Carol Swenson
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KINGDOM OF GOD, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
The “kingdom of God” is evidently a more comprehensive term than the “kingdom of heaven” and embraces all created intelligences, both in heaven and on earth, who are willingly subject to God and thus in fellowship with Him.
The "kingdom of God”—is a term descriptive of any type of rulership God may assert on the earth at a given period. As a predicted kingdom it has reference to the establishment of the kingdom of Israel on the earth (Acts 1:6) and is the subject of extended glowing prophecies in the OT (cf. Psalm 2:6; Psalm 72:1; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 32:1; Isaiah 65:17; Jeremiah 33:15; Daniel 7:13-14; Micah 4:1; Zech. 9:10; Zech. 12:1; Zech. 14:9). As a covenanted kingdom the kingdom of God becomes the national hope of Israel (2 Samuel 7:4-17).
John the Baptist, Christ, and the apostles announced that the kingdom of national Israel was “at hand.” That offer was rejected. As a result the “kingdom of God” in its earthly manifested form was postponed until Christ’s second advent.
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. (Matthew 21:43)
Widespread attempts to “bring in the kingdom” on the basis of Christ’s first advent are misplaced. According to the clear teaching of the Bible it will be realized only in connection with the second advent. The testimony of Scripture agrees completely with this fact.
According to Matthew 13 the present gospel age represents the mystery form of the kingdom.
Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
“Since the kingdom of God is no other than the rule of God on the earth, He must now be ruling to the extent of full realization of those things which are termed ‘the mysteries’ in the NT and which really constitute the new message of the NT” (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, 7:224).
The “kingdom of God,” that is, the manifested rule of God on the earth in the mediatorial Davidic kingdom, will not be realized until the future millennial period.
The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, as Chafer points out, are not identical despite the fact that “Matthew employs the terminology of the kingdom of heaven” and Mark and Luke, when presenting practically the same teaching, employ the phrase “kingdom of God.”
(Adapted from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary)
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