Do We Really “Build” The Kingdom?

Since the theme of our 2025 Expo is “Rebuilding the City” (focusing on Nehemiah rebuilding after the Exile), combined with the fact that “building the Kingdom” seems to be an en vogue phrase these days, I did a study on the word “Kingdom” throughout the New Testament. It is quite a prominent theme, and the question I began with was: “Do we build the Kingdom?” The answer is a soft “no.” From the words below associated with the word Kingdom, you can see quickly that we are fairly passive participants in the Kingdom. To be fair, we certainly are workers in it and fellow partners of it, and we can do things for it, but we are never said to do anything close to building it. But, when we talk about “Rebuilding the City” in our upcoming Expo, we want to say clearly that we are not theologically claiming to be building the city that is coming (New Jerusalem, see Revelation 21-22). Instead, we are building a prototype for New Jerusalem, or maybe only the scaffolding for a prototype. In either case, we need not be married to a certain way of saying it. The end goal here is to represent Jesus to a lost and dead world through all of our lives, most definitely including our businesses, in such a way that they say, “I want to be a part of THAT Kingdom!!!”

At the Expo I will show a slide on this concept where I have consolidated the terms into fewer groups for clarity. That said, I wanted to leave them a bit jumbled here so you can go through the exercise yourself. Enjoy!
The Kingdom:
  • Draws near to men (Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Mark 1:15)
  • Comes (Matthew 6:10, Luke 17:20)
  • Arrives (Matthew 12:28)
  • Appears (Luke 19:11)
  • Grows (Matthew 13:31, Mark 4:41, Luke 13:19) – but we are never said to make it grow
  • Can be active (Matthew 11:12)
  • Can be given to men (Matthew 21:43, Luke 12:32; but by this logic men cannot give it to another)
  • Can be taken away from men (Matthew 21:43; but by this logic men cannot take it away from each other)
  • Can be entered by men (Matthew 5:20, 7:21; Mark 9:47, 10:23)
Men can
  • Receive it (Mark 10:15, Luke 18:17)
  • Inherit it (Matthew 25:34)
  • Possess it (Matthew 5:4) but we are never said to establish it or build it
  • Reject it (Luke 10:11)
  • Enter it (Matthew 23:13) but we cannot destroy it
  • Look for it (Luke 23:51)
  • Pray for its coming (Matthew 6:10)
  • Seek it (Matthew 6:33, Luke 12:31) – but we cannot bring it
  • Be in it (Matthew 5:19, 8:11; Luke 13:29)
  • Do things for its sake (Matthew 19:12, Luke 18:29) – but we cannot alter its growth pattern or structure
  • Preach it (Matthew 10:7, Luke 10:9) – but we cannot give it to anyone; only God can do that (Luke 12:32).

 

