Kingdom of God On Earth Theology

Key Scriptures:

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth. . . . "

"Seek first God's kingdom and his justice. . . . " Mt. 6:33, NEB

"The Spirit has anointed me [and now the church] to preach good news to the poor by releasing the oppressed through implementing the radical justice of the Sabbath Year." Luke 4:18-19, Noble paraphrase.

"The kingdom of God is justice [NEB], shalom and joy in the Holy Spirit." Romans 14:17, Noble paraphrase.

Messianic Passages from Isaiah:

"Of the increase of his government and shalom there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness." 9:7

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him---the Spirit of wisdom and understanding . . . with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor." 11:1-4

"In love a throne will be established . . . one from the house of David who seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness." 16:5

"I lay a stone in Zion . . . a precious cornerstone . . . I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line." 28:16-17

"Here is my servant . . . my chosen one . . . I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations . . . " 42:1-4

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the oppressed poor, to proclaim freedom and release by practicing Sabbath Year justice for the oppressed poor."

"To bestow on the oppressed poor a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

"These transformed oppressed poor will be called oaks of righteousness or trees of justice.

"These transformed oppressed poor will rebuild the ruined cities." Noble paraphrase

"For I, the Lord, love justice." 61:8

Since there is almost total ignorance in the American church about the extensive biblical teaching on oppression, any biblical synopsis of the kingdom of God must begin with a detailed analysis of oppression:

* who the oppressors are---the rich?

* who the oppressed are---the poor?

* the motivations driving oppression---greed?

* the damage done by oppression---crushing the spirit?

* the systems of oppression, how they are created, maintained and legitimated---slavery, segregation, mass incarceration, etc.

* warnings about half-solutions (abolition of slavery) while allowing the underlying cause (white supremacy or American trinity or WASP superiority) to continue and spawn new systems of oppression.

If the American church only lightly touches the extensive biblical teaching on oppression and then rushes too quickly to a justice or shalom solution, it will create a fine-sounding but shallow solution. Based on an history of catastrophic failure, all American theology on the kingdom is currently suspect until proven to be thoroughly biblical.

Once the biblical analysis of oppression is complete, the church must then engage in a similar rigorous biblical analysis of justice (Jubilee justice). Then a biblical analysis of shalom followed by a study of the relationship of the Holy Spirit and the kingdom.