Topic 2: Into the

Kingdom of
God: A Future
Reality
A. The Reign- Kingdom of God as Resurrection from the Dead
(New Life, New Human Being, Transformed Life)

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WHAT IS RESURRECTION?
Resurrection (from Latin “Resurrectio”) literally means, the return to
life of the dead person or the raising again from the dead. It therefore
means more than simple resuscitation, for resuscitation implies that the
person was only apparently, not
actually dead.

Resuscitation (from Latin Resuscitare, means to raise up or revive) is

the revival of life of someone who only apparently dead and becomes
conscious again.

The resurrection is an experience of victory over death wherein the

whole person or the total person will live again.
DEATH
- An enemy of life.
- It is the cessation of life, an enemy that must be overcome.

- The Biblical religion asserts that all oppositions of life will be

defeated: hunger, sickness, oppression, tears, pain, including sin
and death.

- And on the last day, the last enemy of life, death will be destroyed.

- In the new history (Age-to-come) and in the new world (kingdom)

LIFE, not death, WILL TRIUMPH.

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 WHAT WILL RESURRECT:
THE SOUL OR THE BODY?

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QUESTIONS
1. What is Human Being?
2. What gives life to human body?
3. What is life after death?
GREEK CULTURE
Human Being is composed of SOUL
(Spiritual) and BODY (Material).
The SOUL gives life (the incorruptible
element).
The SOULS survives while the BODY
corrupts.
SEMITIC TRIBE
(Culture of Jesus and Biblical
People)
One living being.
• The breath of God (Ruah) infused
in us.
• The blood that courses through our
veins.
• The energy or strength that a living
person experiences.
• In the Old Testament, there was no
belief on resurrection.
• 150 B.C.E. , the belief was that the
person awakens from sleep at the
resurrection.
• Right after death, the person (not
the soul) is somehow with God
until he/she is from the dead on the
last day. 6
In the Semitic view:
Human person is always a The Human Being is one: in
unity of one, so to speak a life, after death, at the
mono-entity. resurrection.

The Human Person is not a

composite, compound, but
aggregate no matter how
blended the elements are.

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When would Resurrection happen?
Resurrection from the dead is clear among the Biblical people. This is one of the features of the final
and definitive salvation. Therefore, resurrection happens on the last day. Resurrection does
happen right after a person dies, happens on final and definitive Salvation.

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Spiritual: Aroma of God
Jesus, who is molded by the Semitic culture, is So is:
a person who is concerned with what is - a glass of water given to a thirsty beggar
spiritual. Spiritual refers to anything or
- a humane treatment of home helpers
anybody that has the taste or aroma or touch of
- a decent wage to workers
God’s Spirit. Example if we people of today
believe that the Holy - a concrete application of our reception of
Sacraments, prayers, novenas, speaking in
Water blessed by the Holy Father is indeed
tongues, blessing of holy water or incensing
spiritual.
and many others.

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Social causes of Death:

Help remove social

causes of death and
disease
The New
Testament
Move a step forward to
a transformed life

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REIGN-KINGDOM OF GOD or SALVATION A NEW HEAVEN
AND NEW EARTH

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 SCIENTIFIC
VIEW
We modern scientific people discovered and
studied the basic features of the universe. The
universe is limitless space wherein the sun is
positioned at the center and everything revolves
around it. The earth is round and engulfed with
gravitational forces and the sky is the limitless
space we perceive here on earth.
PRE- SCIENTIFIC
VIEW
The Biblical people, including Jesus’ were pre-
scientific. They simply view the universe as the
floor and the roof. They looked around and saw
the trees, the birds, the rocks, the oceans, and the
people and then looked up and see the heavenly
bodies; the sun, the moon and the galaxies. For
them, this is the universe and they termed it as:
HEAVEN AND EARTH.
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BASIC FEATURES OF THE UNIVERSE ACCORDING
TO PRE-SCIENTIFIC VIEW
“earth”- is the flat hard surface on which we stand here below.

“heaven”- is the blue roof above. it is not an empty space. But like a dome or inverted bowl, it is
solid. Sometimes this roof is seen as having not one but several layers. Onto the downside of this
roof, as on a ceiling, are attached the ornaments. These are the stars, the moon including the sun, set
like jewels on the firmament. It is believed to be Yahweh’s dwelling place (or more accurately, above
the heaven(s).)

The HEAVEN AND EARTH is a Biblical formula used to refer to the world or the universe in the
language of the scientific people today. In the key word, NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH is also
equivalent to NEW WORLD OR NEW UNIVERSE or the Transformed Earth in the end time.

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 A. PROFILES OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH
OR NEW WORLD
1. New Heaven and New Earth: Universe where there is JUSTICE

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2. New Heaven and New Earth: A world where NEW
THINGS NEW

Yes, Revelation seems to speak in symbols, however we have

also to view that not everything therein is purely symbolic,
there are also paintings that basically convey reality. Thus,
new heaven and new earth where all things become new
points to a New World where everything becomes new.

