What is the kingdom of God? If you are looking for a succint, one-word answer, it is that the kingdom of God is an administration.
The Apostle Paul described the kingdom of God as an administration.
“In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth.”
Ephesians 1:8-10
What is an Administration?
The Greek word translated as administration is oikonomia, which Thayer defines as “the management, oversight, administration, of others’ property.” Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan) 440. Also, included in what is managed by an administration is people. The point is God has set up an administration to manage creation, i.e. people, places, and things in His kingdom.
The Kingdom Administrates Heaven and the Earth
The Apostle Paul states that the administration about which he speaks is “suitable” or designed for the summing up of all things in Christ, i.e. the bringing about, under rulership of the kingdom of God, the reconciliation of all things, not just people, through Jesus. Jesus’ death on the cross opened the door for man’s reconciliation to God, but it did more than that within God’s kingdom.
Paul emphasizes the phrase, “all things” by explaining he is speaking of things “in the heavens and things upon the earth,” which means the kingdom must be broad enough to administer in the earthly and heavenly realms.
The Purpose of the Administration is the Reconciliation of all Things
The “summing up of all things” refers to reconciling those things that are broken. As Genesis Chapter 3 shows, when man fell in the Garden of Eden, he broke everything. He was separated from God (vv. 8-9), separated from himself (v. 10), separated from his fellow human (v. 13), and separated from nature (vv. 14-15). Francis Schaeffer referred to these simply as the four separations, and they represent all that is wrong with the world.
How do you fix some that is separated? By putting it back together, which is the definition of reconciliation. It should not surprise us then that every Christian has been given “the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Cor. 5:18-19. As citizens of the kingdom of God, working within His administration, we are tasked with carrying out its mission, and its mission is the summing up or reconciling of all things under the benevolent reign of King Jesus.
Paul articulated the same concept in his letter to the Colossians saying, “it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross…whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Col. 1:19-20).
The kingdom of God is broader than heaven and it is not the same thing as the Church. The kingdom is an administration whose earthly borders can in some way bring under its covering non-Christians. More on how that is possible later. GS
