Home » Theological Doctrine » Eternal Purposes » The Kingdom of God
| The Kingdom of God [message #13715] |
Mon, 08 March 2021 01:47  |
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 william
Messages: 1464
Registered: January 2006 |
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Okay, James... I've taken your advice! Here is a reproduction of my Facebook post which hopefully will generate some interest in at least acquiring the PDF version and then there will be no end to the discussions it will produce!
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Alright, it's almost 2 months until my birthday but because I'm apparently such a great guy, and because my wonderful wife is so, well, impetuously wonderful--she just gave me one of the best gifts of all time, today!!
I know a lot of men that consider something like a Ferrari or some other powerful muscle car to be the ultimate gift but no, you're way off if you think that I got a car today, I got a complete 3 vol. set of books that I consider to be absolutely (excepting only my waterproof KJV bible mentioned elsewhere on my page) the best gift a man could receive!
This set is one that you'd want to have with you (along with your waterproof Bible, of course) if you were banished to the isle of Patmos.
Don't get me wrong, I've had some great gifts along the way... I remember one time early on in my Christian life that one of the owners of Zondervan Publishing Company called me on the phone and told me that he had arranged for the local Zondervan book store to give me "carte blanche" at their store! I didn't really know what that meant but at the time it seemed pretty exciting!
This came about because my Dad was a truck broker and had moved some freight for Zondervan... now I'd have to go into a long drawn out story about how my Dad happened to ingratiate himself to one of the top-bods of the company but those that knew my Dad wouldn't be surprised, so I'll just leave it there.
Anyway, apparently my Dad mentioned that I had moved to Indiana to study the Bible and this guy at Zondervan Headquarters decided that I needed a good library to get me started, so that's where the "carte blanche" came into being. Of course, I had to find a dictionary (no internet) before I could decipher exactly what a carte blanche was!
Well, it was pretty nice... it meant I could go shopping at the Zondervan's bookstore and walk out the front door without paying! I took out a nice armful of books and I had a great start on my library. (This was one of the many blessings that came from my association with my Dad!)
I say all of the above to get to the present day blessing. While the Zondervan experience was the beginning of my library, today's blessing is the capstone of my library!
Okay, I know I've kept you in suspense much longer than a normal person should be required to wait but if you'll give me just a minute or two more, I need to set this up just a wee bit more.
If I were to ask the question--"What was the purpose of Jesus' ministry as presented in the Gospels?"--there would be a lot of answers... most of the answers, no doubt, would be true, to an extent, but the answer needs to be broad enough to encompass the big picture.
We could say, well, He came to save men..., He came to give hope to the hopeless..., He came to heal the sick..., He came to start His Church..., He came to give the gentiles a chance..., He came to be an atonement for our sins, etc., etc., we could go on and on but there is an answer that covers all of that and more: He came to preach the Kingdom!
The Kingdom of God on this earth, promised to Israel, and then by extension to the grafted-in Gentiles, this message, and the means to make it possible (His substitutional atonement that took care of our sins) was the central message of the Gospels.
The Theocratic Kingdom, 3-Volume Set by George N.H. Peters
https://www.kregel.com/theology-and-religious-studies/the-th eocratic-kingdom-3-volume-set/
This is the gift I received and I consider it the ultimate addition to my library!
You can find it in pdf format in various places but most that I've found are scanned copies of this set. Having a pdf copy is nice, I've used the online versions for about a year now, but having the whole set in book form is the ultimate gift (Happy birthday to me!)
I can say without fear of contradiction, that this is the most biblically based publication that I've ever seen in all of my years of being a Christian. It is thorough in the subject matter and not only will you be educated in the things concerning the kingdom, you'll be educated in the whole realm of eschatological prophetic thought AND the means of arriving at a solid understanding of the Bible you hold in your hands!
Blessings,
William
I want to believe!
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| Re: The Kingdom of God [message #13719 is a reply to message #13718] |
Wed, 10 March 2021 00:51  |
Mark L
Messages: 856
Registered: October 2006
Location: Canada |
Senior Member |
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I downloaded it but might have to buy the books. Books are much easier to read than text on a screen. Much more enjoyable. Are the books written in the same way as the pdf? I found the pdf a little cumberson.
