Kingdom Theology: An Introduction
The past couple of months have been interesting for me because I've been finding myself re-examining many of the Biblical Truths that I had always taken for granted and now I'm on a bit of a theological journey so to speak in an attempt to re-frame all of my theological understanding under one broad Truth: Heaven is a Kingdom and Jesus is its King.
Ever since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg and started what most historians would consider to be the greatest theological reformation of Christianity since the consummation of the Early Church, where there was a massive return to the authority of Scripture specifically around the Truths of salvation apart from works, faith and unmerited grace; ever since that famed day in 1517, the theology of the Church as a whole seems to find its emphasis on the Pauline epistles -- specifically the letter that Paul sent to the Church in Rome -- while holding the content of the 4 Gospels to be important, but only understood in the light of what Paul wrote.
And its understandable. At that time the Catholic Church didn't clearly teach the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith and in some instances even taught the opposite for unholy and selfish reasons. It makes total sense that the Holy Spirit would put His finger on restoring such Truths because they are essential doctrines to the Christian faith that Jesus intended for His disciples to teach throughout the generations.
That being said, the general attitude and perspective of the Church since the protestant reformation places what Paul wrote above what Jesus said -- an emphasis that neither Paul nor Jesus would approve of. I can just imagine Paul's reaction if he walked upon a conversation where two people were arguing about whether or not Jesus actually meant what He said in a certain saying and then one of them took out a letter from Paul which presented something that seemed to be in conflict with what Jesus said and used that to dismiss the validity of what Jesus has previously communicated. One can just see the horror on Paul's face as he would likely rend his garments, fall on his face and passionately rebuke the individual who said such a thing saying something along of the lines of "i'm not even worthy enough to be counted in the same number as Jesus much less stand in judgment over His Words."
Here's the deal -- Jesus is the theological measuring rod so to speak of the entire Bible. If Jesus and Moses are in an argument -- Jesus wins. If Jesus and Paul are in an argument -- Jesus wins. Just to be clear I don't ever believe that the Bible ever contradicts itself, Moses gives us the Law that is fulfilled in Jesus and Paul presents doctrine that helps us to expand upon and understand the ramifications of all that Jesus has done -- but very often the explanation and the ramifications of the what Jesus did on the Cross is called "the Gospel" while the Gospel of the Kingdom of God -- the one that Jesus preached is almost never spoken of.
So I am in the process of re-defining all of my theology under the main thing that was on Jesus' lips -- the Kingdom of God -- and as I find time and motivation will write blogs that look at major theological Truths and their implications as they relate to reality that Heaven is a Kingdom and Jesus is its King.
Ever since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg and started what most historians would consider to be the greatest theological reformation of Christianity since the consummation of the Early Church, where there was a massive return to the authority of Scripture specifically around the Truths of salvation apart from works, faith and unmerited grace; ever since that famed day in 1517, the theology of the Church as a whole seems to find its emphasis on the Pauline epistles -- specifically the letter that Paul sent to the Church in Rome -- while holding the content of the 4 Gospels to be important, but only understood in the light of what Paul wrote.
And its understandable. At that time the Catholic Church didn't clearly teach the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith and in some instances even taught the opposite for unholy and selfish reasons. It makes total sense that the Holy Spirit would put His finger on restoring such Truths because they are essential doctrines to the Christian faith that Jesus intended for His disciples to teach throughout the generations.
That being said, the general attitude and perspective of the Church since the protestant reformation places what Paul wrote above what Jesus said -- an emphasis that neither Paul nor Jesus would approve of. I can just imagine Paul's reaction if he walked upon a conversation where two people were arguing about whether or not Jesus actually meant what He said in a certain saying and then one of them took out a letter from Paul which presented something that seemed to be in conflict with what Jesus said and used that to dismiss the validity of what Jesus has previously communicated. One can just see the horror on Paul's face as he would likely rend his garments, fall on his face and passionately rebuke the individual who said such a thing saying something along of the lines of "i'm not even worthy enough to be counted in the same number as Jesus much less stand in judgment over His Words."
Here's the deal -- Jesus is the theological measuring rod so to speak of the entire Bible. If Jesus and Moses are in an argument -- Jesus wins. If Jesus and Paul are in an argument -- Jesus wins. Just to be clear I don't ever believe that the Bible ever contradicts itself, Moses gives us the Law that is fulfilled in Jesus and Paul presents doctrine that helps us to expand upon and understand the ramifications of all that Jesus has done -- but very often the explanation and the ramifications of the what Jesus did on the Cross is called "the Gospel" while the Gospel of the Kingdom of God -- the one that Jesus preached is almost never spoken of.
So I am in the process of re-defining all of my theology under the main thing that was on Jesus' lips -- the Kingdom of God -- and as I find time and motivation will write blogs that look at major theological Truths and their implications as they relate to reality that Heaven is a Kingdom and Jesus is its King.
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