Ladd holds a premillenial view of the Kingdom of God.
He writes
that there are three meanings of the Kingdom of God in the New Testament:
1. The primary meaning is God’s rule or authority (see 1 Cor.
15:24,25).
2. The realm or places over which God reigns.
a. The present realm of this age (see Mark 1:15).
b. The future realm inaugurated when Christ returns and
culminating with the eternal
kingdom in the age to come (see Matt. 25:34).
3. The people over which God reigns (see Rev. 1:6). 20
The Kingdom of God began at the First Advent of Christ. God
established his rule or authority through the sacrifice of Christ. The realm of
the Kingdom of God includes all Christendom—the places where the Gospel has
spread.
In item 3 above, Ladd suggests that there are only Christians
within the Kingdom of God. Stringfellow writes that all those in the
Church—both true believers and those who only profess to believe in Christ—are
in the Kingdom of Heaven. Stringfellow differentiates between the Kingdom of
God and the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is only mentioned in the
Gospel of Matthew, whereas the other New Testament writers refer to the Kingdom
of God. Jesus described the Kingdom of Heaven in twelve parables in Matthew.
Christ interpreted the first two parables (see Matt. 13:3-23, 24-29,36-43 ),
and their interpretation serves as a guide for interpreting the other ten
parables. In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the wheat (true believers)
and the tares (those only professing to believe) were allowed to co-exist (in
the Kingdom of Heaven) until the time of harvest (when Christ returns). The
Kingdom of Heaven lasts from the First Advent through the end of the Millenium,
and at the end of this age, Christ will hand over the Kingdom of Heaven to God
the Father, so it will become the Kingdom of God (see 1 Cor. 15:24 ).21 Not all
theologians differentiate between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God.
Let us simply refer to the Kingdom of God. Based upon the above, the following
definition is offered: The Kingdom of God is God’s rule over the Church within
all Christendom. The Church today includes some non-believers, but in the age
to come, only believers will be in the Kingdom. At the end of the age, the
knowledge of God will have gone throughout the new earth, so everyone in the Kingdom
of God will be Christians.
20 George E. Ladd, “ Kingdom of God,” Pictorial Bible Dictionary,
(Nashville, Tennessee: Southwestern Company, 1968), p. 466.
21 Stringfellow, Through the Bible In One Year . Vol. 3. Great
Truths of the Bible, 277-279. (For details and for free course visit <www.missionstraining.org>)
