to our faith in God, and if we cannotderive the answer from our faith in God, so be it. For faith involvesthings which we cannot fully understand, although God has shown atleast that He is willing to reason with us, when in Isaiah 1:18 Hesays, “Come now, let us reason together...” But that limits us tothat which God wants us to reason about in His Domain. But since ourforefather ate from the Tree of Knowledge, we are not limited onearth as to what we may gain our understanding about, and in thatregard, everything is fair game.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Soit is with that understanding that we may wonder when God's Kingdomwas established. It seems that we first have to define the word“kingdom.” Dictionary.com defines “kingdom” as follows: “2.anything conceived as constituting a realm or sphere of independentaction or control...” Well, in that respect, God's Kingdom firstexisted at the time of the Creation. Not only did he create theheavens and the earth, and life on the earth, He had full controlover it all. He controlled what the heavens and the earth should looklike, and He controlled what man should look like. In his wisdom Hedid not give man wings, so all man's offspring didn't have wingseither. He did not give animals the ability to think like man, but Helimited the animals' thinking to that which they needed to do tosurvive. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Godcreated and controlled the Flood that came about during the time ofNoah, controlling it so it lasted 40 days and nights. He scatteredthe people during the time of Babel, so in that regard He wascontrolling too. In effect, in all this, God said “This is myKingdom.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Itseems though, that not everyone saw the earth as part of the Kingdomof God. Can a kingdom be established when very few people are awareof its existence? The answer may depend on what the word “establish”means. Dictionary.com defines the word as follows: “1. to found,institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis: toestablish a university; to establish a medical practice. .. 4. tocause to be accepted or recognized: to establish a custom..6. toenact, appoint, or ordain for permanence, as a law; fix unalterably. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Regarding1., there is no doubt that God built the heavens and earth and lifeitself. Regarding 4., the recognition may have existed among a fewpeople just after the Beginning, but then that recognition decreasedproportionately as more people populated the earth, from the time thepeople were scattered from Babel. Many had gone after other gods,believing it was those gods who created the heavens and the earth,and who has control over life. And at that point, although God'sKingdom existed, you wouldn't know it from living among such people.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Wethen come to number 6, which says, “to enact, appoint, or ordainfor permanence, as a law; fix unalterably.” In that respect, it canbe said that God established His Kingdom with Abraham and hisoffspring, declaring him to father a great nation in God's name. Hedetermined that in a world in which many followed other gods, Abrahamwould be most receptive to the Kingdom on earth established by God.We don't know why God chose Abraham in particular, when his name wasAbram, for we only know from Genesis 11 who Abram's father was, thenin Genesis 12 the Bible jumps right into 12:1-2 which says, “Nowthe LORD said1 to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred andyour father's house to the land that I will show you. And I WILL MAKEOF YOU A GREAT NATION, and I will bless you and make your name great,so that you will be a blessing.'” This happens to us all at leastonce a week, right? [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Itcan be rightfully said, then, that God's Kingdom always existed, butas it turns out, the nation under Abraham did not include the rest ofthe people in the world. God's Kingdom was always there, but at thetime, it was only the nation of Abraham that God wanted to bestowbenefits of the Kingdom that others wouldn't have, so it would seem. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Atthe time the Hebrews of Moses settled into the Promised Land, itappears that God was willing to extend the benefits of His Kingdom toothers, but starting with those that the Hebrews would encounter. Leviticus 19:34 says, “You shall treat the stranger who sojournswith you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself,for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”Well, to love a stranger who has no knowledge of God's Kingdom as onewould love themselves, would include sharing with the stranger theknowledge of God's Kingdom. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Ifthe stranger were invited into the home of a Hebrew, the strangerwould inevitably see certain behavior of the Hebrew which is donebecause of God's Kingdom, and the stranger may thus come to know theexistence of the Kingdom of God for what it is. Jesus saw this asthe calling to spread the Word of God to the rest of the world,particularly since you cannot love someone as you do yourself withoutsharing the good things you have. In that sense, God's Kingdom willnot be established until the entire world accepts Jesus'understanding from God as to how we should conduct ourselves...lovingGod with all our heart, soul, might and mind, and loving eachother aswe love ourselves.[/FONT]