  • We can repent because the kingdom is at hand (Matt 3:2 commanded by John the Baptist and Matt 4:17, Mark 1:15 commanded by Jesus)
  • We can be healed when the Kingdom comes (Matt 4:23 & 9:35, Luke 9:2, Luke 9:11, Jesus “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among all the people”)
  • It can belong to us if we are poor in spirit and if we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Matt 5:3 & 5:10, Luke 6:20)
  • We can be least in it if we ignore the commandments or be greatest if we do and teach the commandments (Matt 5:19, 18:3-4)
  • We can be least or greatest in it (Matt 11:11 & Luke 7:28, referring to John the Baptist)
  • You can enter it only if our righteousness exceeds the Pharisees (Matt 5:20)
  • We can pray for it to come (Matt 6:10, Lune 11:2)
  • We can seek it (Matt 6:33, Luke 12:31, It is like a treasure hidden in a field that is worth selling everything for (Matt 13:44, Matt 13:45)
  • We can enter it only by knowing Jesus, which means we will do the will of the Father and become like a child, and by enduring tribulations (Matt 7:21-23, Matt 18:3, Matt 19:14, Mark 10:14-15, Luke 18:16-17, Acts 14:22)
  • Jesus can give it to us (Luke 12:32, Luke 22:29-30, Luke 23:42)
  • It’s entrance is provided by Jesus (2 Peter 1:11)
  • In fact, Jesus will “deliver” it to God (1 Corinthians 15:24)
  • We can inherit it (Matthew 25:34, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:50, Galatians 5:21, Ephesians 5:5, James 2:5)
  • We will be transferred to it (where we will experience redemption and the forgiveness of sins in it – Colossians 1:13-14)
  • We are called into it by God (1 Thessalonians 2:12)
  • We can recline at table in it with Abraham, etc (Matt 8:11, Luke 13:29)
  • Or be thrown out of it (Matt 8:12, Luke 13:28)
  • It can be proclaimed by Jesus and by us (Matt 10:7, Luke 9:2, Luke 9:11, Luke 9:60, Luke 16:16, Acts 8:12, Acts 20:25)
  • We can persuade people about it (Acts 19:8, Acts 28:31)
  • We can testify to it (Acts 28:23)
  • We can be workers for it (Colossians 4:11)
  • It can be forceful (Matt 11:12)
  • It comes in power (Mark 9:1)
  • It cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28)
  • It comes when demons are cast out by the Spirit of God (Matt 12:28, Luke 11:20)
  • It has secrets that are disclosed by God alone and not everyone understands (Matt 13:11, Matt 13:19, Mark 4:11, Luke 8:10)
  • Is like a field with both good seed and weeds, or like a net full of fish, some good and some bad (Matt 13:24 & 13:47, Mark 4:26, Mark 4:30-31)
  • Is like a grain of mustard seed (Matt 13:31, Luke 13:18)
  • Is like a leaven that was hidden in flour until it was all leavened (Matt 13:33, Luke 13:20)
  • We can be sons of it (Matt 13:38)
  • We can be called worthy of it (2 Thessalonians 1:5)
  • We can be close to it (Mark 12:34)
  • It can be near to us (Luke 10:9, Luke 10:11)
  • We can look for it (Mark 15:43, Luke 23:51)
  • It has scribes (us, Matt 13:52)
  • It has keys that apostles could use to lock and unlock (Matt 16:19)
  • It belongs to the Son of Man (Matt 16:28)
  • Requires us to forgive others (Matt 18:23)
  • We can suffer for its sake (Matt 19:12)
  • It can be entered only with great difficulty for the rich (Matt 19:23-24, Mark 10:23-25, Luke 18:24-25)
  • It doesn’t consider “fairness” like we do (Matt 20:1-16)
  • Can be taken away from non-fruit-producing people and given to others (Matt 21:43)
    • Is like a wedding feast where many who were invited were not chosen to attend (Matt 22:1-14)
  • Can be blocked from entering by bad leaders (Matt 23:13)
  • It will be proclaimed as good news (Matt 24:14 – as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come, Luke 8:1)
  • Will come at an hour we don’t expect (Matt 25:1-13)
  • Is a place of celebration and new wine and feast (Matt 26:29, Luke 22:18)
  • It is better to enter it with one eye than not to enter it at all (Mark 9:47)
  • There will be no end to it (Luke 1:33)
  • Jesus was sent to preach it (Luke 4:43)
  • Is too good for those who start and don’t finish (Luke 9:62)
  • It doesn’t come in ways that can be observed but is in the midst of us (Luke 17:20)
  • We can do things for its sake, like leave houses and family and will receive payback in multiples (Luke 18:29)
  • We cannot enter it unless we are born again (John 3:3-5)
  • It is not of this world (Luke 18:36)
  • We can be partners of it with each other (Revelation 1:9)
  • He has made us into it (Revelation 1:6, 5:10)
  • He will merge it into the Kingdom of this world at the end of history in the greatest M&A in the history of the universe (Revelation 11:15) and meanwhile the kingdom of the beast will be plunged into darkness (Revelation 16:10).

I encourage you to re-arrange them into your own categories, but you will find that we don’t do anything close to “building” it. The closest description of how it comes is that Jesus will “bring” it to God after destroying all evil first (1 Corinthians 15:24). It sounds like we want to be on his team!

At the end of the day, it seems the most appropriate analogy to how we interact with the Kingdom is like a 5-year-old child helping their parent build something. They are more of a liability to actually getting the thing done, but the parent loves interacting with their child and has fun doing the activity together anyway.