Understanding God’s Storyنموونە

A Kingdom-Shaped Story

The story of the Bible is the story of God establishing His kingdom on earth. While there are many important themes throughout Scripture—God’s love, justice, redemption, reconciliation, presence, and more—Scripture reveals the kingdom of God as its most important theme. Once you begin to understand the narrative of the King and His kingdom, you will be equipped to see the storyline unfold in beautiful ways.

As you read the story of the Bible, you should be continually asking this question:

“Has God’s kingdom been finally, fully, and forever established?”

When you are reading any portion of Scripture, that is the question.

What Is the Kingdom?

But for some of us, the language of “kingdom” can feel strange, distant, and archaic. For some, it may even seem a little intense. What is the kingdom, and what does it have to do with me? That’s why I want to provide a framework for us to begin to understand what the Bible means when it talks about the kingdom of God. While the framework is not exhaustive, it is certainly helpful if you want to be a better reader of Scripture.

The kingdom of God in Scripture can be understood through the lens of four P’s: Presence, People, Place, and Purpose. They can be defined like this:

Presence: God’s presence with humanity in the world that He created. The story of the Bible is “God with us.”

People: The crowning achievement of God’s creation is a people that will reign and rule with God as representatives on earth.

Place: God’s creation of the world and His gift of a location for His people to dwell and inhabit the kingdom of God in peace.

Purpose: God’s people living in accordance with the character, will, and covenants of God in the place that He has given them.

The kingdom of God is about God establishing His presence with His people in His place as they live out His purposes.