Page 26 - TH130 Kingdom of God A4 Final

The Kingdom of God

from society and hope for the coming of Christ to deliver them from the
world. If Christians see the state church as the kingdom of God, as did
the medieval church, they tend to believe that it is the role of the state
to Christianize society. As a result, they can become passive in their
personal participation in the mission of God. If the kingdom of God is
seen as only present, as did some nineteenth century theologians, the
church works only for the betterment of society and does not worry
about preparing people spiritually for the coming of Christ. If a Christian,
however, sees the kingdom of God as both present and future, and if a
Christian believes that the Kingdom is present in the power of the Spirit,
he or she is encouraged to go to the nations in the Spirit’s power, preaching
that people must prepare themselves for Christ’s soon coming when He
will judge the nations and set up His eternal kingdom in the earth.

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