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.