The Coming Kingdom

In 2019, I made plans to present a comprehensive teaching on the Kingdom of God for my church, Grace Community Bible Church of River Ridge, La. Entering my study, I held what I viewed as one of the most popular understandings of God's Kingdom in the protestant church today. The Kingdom is already here and yet to come. The Kingdom is among in a spiritual form known as the Church. The Church is the current phase of God's Kingdom, but there is still a future millennial kingdom to come. The Kingdom is here in spiritual form and yet to come in physical form. I studied the uses of kingdom starting in Genesis and moved through the entire Bible until the end of Revelation. This study started my journey to see God's Kingdom in a different and unexpected way.

Through my own study, I came to the conclusion that the Kingdom requires three fundamental elements to simply exist. Without any one of these three fundamental elements, there is no kingdom of any kind. The Kingdom of God must have a King (who will be the Messianic son of David), a land (the land prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21), and a people (the descendants of Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21). When I allowed the Old Testament to define the concept of Kingdom before I came to John the Baptist's announcement of the "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2), it changed everything for me.

Looking at the Church Age and the nature of the Church, I came to the conclusion that none of the required elements of the Kingdom of God were present in the world today. I was stunned by this conclusion. The Kingdom is not "here and yet to come." The Kingdom is simply yet to come. If I would have read Dr. Andy Woods' The Coming Kingdom, I would have been confirmed in this conclusion instead of stunned. Woods present us with a crucial and highly applicable study on the Kingdom of God in his book, The Coming Kingdom. He presents a very basic idea to the student of the Bible. The Kingdom of God is not present today. The Kingdom of God is the hope of God's people and not the present reality for God's people.

One of the strengths of The Coming Kingdom comes from the format of the book. Woods does not begin with theory on the Kingdom. He doesn't start with Christ's teaching on the Kingdom in the Gospels, but he starts in the beginning. An accurate view of the Kingdom of God must establish a view of God's Kingdom in the pages of the Hebrew Bible before ever opening the pages of our Greek New Testament. The Kingdom of God begins in Genesis 2 with the roles of Adam and his partner Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam was to rule over a physical kingdom, but sadly that kingdom was lost at the fall in Genesis 3. The rest of the Bible is God's work to restore this physical kingdom to earth.

Woods writes, "What then is the storyline of the Bible? It is how the office is restored through the messianic kingdom. Just as God the Father originally intended to indirectly govern the physical world through the first Adam, He will one day govern the world through the Last Adam or the God the Son." (The Coming Kingdom, page 9) As Woods presents in the first six chapters, the Old Testament provides a concrete and definite view of a coming physical kingdom on earth. This kingdom cannot align with the Church Age. The Son of David is not on earth. Israel has not been restored in her land while in a state of spiritual and physical peace. Her Good Shepherd is not guiding the flock of Israel at this time. The physical kingdom of the prophets also does not fit with the future eternal state, because this kingdom requires the Messiah to rule a specific land upon the throne of David in Jerusalem in a world of nations and the presence of death.

These initial chapters are a game changer in a study of the Kingdom. The reason is found in looking at the first kingdom statements in the Gospels. Woods on more than one occasion points out that the Kingdom is left without description in the opening pages of Jesus' public ministry. An example from the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 3 verse 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." No explanation is given to the nature of this kingdom, therefore the reader is left to assume that its characteristics would correspond to the physical kingdom prophesied by the prophets of old. It is eisegesis to assume this kingdom will be a spiritual kingdom taking the form of the church.

The format of the book also allows Woods to develop a sound and biblically established view of the Kingdom before covering the controversial statements in the New Testament. Most who take issue with Woods' thesis have not viewed the kingdom as seen throughout the Scripture, so their understanding of the kingdom comes from passages taken out of the context of the Bible. Woods' structure provides the reader with legitimate insight into what Jesus intended to communicate when He said, "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand." Throughout Woods writing on the New Testament, he continues his sound exegesis as was presented in the first chapters on the Old Testament.

My personal favorite chapter was the 10th on the Kingdom Mysteries. I never considered Woods' perspective on the parables of Matthew 13 before reading this book. At first glance, I recoiled from what Woods presented, but as he continued to work through Matthew 13, Woods along with explanations from Pink, gave a solid presentation of how Matthew 13 fits wonderfully with a future Messianic Kingdom and not a current spiritual kingdom. I hate when reviewers spoil books, so I am going to leave the exposition of chapter 10 for you to discover in your own read of this book.

It is only after this solid foundation of Biblical exposition that Woods begins to examine the claims of those who believe the Kingdom is now. The second portion of the book tackles the problems with a Kingdom Now interpretation and how it has brought confusion to the church in many forms. Woods is thorough to not simply take down the straw men of those who disagree with his view, but he covers objection after objection to present a fully-formed defense of the future Kingdom.

From my perspective, the one thing I would remove from this book is his attack against and defense from the views of progressive dispensationalists. I do not believe progressive dispensationalism will have a long-life span. The majority will either fall back into traditional dispensationalism or move into historic premillennialism. I would prefer space to be given to the issues found in larger evangelicalism where the Kingdom Now viewpoint allows false teaching to flow unabated into the church. This may be the result of changes in the church and culture since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, but if I made one change, I would take out confrontations with progressive dispensationalists and emphasize the dangers of how Kingdom Now viewpoints become fertile soil for Marxist philosophies and LGBTQ advocates.

My other criticism is the lengthy quotes included in the book. Some of them were very helpful, but at times they took too much away from Dr. Wood's own writing and interpretation skill. I appreciated his desire to inform us of the views of other authors on this subject, but I would prefer to have even more of Dr. Wood's own views on the Kingdom in the book. At nearly 400 pages, I still wanted more of what Dr. Wood could teach the reader about the Millennial Kingdom to come.

The final part of the book on "Why Does it Matter" is the strongest portion of the book in my opinion, but I state that with a big asterisk. The third part is the best only because it rests on the foundation of parts one and two. Woods' study of the Kingdom from Genesis to Revelation, and his step-by-step examination of passages which appear to support a Kingdom Now viewpoint provides his third portion of the book with the strength it possesses. Without this Biblical foundation, Woods' application would fall flat as the hand wringing of a dispensationalist who criticizes those who disagree with him in bad faith. The Bible study of the first 21 chapters prepares the reader for the wise application of the final five chapters.

God has provided the church with three specific purposes according to Woods. "First, the church exists to glorify God (Eph 3:21). Second, the church exists to edify or build up its members... Third, the church exists for the purpose of accomplishing world evangelism (Mark 16:15) and to fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20)." (The Coming Kingdom, 342) When the church is fulfilling these purposes, the church is at its best. When the church is working outside of these guidelines, we break up into petty fractures, harmful practices, and a disinterest in accomplishing God's priorities for us. Kingdom Now theology is the foothold which the devil needs to snare the church and drag her away from brining glory to our Savior.

The Coming Kingdom is a daunting read for many Christians. The average Christian doesn't feel ready to crack open a book that goes this deep into the topic of a Kingdom that isn't even on earth at this time. Most of us would rather read about our marriages that are struggling to recapture old passions or how to be faithful to Christ in a transition into retirement. A big book on a future event isn't on our must-read list. It should be. It should be, because The Coming Kingdom has a profound impact on how we live in the Church Age. We need church members who are educated and equipped to stand against the onslaught against the Gospel today, and you can take a huge step to equip yourself by reading Dr. Andrew Woods' The Coming Kingdom.