Christian Religion and the Kingdom of God

What is the difference between the Christian religion and the Kingdom of God

Christianity is not a religion; it’s all about Jesus and to be his children. The followers of the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26). There is the Christian religion possessing different activities; on the other hand, there is the Kingdom of God. What is the key difference between the terms? The main difference is, the Christian religion is a means to an end, whereas the Kingdom of God is the end product.  

 

The Christian community tends to deal with the external Christ. The Kingdom of God is concerned with the re-creation of our personality such that it is Christ who is living in us. The purpose of all the activities of the Christian religion should be to form Christ in the believers. Jesus has given the great commission for every believer of God before his ascension to step out in faith and spread the Good News. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age'” (Matthew 28:18-20).

 

Believers of God who obey this command change their spiritual lives forever! It could be spreading the Good News so that people will be part of eternity in the Kingdom of God. 

Kingdom of God

During the ministry of Jesus, He spoke a lot about the Kingdom of God. The first message of Jesus is not only foundational to the New Testament; it foundational to the entire Bible message. From the beginning, God was establishing His Kingdom on earth. God’s plan was to partner with His people to expand His way of life over all the earth (living in a love relationship with Father God in a beautiful garden setting). This is what heaven will ultimately be for us who believe. For now, we live in a fallen world.

One of his most well-known passages found in the Gospel of Mark: 

“The time has come,” he said. “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” 

(Mk 1:15)Repent is not simply sorrow for your sins; the word has the sense of change your thinking. In other words, consider how you are living and decide to change your life. 

The Message paraphrase says:

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the message of God: “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” (Mk 1:14–15)

So Jesus didn’t simply come to forgive sins (although a good thing), but to make known the present availability of the Kingdom of God and an invitation to enter into it: not simply when you die but right now in this life. And that is good news because, in a world dominated by violence, war, disasters, political strife, and general negativity, the KOG is a safe place to be because the fruit of the Spirit characterizes it. One can know more about God and his path to the Kingdom are possible through church. 

 

The Kingdom of God vs Church

The Kingdom of God is significant that the Lord Jesus Christ was primarily focusing so much on it throughout His ministry. The first message Jesus taught was “Repent, the Kingdom of God is near”. God has called you to cast a macroscopic-panoramic-Biblical vision for your people that grow them into Kingdom people, not just church people. This in turns pops up a new question, “what’s the primary difference between the church and the Kingdom?” There is no doubt that the Kingdom of heaven is much bigger than the church. Even though the word “church” was uttered from Jesus for the very first time, He framed His ministry in terms of God’s Kingdom breaking into our world, not with a church building.

I’m not drowning or dismissing the church, but the point needs to be very clear. God had a bigger picture for the Kingdom and church is the body of Christ (Eph 5:25), and we need to build it up (Eph 4:11-12)

One thing we need to remember is that even though the church and its activities can fit into the Kingdom of God, you cannot shrink the Kingdom into the church. Whenever we try to shrink the Kingdom of God into the church-box, we end up creating church people, whereas we are supposed to create kingdom people. Both have a huge difference.

Coming and attending church doesn’t guarantee a place in the Kingdom, whereas Kingdom demands several obedience and fruits of spirits which yields a place in the Kingdom. So the church has to train the people towards the Kingdom. The church should not be focusing on earthly things it should be focusing on Godly things and build The Kingdom of God. Matthew 11:12 says “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” It’s never going to be an easy pathway to reach heaven and the church takes the responsibility to bring the bride to Kingdom, and that’s what the church was meant.