Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 1 | THE KINGDOM OF GOD: GOD’S REIGN INAUGURATED / 193

have gone to the Bible and have emphasized those Scriptures which support their respective points; that we have victory in Christ, or, that we struggle and fight in this world, with the flesh, the devil, and this wicked system of temptation. With both sides mildly bruised and a little confused, they ask you to come and clarify the meaning of the “already” in the “already/not yet” Kingdom. How would you help this struggling fellowship come to understand the true meaning of the “already” and the “not yet” in regards to the Kingdom of God? Everything Is for Later In sharing the teaching of this lesson with some friends in church, a visiting graduate student of a well-known seminary begins to say how this view is heretical. Believing strongly in the view that all kingdom life and power has been postponed to a future age, the graduate student begins to share how Israel was given a kingdom offer but refused it, killing the Messiah who invited them. Having rejected Jesus’ kingdom offer, he says we are now in the Church-age which comes in between the time of Jesus’ kingdom offer, and the time of the Second Coming, when Israel will eventually accept God’s kingdom offer, and the Davidic Kingdom will be set up in the future. Now, no manifestation of the Kingdom is present, everything dealing with the Kingdom is for later. What would you say to this student? Does his view sound credible? How would you answer such an interpretation in light of what you learned in today’s sessions? Since the Fall, God has sought to eradicate and overturn its effect by bringing his reign into this present world. He began to demonstrate his rule concretely by taking the predisposition as a Warrior over his enemies. Through his covenant promise to Abraham, God determined to bring a Seed into the world which would crush the serpent’s head and bless the families of the earth. The promise was renewed in the patriarchs, in Israel, to the tribe of Judah and the family of David. Finally, in the person and works of Jesus of Nazareth, the kingdom rule of God has been inaugurated in a final sense in this world. As Christus Victum , he delivered us from the power of the devil, sin, and death, and as Christus Victor , he has risen from the grave and ascended into heaven as Lord of all. Although not fully realized, the Kingdom has come in the person of Jesus Christ.

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T heology and E th i c s

Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis