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The Kingdom of God Is Like

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Submitted By rosalindwimbush
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The Kingdom of God is Like…
In this essay I have chosen two different metaphors, the first one from Tame’s article in the reading, and one from my personal experience, for the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. I will try to elaborate on the characteristics of the Messianic kingdom of God as Jesus taught and modeled it. Great focus has been put on the specific teachings about the kingdom in the assigned readings for this period. My essay will show my understanding of Jesus teaching of the Kingdom of God and His role as the Messiah.
As Jesus taught he often spoke in parables. “A parable is an extended metaphor, a simple story based on everyday kinds of events. These comparisons could be easily understood by those who heard them because they fit into the experience of the common folk of Judea and Galilee (Niswonger, p. 147).” The people of this era understood the parables because it was fitting for that time period. The Messiah was using metaphors and parables to give them a greater understanding of what the Kingdom of God was and what the Kingdom of God stood for. The parables and metaphors made God message clearer and direct so that the disciples would have clarity as to what he spoke. The parables were used to hide God mystery from the unbelievers and skeptics who doubted Him. The Messiah only gave the “secret of the Kingdom of God” to his disciples, and everyone else he spoke in parables to them because he wanted them to always be hunger and thirsty for the word of God (Mark 4:11-12; Matt 5:6).” As ministers of a new covenant, we display Christ reign not on written tablets or stones, but on the human heart (2 Cor. 3:3). We do not need an objective physical temple to enter to experience the presence of God; we ourselves are the temple and the Spirit of God lives within us (1 Cor. 3:16; Vol. 34, Issue 2, p 123).” In this article, Tames describes a

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