Continuing in the book of Matthew, the distinctions between the Kingdom of the Heavens and the Kingdom of God are essential to avoid confusion. The book of John focuses predominantly on the Kingdom of God and contains seven signs that point to aspects of salvation, beginning with turning water to wine by His word alone, illustrating that salvation comes by His word. The Kingdom of the Heavens is the realm where Israel is in the land and Christ is visibly ruling over the earth—the kingdom promised specifically to them. After John the Baptist was put into prison, Jesus began to proclaim the Kingdom of the Heavens, as recorded in Matthew 4:17. Prior to this He was already preaching the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God focuses on all saved people, while the Kingdom of the Heavens is specifically for Israel as the nation that is blessed through it.
Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of the Heavens was restricted to the Jews. He stated that He was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). His ministry relating to the Kingdom of God was not restricted and involved Gentiles at times. When He sent the disciples, He restricted them to Israel when the message was the Kingdom of the Heavens, but He did not restrict them when the message was the Kingdom of God (Mark 6:6–11; Luke 9:1–6). During His earthly ministry He proclaimed two distinct messages, seen in signs, wonders, and miracles. Acts 2:22 records that Jesus of Nazareth was attested by God to Israel by miracles (inherent abilities), wonders, and signs. His miracles and wonders manifested His right to be king and focused on Israel. The signs showed His deity, often through healing, and were also directed to Israel.
The purposes of Christ’s ministry include revealing God to man. No one has ever discerned God at any time; the only begotten (one-of-a-kind) Son who is in the bosom of the Father declares Him (John 1:18). God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by a Son, the brightness of His glory and the express image (character) of His person (Hebrews 1:1–3). He came to display His love for the Father. The Father loves Him because He lays down His life that He may take it up again; no one takes it from Him, but He lays it down of Himself, having received this commandment from the Father (John 10:17–18). He came to bring an end to the Mosaic Law by nailing it to His cross. A covenant cannot be broken unless the one who made it dies; God the Son made the covenant of Law with Israel and therefore had to die to end it. He did not come to destroy (loose or release) the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill (fill up where something is lacking) them. Until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle will pass from the Law until all is fulfilled (Matthew 5:17–18). In His flesh He abolished the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from Jew and Gentile, thus making peace (Ephesians 2:14–15).
He came to judge the meaningless traditions of religious practices, especially those of the Pharisees who manipulated the Law according to the traditions of the fathers. For judgment He came into the world that those who do not see may see and that those who see may become blind; those who claim to see remain in their sin (John 9:39–41). He came to divide disciples from their families. He did not come to bring peace on earth but a sword, setting a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, so that a man’s enemies are those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Him is not worthy of Him, and he who does not take up his cross and follow after Him is not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:34–37). Taking up the cross related to Jews who believed He was the Messiah and therefore had to follow Him, potentially losing family relationships; it does not apply to the Church, for Christ bore the cross and the Church cannot literally follow Him in the same manner.
He came to learn obedience through the things He suffered in His human nature so that He could serve as a faithful high priest (Hebrews 5:8). Being in the form of God, He did not consider it robbery to be equal with the Father but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men; being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5–8). Having suffered being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:18). He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He came to witness the truth, specifically the freedom from the sin nature (John 18:37). You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The one who characterizes committing sin is a slave to the sin (the sin nature). A slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides into the age. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:32–36). He is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
He came to offer the Kingdom to Israel, beginning to herald with authority, “Change your mind, for the Kingdom of the Heavens is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). He came to speak the words of the Father. If anyone hears His words and does not believe, He does not judge him, for He did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects Him and does not receive His words has that which judges him—the word which He has spoken will judge him in the last days—because He has not spoken of His own but the Father who sent Him gave Him the command what He should say and what He should speak (John 12:47–49). He came to prove that He is deity through His sign miracles. The beginning of signs He did in Cana of Galilee manifested His glory (John 2:11). These signs are written that one may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing one may have life in His name (John 20:30–31). He came to give His life a ransom for the many; the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for the many (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). He came to fulfill the commandments of the Father by laying down His life and taking it up again (John 10:17–18). He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). He came to bring eternal life, which is God’s quality of life, not everlasting existence (all humans possess everlasting life; the question is whether one lives eternity with God or separated from God). God loved the world in this way, that He gave His one-of-a-kind unique Son, that all the ones believing in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). He came to destroy (loose or release) the works of the devil; the Son of God was manifested for this purpose (1 John 3:8).
These distinctions clarify why Christ came. Some purposes relate to the Kingdom of God and salvation for all; others relate to the Kingdom of the Heavens and Israel. As the teaching moves into the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is proclaiming the Kingdom of the Heavens, so the information given relates directly to Israel and is not to be misapplied to the Church. After Israel’s rejection of the Messiah the focus shifts. The Millennial Kingdom could have begun if Israel had accepted their Messiah (the Tribulation period, already prophesied, would still have occurred and Christ would have returned seven years later to set up the Kingdom), but He is now performing the work of grace until that work is complete; then He will return and fulfill the promise.
