2021-06-12. Where am I? In the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven?
Our recent study group session yielded this thought: What is the difference between the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven? This discussion comes from the section of Paper 170, The Kingdom of Heaven of The Urantia Book.
As is usual for we readers of the book, we love to take the papers apart, paragraph by paragraph, often sentence by sentence and word by word. This is probably one such situation.
[Note that the word “kingdom,” while reflecting an older concept of temporal governance, most of which we have abandoned with some exceptions, was the word that made the most sense to the people of those times of 2000 years ago.]
Jesus “… was aware of the confusion which existed in the minds of his apostles and disciples regarding the meaning and significance of the terms ‘kingdom of heaven’ and ‘kingdom of God,’….” But in section 2 of that paper, Jesus tells his believers, “[f]irst. The kingdom of God in this world, the supreme desire to do the will of God, the unselfish love of man which yields the good fruits of improved ethical and moral conduct.” And “[s]econd. The kingdom of God in heaven, the goal of mortal believers, the estate wherein the love for God is perfected, and wherein the will of God is done more divinely.” (UB 170: introduction, and UB 170:2.17-19) I interpret these statements as though we have been perfected in accepting the Kingdom of Heaven for ourselves by free-will choice wherein the Kingdom of Heaven IS the Kingdom of God.
But we are not there yet; at least not most of us.
Recall his famous statement: “Concerning the kingdom, his last word always was, ‘The kingdom is within you.’” To quibble over what the difference between the two concepts was not a worthy pursuit at that time. Why confuse the people more than they need to be confused. Wasn’t Jesus a confusing enough phenomenon? But today many understand the Kingdom of Heaven as being within give understanding that we are indwelt by a fragment of God; not a metaphor or some fuzzy concept of the spiritual influence of one’s self. (UB 170:1.13)
To be more specific, in the book, the acceptance of Jesus’ teachings would enrich human living with the “endowments of the new life of spiritual liberty.”
- The possession of new courage and augmented spiritual power. The gospel of the kingdom was to set man free and inspire him to dare to hope for eternal life.
2. The gospel carried a message of new confidence and true consolation for all men, even for the poor.
3. It was in itself a new standard of moral values, a new ethical yardstick wherewith to measure human conduct. It portrayed the ideal of a resultant new order of human society.
4. It taught the pre-eminence of the spiritual compared with the material; it glorified spiritual realities and exalted superhuman ideals.
5. This new gospel held up spiritual attainment as the true goal of living. Human life received a new endowment of moral value and divine dignity.
6. Jesus taught that eternal realities were the result (reward) of righteous earthly striving. Man’s mortal sojourn on earth acquired new meanings consequent upon the recognition of a noble destiny.
7. The new gospel affirmed that human salvation is the revelation of a far-reaching divine purpose to be fulfilled and realized in the future destiny of the endless service of the salvaged sons of God.
In section 4, our text tells us that Jesus “… never gave a precise definition of the kingdom. At one time he would discourse on one phase of the kingdom, and at another time he would discuss a different aspect of the brotherhood of God’s reign in the hearts of men.”
On Saturday, March 11, 30 AD, Jesus spoke of five phases of the Kingdom:
- The personal and inward experience of the spiritual life of the fellowship of the individual believer with God the Father.
2. The enlarging brotherhood of gospel believers, the social aspects of the enhanced morals and quickened ethics resulting from the reign of God’s spirit in the hearts of individual believers.
3. The supermortal brotherhood of invisible spiritual beings which prevails on earth and in heaven, the superhuman kingdom of God.
4. The prospect of the more perfect fulfillment of the will of God, the advance toward the dawn of a new social order in connection with improved spiritual living—the next age of man.
5. The kingdom in its fullness, the future spiritual age of light and life on earth.
And Jesus’ five units of the gospel’s cardinals features:
- The pre-eminence of the individual.
2. The will as the determining factor in man’s experience.
3. Spiritual fellowship with God the Father.
4. The supreme satisfactions of the loving service of man.
5. The transcendency of the spiritual over the material in human personality.
After our readings and discussions, some of us tried to summarize the difference between the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. Here is my takeaway from that discussion.
The Kingdom of God is the totality of the complete and living (spiritual, mental, and material) universe (which includes all pervaded and unpervaded space). It has been such since the beginning of time and eternity, i.e., forever. It is also called by the terms God Consciousness or Christ Consciousness. This version of the Kingdom lives in everything, from the tiniest ultimaton, atom, and cell to the Isle of Paradise and all the worlds of perfection (Havona), all the architectural spheres, and all the evolving planets of time and space––even into the outer space levels. We each live in this Kingdom whether we realize it or even want to or not. The closest evidence is our own Thought Adjuster, but it also includes all our other spiritual and mindal entities. We are always in that Kingdom. That is my idea of the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of Heaven is ours to choose or reject. It is upon our faith as to whether we enter that kingdom or not. The quotes I have pulled from The Urantia Book above are my understandings and beliefs of which the Kingdom of Heaven consists. It is our free-will choice to enter or not.
Given the above, it seems pretty silly not to pay attention to the benefits of being in the Kingdom. The choice is simple. Just say “yes.” By faith alone we are invited into the Kingdom.
We read that faith alone is not sufficient, but deeds are also required. Here is the secret to that. If you have the faith, the rest follows; you are automatically enrolling yourselves into the types of behaviors that start to enrich, increasingly, you’re living will express the fruits of the spirit.
That is my story, and I am sticking to it.
James Leese – June 12, 2021