You can read
"Meanderings on Scripture by Mark
https://mlederman.substack.com/
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| Re: The Kingdom of God [message #13720 is a reply to message #13719] |
Wed, 10 March 2021 03:25 |
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william
Messages: 1464
Registered: January 2006 |
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It's probably the same text but the book is much cleaner. Those pdfs were scanned and that method leaves a lot to be desired!
Here's a pic of my text:
Attachment: IMG_2246.JPG
(Size: 121.27KB, Downloaded 7513 times)
[Updated on: Wed, 10 March 2021 03:26]
I want to believe!
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| Re: The Kingdom of God [message #13721 is a reply to message #13715] |
Thu, 11 March 2021 13:06 |
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william
Messages: 1464
Registered: January 2006 |
Senior Member
Administrator |
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Here's what I got from Proposition 196 vol 3 of the Theocratic Kingdom (I posted it on Facebook and reproduced it here.)
Quick, what's the first word that comes to mind when you hear the word: salvation?
Okay, what's the next word you think of?
Do it again... keep repeating the exercise until you exhaust your supply.
How far did you get before you ran out of words?
Jesus; heaven; sins forgiven; (okay, that's two words but we'll allow it but the concept can be encapsulated by one word--forgiveness!); mercy; love; grace...
More points awarded for longer lists, of course, but the reason for this little game of mine is to fixate in our minds exactly what our conception of salvation entails.
You are the exception if your list goes beyond the usual conception of Jesus dying on the cross to secure for us heaven when we die.
Now I know that if you take the time to rack your brain you could come up with a lot more but the first few will generally give a pretty good idea of what you think of when you hear the term "salvation".
For most of us though, our perception, when compared to what the Bible says, is a little bit on the meager side.
Salvation is an all-encompassing idea in the Biblical sense. It includes a restoration of everything that we lost when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. The Bible tells us that there will come a time when we will live on this earth under Edenic conditions. That means we'll all be in good health; there won't be any pandemics, cancer will be abolished; sickness will be a forgotten enemy (I know about the leaves of the trees that will be for the "healing" of the nations but if you'll note the word used there is "therapeia"[Strongs 2322] and the implication here seems to imply something other than being healed from a physical sickness, but hey, for God's children there won't be any need for healing!)
In the OT the concept of the word [יְשׁוּעָה Strongs H3444] translated as salvation includes: deliverance; welfare; prosperity; victory; health;
NT usage of the term "salvation" [σωτηρία-soteria Strongs G4991] has some of the same connotations as the OT word, i.e. deliverance, health, etc..
I said in my last note that Jesus' mission on the earth went far beyond the general idea of the saving of men, healing, atoning for our sins (now that's a biggie so don't think I'm minimizing anything here!) but His stated purpose was both the proclamation of, and the setting up of (if only they had received Him) His Kingdom on the earth. Couple that with the idea of "salvation" and you'll see that the concept of the Kingdom and the concept of Salvation go hand in hand.
In fact, one of the central ideas concerning our common salvation is: RESURRECTION! Complete with our NEW RESURRECTION BODIES! (1 Cor. 15).
So next time someone plays a word/association game and the word "salvation" is thrown out give them a whole wheelbarrow full of words--restoration; deliverance; reigning; ruling; health; healing; prosperity; fullness; victory; inheritance; peace; faithfulness; resurrection; etc., etc..
Our old list may have been pretty exciting but keep in mind--that is merely the EARNEST of our salvation--there's much more to come!
Eph 1:13-14: In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Blessings,
William
I want to believe!
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| Re: The Kingdom of God [message #13731 is a reply to message #13717] |
Mon, 05 April 2021 20:11 |
james
Messages: 2142
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
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I am sorry for the delay in responding, I just was posting my new favorite song by Charity Gayle and stumbled upon this post. It will be after tax season slows or ends before I can jump into these books but I plan to. I really wish when anyone posts it would show up on my iphone, I never see anything unless I log in and look, unless I'm already involved in the discussion.
The Jewish guy passed away a few years ago.
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
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