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3. New Heaven and New Earth: Rebirth of the Universe

Matthew’s “New World” takes its root in the original Greek “PALIGGENESIA.”
Paliggenesia comes from words PALIN (again) and GENESIA (begin), to begin again. This
refers to a colorful world, descriptive word of re-birth and of transformation of the whole-
created universe. The firmament and the earth, the whole nature and human beings, this world
of hunger, disease, and decay, all will be totally transformed into a New World and new
history, there the King of justice will reign. 16
 4. New Heaven and New Earth: Universal Restoration of
all things
Jesus appeared in history as restorer of the original shape of the world. Another profile of this New World is the restoration
of all things. This is evident in Acts 3:21. There is the scenario: Jesus ‘ascends into heaven’. The apostles look up to
heaven but they are told to go back to their normal lives. They are told that God
will eventually send Jesus back to earth as the Christ. In the meantime, heaven will keep Jesus “until the universal
restoration” would come. In this universal restoration, all reality will be remade, rehabilitated, rejuvenated. It is a new
universe at the end of history. It is a New World. And in it is an even lovelier Davao, lovelier Mindanao and more beautiful
Philippines. All its mountain ranges, thick forest covers where
streams, springs, rivers flow out bringing life to lands, as well as the beautiful shapes of the shores where mangroves have
fully grown to cuddle young sea creatures and all marine life and to protect lives of earth as well. One can almost hear the
songs and dances as well as the re-assembly of planets in the universe. One can dance together with jubilation of this
exciting restoration of all things.
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5. New Heaven and New Earth: Unity of all things in
heaven on earth

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CREATION ITSELF WILL BE SET FREE FROM ITS
BONDAGE

The whole creation, human and nature– longs

for total Salvation.

Meanwhile, the whole creation has been

groaning like a woman in the birth pangs of
labor. Both nature and humans long for
liberation. If humans long for Resurrection,
then Creation waits for its transformation.
This is the foundation of our Ecological
Theology.

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 REIGN-KINGDOM OF GOD or SALVATION AS NEW
AND DIFFERENT HISTORY

1. History as viewed by Jewish people: As a background, the Jewish viewed History in many different
models. There is a history not following to the chronological events (chronos) but on the moments of life
(kairos), a moment of God. In the time of Jesus, Jewish people spoke of history in terms of two ages. They
termed as two epochs, eras or histories, namely:

THIS AGE AGE-TO-COME

It is the presently on-going history of Israel
and humanity. It is a history characterized
by pain, suffering, wars, sin, hunger,
sorrows, oppression, and death. A history
governed by evil.
It is the future history that would come in the
end. It is a history when there will be no more
pains, no more sickness, no more hatred, no
more sorrows and no more death. This is a
history when Life triumphs and God is all in
all.

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Jesus and the Age-to-come
In the New Testament, we can find Mark 10:29-30, Mt. 12:32, Luke 20:34-35, Mt. 13:27-43, and
Mt. 24:3 talking important key words leading to the perception of the New and different history. We
can also read in Eph. 1:20-21, Heb. 6:4-5. Gal. 1:3- 5 about the hope for another history to be
experienced by the new human being in the end time.

Just as the Nature or Earth is groaning to experience total salvation like the humans. History also
needs to be saved. As the different passages above have pointed out, the salvation or Reign-
Kingdom of God for Jesus and the New Testament people, is not about the souls seeing God in
heaven. Rather it is a new history for people, in possession of justice, peace, life and other concrete
blessings for the human family.

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 DIMENSION OF THE NEW HISTORY
This biblical idea of an age-to-come is one of the new and refreshing bits of learning we can embrace in our
search for true image of Jesus and his work of Salvation which he called Reign-Kingdom of God. It provides a
whole new dimension to the understanding of ultimate salvation. It teaches us that the total salvation, which
Jesus started in his ministry, will finally and definitively culminates in a new and different history for nature
and humankind, collectively and individually.

The Gospel of Mark 10:17-30 is offering fascinating and pertinent word of this dimension of this new history
like:
a.) inherit eternal life (vv. 17,30)
b.) enter the Kingdom of God (vv. 23, 24, 25)
c.) to be saved (v. 26)
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 ETERNAL LIFE
A favorite Graeco-Roman Christianity
expression which is superficially
understood as the life of Beatific
vision for the soul in Heaven. But
Biblically speaking, it means fullness
of life with resurrection, banquet,
justice, joy, experiencing God in a new
earth at the end of time.
SALVATION
Biblically speaking is entering the kingdom
of God and experiencing fullness of life.
Thus, Reign-Kingdom of God as a new and
different History, is the same as Salvation, fullness
of life in the age-to-come, where you and every
human being, having vanquished death, will
participate in a new history of life-giving justice,
peace, harmony, unity, joy and the like.
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WORKERS FOR THE DAWNING OF NEW HISTORY

This new and different history would only be possible when the believers of Jesus are ready to take the task. If our ardent wish is to
change the contour of the earth and reshape the course of history, then the task has to start in this history today. There are two existing
groups who are ready to take the task. They are the Women and the Nature Carers:

WOMEN OF TODAY NATURE CARERS

Have united to work to end the millennia of

Work to end the brutal shape of Mother Nature and
patriarchy and to re-create a history of gender
they help us to see the trees, the birds, the water as
equality. Women should assert what is
our brothers and sisters to
right for them and not allow this history of abuses to
rediscover our bondedness with them.
prolong.
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Thank you
for

Watching &
Listening !