조용기 목사의 하나님의 나라 = Reverend Yonggi Cho’s Kingdom of God

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This essay attempts to present Reverend Cho’s understanding of the Kingdom of God. To Cho, the Kingdom of God is the most central theme of the bible, while the goal of the whole salvation history is to establish and expand God’s Kingdom. First, Cho regards the Kingdom of God as a system of rule. Above all, the Kingdom of God is a place that is ruled by God with His authority. Within the frame of the salvation history, this type of rule in His Kingdom unfolds through the trinity of God. The Kingdom of God becomes the Kingdom of His beloved Son, the sovereign becomes Christ and God’s power becomes Christ’s power, that is, the Holy Spirit. With this understanding of the Rule of His Kingdom, Cho regards the Kingdom of God as immanent yet at the same time transcendent. He distinguishes between the eternal Heaven and the immanent Kingdom of God on earth, and refers to the eternal Heaven as main office, and its earthly counterpart as branch. This immanent Kingdom includes the Heaven of the Heart and that of the Church. Only those who have attained the immanent Kingdom, the Heaven of the Heart can enter the eternal Heaven. Therefore, he concludes, the center of gravity of our lives has to be put on the immanent Heaven, the earthly Heaven which we can experience on this world.
The eternal heaven is the heaven that emerges at the end of history, and it is the eternal Kingdom of God which we will inhabit after we leave this world. This Kingdom will be constituted by a new heaven and a new earth, as well as the new Jerusalem after the reign of the millenium and the judgement of the white throne. Christ’s brides will be resurrected and live in this eternal Kingdom.
The millenium Kingdom arises with the end of the church era and the return of Christ. This return can be divided into the aerial return and the earthly return. Christ who has returned from the air, descends upon this world after the wedding feast of 7 years and leads all those believers who participated in this feast back to earth. This is the earthly return. Christ comes down to earth and throws the Antichrist and all false prophets into the eternal fire, imprisons Satan into the abyss and eradicates all those with the number 666 on their foreheads. Then, with those of His followers who participated in His first resurrection He rules the world for a thousand years. This is Christ’s millenium.
The earthly heaven, that is, establishing His Kingdom on earth is God’s fervent wish. His wish is fulfilled through Eden, Canaan, the heaven of Christ’s teachings as well as the Cross and Christ’s resurrection. The Heaven of Eden was the first mini-Kingdom of God. The sovereign was God, its people Adam and Eve, and its territory Eden. However, Adam and Eve give in to the seductions of Satan and rebel against God, attempting to replace Him as sovereign. As a result, God’s dream of His earthly Kingdom is shattered.
Canaan Heaven is God’s second attempt to establish His Kingdom on earth. He leads the people of Israel into Canaan, expels its inhabitants and founds Israel there. His purpose is to build heaven on earth in the form of Israel and rule over it directly as its King. However, as did Adam and Eve before, the people of Israel fall to the seduction of Satan and betray God. They worship false icons such as Baal and Asherah and reject God’s law. Thus, God’s wrath aborts this second attempt and Israel perishes. God’s dream has again been frustrated.
The Heaven established by Christ is God’s third attempt to implant Heaven on earth. God has sent His only Son to earth to have His Kingdom established. His Son, Jesus Christ, has brought with Him Heaven and sets out to spread it over the world. Wherever He goes, He destroys Satan’s nation, expands God’s Kingdom and spreads the glory of Heaven and the Gospel to the people, while commanding His disciples to do so as well. However, for this Kingdom brought about by Christ to be fully accomplished on earth, one decisive event needs to happen. That is the event of the Cross. Finally, through the Cross on Calvary, God has set up His long-sought Kingdom on earth. At last, His Kingdom of reconciliation, love and the Holy Ghost has come to earth. And this Kingdom is continuously being extended by the Holy Ghost.
This Heaven on earth is characterized by forgiveness and righteousness (absolution of sin), being filled with the Holy Ghost and Love (holiness), healing (of disease), blessing, eternal life and joy. Reverend Cho connects these heavenly qualities to the Fivefold Gospels and the Threefold Blessings, emphasizes the presence of the Holy Ghost and promotes the expansion of Heaven. By doing so, Cho succeeds in making the Kingdom of God real again to a generation which has by and large considered speaking of His Kingdom meaningless. Now, ‘the Kingdom of God’ can no longer be regarded meaningless. This is his greatest contribution to the Christian community.